Samhain – KS2 Session Plan

Samhain falls on 31st October into 1st November, the start of winter in the Gaelic calendar and of what people long ago called the dark half of the year. They believed the boundary with the Otherworld grew thin, and wore disguises so that anything unkind would not know them. This KS2 session plan marks that night outdoors, through story, tools 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 perimeter walk comparing evergreen and bare branches, turnip lanterns they draw, hollow and carve in pairs, guising masks and the old beliefs behind disguise, ember-baked apples they core and fill themselves, warm spiced apple juice, and a mindfulness close by the flame. Includes a welcome and goodbye song, detailed SEND adaptations, and full KS2 curriculum links.

A complete, ready-to-deliver outdoor session for KS2. Three hours.