Samhain – Year R Session Plan

Samhain falls on 31st October into 1st November, the start of winter in the Gaelic calendar, when people believed the boundary with the Otherworld grew thin and wore disguises to stay hidden. This Year R session plan marks that night outdoors, through story, lantern-making and fire.

Centred on the original folklore story The Night the Fires Went Out, in which Freya’s village lets every hearth go cold and carries a new flame home from the bonfire on the hill, the session moves children through a welcome circle and a perimeter walk looking for fallen leaves, conkers and holly, turnip lanterns carved from the children’s own drawings, guising masks inspired by Freya’s fox, ember-baked apples with warm spiced apple juice, and a mindfulness close by the flame. Includes a welcome and goodbye song, detailed SEND adaptations, and full EYFS curriculum links.

A complete, ready-to-deliver outdoor session for Foundation Stage settings. Three hours.