Mary Cuffy

Hey kids! Did you know that tucked away in the heart of Port-of-Spain stands a mag­nif­i­cent his­toric man­sion called Mille Fleurs? This grand old house, with its tow­er­ing columns, lush gar­dens, and whis­pers of his­to­ry, has been a bea­con of cul­ture and ad­ven­ture for gen­er­a­tions. Last Sun­day, it turned in­to a play­ground of spooky de­lights for the "A Tee­nie Tiny Hal­loween" event, where a crowd of ex­cit­ed chil­dren gath­ered to cel­e­brate Hal­loween in a su­per fun, unique­ly Trinida­di­an way! It was full of folk­lore and lots of laugh­ter.

The event was the brain­child of Lit­tle Steps Caribbean, in col­lab­o­ra­tion with Bright Eyed and All Kin­da Ting. They made the spooky sea­son a cel­e­bra­tion of Caribbean sto­ries and mag­ic. As cre­ative di­rec­tor Je­u­nanne Alkins from Bright Eyed said, “Hal­loween might be im­port­ed, but our imag­i­na­tion isn’t. We can fill it with our own char­ac­ters, our mag­ic, and our sto­ries.”

The fun kicked off with a burst of en­er­gy as kids donned cos­tumes and ex­plored the man­sion's sprawl­ing grounds. There was danc­ing, face paint­ing, games, and sweet treats to munch on. One high­light was stilt walk­ing, where brave young ad­ven­tur­ers strapped on tall stilts and wob­bled around like gi­ants from a fairy tale on Moko Jumbie Road! This built bal­ance and con­fi­dence, echo­ing Trinidad's play­ful tra­di­tions.

Next, kids jumped and danced with the Blue Dev­ils, learn­ing about this vi­brant mas­quer­ade group known for their colour­ful cos­tumes and en­er­getic Car­ni­val per­for­mances. They even got hands-on ex­pe­ri­ence mix­ing paints and de­sign­ing their own cos­tumes, spark­ing cre­ativ­i­ty and pride in their cul­ture.

The tra­di­tion­al mass dress-up zone was a whirl­wind of imag­i­na­tion! Chil­dren trans­formed in­to pi­rates, princess­es, and more us­ing re­cy­cled ma­te­ri­als and props. They pa­rad­ed around, show­ing off their cre­ations and learn­ing about re­cy­cling and self-ex­pres­sion. Laugh­ter filled the air as they trick-or-treat­ed through the grounds.

For ac­tion-packed fun, the Anan­cy spi­der-themed ob­sta­cle course was a hit! In­spired by the clever trick­ster spi­der from Trinida­di­an folk­tales, kids nav­i­gat­ed a maze of webs, tun­nels, and chal­lenges, dodg­ing "traps" and col­lect­ing "trea­sures". It test­ed agili­ty and quick think­ing, per­fect for Hal­loween en­er­gy!

But the true mag­ic hap­pened in the sto­ry­telling ses­sions and pup­pet shows. Sto­ry­tellers shared cap­ti­vat­ing folk­tales about Trinidad's myth­i­cal crea­tures. Kids sat wide-eyed, hear­ing about the Douens—mis­chie­vous spir­its of un­bap­tised chil­dren who walk with back­ward-fac­ing feet to sneak up on you! There were tales of Ma­ma Di­lo, the bush-dwelling trick­ster who might snatch you if you're not care­ful, and the La­ga­hoo, a shape-shift­ing beast that roams the night in an­i­mal forms.

Oth­er en­chant­i­ng char­ac­ters in­clud­ed Pa­pa Bois, the gen­tle for­est guardian with his flute and love for wildlife, and the Soucouyant, a fiery witch who sheds her skin to fly as a ball of light. Fam­i­lies even met Ma­ma D’lo and the Mid­night Rob­ber in per­son!

At the Pa­pa Bois An­i­mal Sanc­tu­ary, host­ed by the El So­cor­ro Cen­tre for Wildlife Con­ser­va­tion, kids met re­al res­cued owls, anteaters, and agoutis—re­minders that folk­lore helps us pro­tect na­ture.

Each sto­ry wove lessons of brav­ery, kind­ness, and re­spect for na­ture, en­cour­ag­ing kids to em­brace their own in­ner he­roes. "A Tee­nie Tiny Hal­loween" was more than just a Hal­loween bash; it was a cel­e­bra­tion of Trinidad's vi­brant her­itage, re­mind­ing every­one that the best ad­ven­tures come from em­brac­ing our sto­ries and each oth­er. What a spooky, mag­i­cal day!

La­dy­bug book se­ries. Ms Cuffy be­lieves the best in­vest­ment we can make in chil­dren is in the ear­ly years.

Email:7mary.cuffy@ya­hoo.com7• IG: marycuffy • FB: mary cuffy/Lo­la and the Danc­ing La­dy­bug