LITTLE ROCK — Halloween creeps up with a special challenge for parents of little ones just old enough to know something fun is happening, but too young to understand quite what.

Ghosts. Witches. Monsters. The heebie-jeebies might seem hardly to belong in a wee world of teddy bears and shoes that light and twinkle with every step.

One way to trick the scares out of Halloween is to laugh — and sing, and stomp your feet, and maybe learn a little something in the process.

Parents and toddlers arrive the third Wednesday of each month at the Old State House Museum in Little Rock for a half-hour program called Little Beginnings. The free gatherings teach small lessons by means of singalongs, storytelling and crafts.

October’s program was all about the big doings tonight — Halloween.

Georgia Meredith brought her 2-year-old daughter, Hollis, and 4-year-old son, Carter, from Conway. They are too little to know about the scary aspects of the ancient celebration, she said, but “really excited” about the candy.

The treat for mom was that, “I love anything like this that’s free, and it’s great for toddlers.”

BOOS IN THE NEWS

The night’s shuddery aspects come from old lore about ghosts and goblins — from tales and beliefs that go back to the druids of Wales, Ireland and Scotland. The orange glow of today’s Halloween comes from bonfires that were meant to keep bad spirits away.

Jack-o’-lanterns find their origin in the tale of a trickster named Jack. His ways on earth were such that, when he died, neither heaven nor the devil would let him in. Jack made a lantern out of a turnip and a lump of the devil’s own coal, and he wanders forever in search of a resting place.

American Halloween became a children’s holiday in the 1950s, especially, and the night’s mischief gave way to innocent trick-or-treating. But adults have taken over more and more of Halloween in recent years.

Almost everyone celebrates Halloween these days, according to the National Retail Federation, predicting $8 billion in sales of Halloween candy, party supplies and costumes this year — a sales spree that is second only to Christmas.

Costume and party stores feature at least as many adult outfits as children’s, and the grown-up idea of fun can be as gruesome as an R-rated horror movie. Among this year’s costumes for men: Phantom of the Night, Bloody Butcher, Night Fiend. For women: Playboy Bunny, Wildcat, Sexy Angel.

How much of Halloween is appropriate for small children? The museum’s program is one answer.

SCARE WITH CARE

Cris Slaymaker, the museum’s visitor services coordinator, says she bases the class on other successful programs of pre-literacy learning that rely on movement, repetition and music.

“It’s fun,” she says, “more like playing.” And a half hour is “a really good time” for the toddler audience. Past the 30-minute mark, the crowd’s attention is apt to wear as thin as a paper pumpkin.

Starting with a song, the program alternates sit-and-listen moments with clap-hands and march-around activities.

For Halloween, Slaymaker chose two read-aloud books: Hush, Little Monster (Little Simon, 2012) by Denis Markell and Melissa Lwai; and Brooms Are for Flying (Square Fish, 2009) by Michael Rex.

Hush, Little Monster puts a Transylvanian twist on the old song, “Hush, Little Baby.” Daddy doesn’t bring a mockingbird in this version, he brings a screech owl. And, “If that owl won’t say ‘whoo whoo,’” it goes, “Granny Ghost will bring you a big, bad boo!”

Brooms Are for Flying tells the truth as known to little witches and would-be Harry Potters — that brooms can take to the air as surely as “tails are for wagging,” and more to the point, “capes are for sneaking.”

Slaymaker was on the spot to find a quickly-done craft activity that requires neither gloppy glue nor scissors, yet gives each participant a sense of accomplishment.

Her answer: Each child received a premade cape that tied on with a ribbon, ready to be decorated with sparkly star and pumpkin stickers.

Right on time, she led the group in singing, “Goodbye, everyone, it’s time to go.”

“We really want you to come back the next time we do this,” she said.

Maryn Harvey’s dad, Joe, plans to accept the offer.

“We’ve probably been here a half dozen times in the last two years,” he said. “We really enjoy it.”

The Old State House Museum’s Little Beginnings toddler program is at 10:30 a.m. the third Wednesday of each month. Programs to come include Thanksgiving on Nov. 21, and Winter Holidays Around the World on Dec. 19. More information is available at oldstatehouse.com, or by calling (501) 324-9685.

Family, Pages 30 on 10/31/2012