Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Long Beach, CA

Halloween is all about exploring fear in a safe way. Witches and ghosts become a little less scary in the camp and theater of Halloween celebrations. In the same way, children act out their everyday fears in pretend play.

In August, my four-year-old daughter Bella and I were in Louisiana visiting family when we had to evacuate abruptly ahead of Hurricane Gustav. Getting out of town was a nightmare. We sat in heavy traffic, and there was a whole lot of waiting around, all to the backdrop of wall-to-wall hurricane coverage on TV and the radio. Bella kept it together remarkably well. She was patient and calm, even when we were surrounded by chaos. But after we were safely back home, she seemed newly fragile. Then I noticed a theme emerging in her play. She packed bags and loaded her dolls onto the toy stroller. "I have to get to the airport before the big storm comes," she said. Watching her, I realized the stress of the evacuation had affected her more than I'd thought. In pretend play, she was able to work through her fears, to contain them in her imaginary world.

Six months ago her favorite game was Knock on the Door. She would demand that her father or I pretend to be a guest knocking on the door of her room. We greeted her warmly, then she invited us in for a Lego snack. We acted out the same scene over and over again. For a while I wondered what it was all about, then it came to me that she was working out her fear of new people.

Kids don't really need our help to work out their fears this way, but by observing them at play, we can figure out what's bothering them. We can give them toys and props to use, and join in when we're invited. Afterward, we can help them find words to express their feelings and bring their fears out into the open.

For more on helping children work through fears, check out this post about using art to tame nightmares.