Seaford snacks on spooky houses

As Halloween approached, the Seaford Public Library was ready to spook children and teens with haunted houses. The only twist? These you could eat — mostly.

Last Thursday, the library hosted a festive event for Seaford students in fifth grade and up to make edible haunted houses to bring home and celebrate the Halloween weekend. With chocolate used as glue and a milk carton as the base of each house, children had fun creating their own scary scenes and eerie graveyards.

“I think this is beneficial for the community because you get to see kids that you don’t normally see,” young adult librarian Jillian Pelliccia said. “The kids also get to know each other better, especially if they don’t have class together.”

While the children had fun decorating their houses with candy-corn fences and marshmallow tombstones, many of them nibbled on the treats and giggled about school, sports and other various activities.

“This is my first year and I came with a lot of my friends,” Sarah Weinert said. “We also come to the library for library hours where we help clean and put the books away.”

The annual event has been going on for several years in the library’s community room, and each year draws an even bigger crowd. Last week, about 18 children and teens came to the event to build houses.

“I think having a program where the children can learn but also have fun is great,” Pelliccia said. “It seems like it has to be two different things, but it doesn’t.

“If you can just get them in here, then they can start seeing what’s around the library,” she added. “And that’s what is so rewarding for us. The library starts to become like a second home to them.”

With a $5 fee for supplies, children were able to participate in the event after school and check out other parts of the library, as well. For many parents, the event was a constructive extracurricular activity for their children.

“It was really good for him to be with kids his own age,” Lynn Georgiou, of Seaford, said about her 9-year-old son, Christos. “I thought it would be a really fun activity to do after school in preparation for Halloween instead of him being in front of the screen.”

The Seaford Public Library plans to keep the program running every October and draw in an even bigger crowd next year to build the creepy delights.

“I will definitely come next year with my friends,” said Ava Albanese, 11. “This is a really fun activity that I would recommend people doing. I like it because you get to decorate the house and eat it!”

For more information on the programs, visit the young adult services section at the library, or go to www.seafordlibrary.org.