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Not trick-or-treating? Try one of these alternatives
Categories: Holidays
Though the tampered candy scare of the 70s and 80s is little more than urban legend, safety is one reason that parents may decide to opt out of trick-or-treating. Unsuitable neighborhoods, bad weather, and religious objections are other reasons to keep kids from going door-to-door. But just because you've decided to skip out on the candy grabbing doesn't mean that you can't join in on the Halloween fun. If trick-or-treating isn't your thing, try one of these alternatives instead:
- Host a party for your kids and their friends. Carve pumpkins, bob for apples, or plan a candy scavenger hunt.
- Kids too old for trick-or-treating? Let them plan a Halloween movie night.
- Research community-organized parties in your area.
- Visit your local shopping mall, where stores often pass out candy to trick-or-treaters.
- Visit a corn maze, pumpkin farm, or haunted house as a family.
- Throw a monster-themed dinner party. Think "spaghetti and eyeballs" with a tasty witches brew to drink!
- Want the experience but not the candy? Trick-or-treat for UNICEF.
- Try "trunk-or-treating." Groups get together and decorate the trunks of their cars, then let children trick-or-treat amongst them.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ashley 9-30-2008 @ 9:15PM
what crazy person opts out of trick or treating? Samhain (halloween) is a great holiday with spirtual roots and fun traditions!!
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Pam 9-30-2008 @ 10:18PM
Decorating cookies is always a fun favorite at our house. Little ghosts and ghouls just love to help make them, cut them, bake them, frost them, lick them, frost them again, lick them, then sprinkle them, lick them, bite them, frost them, sprinkle them, then be proud of them. It is a true culinary creation!
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Crystal 10-01-2008 @ 1:58AM
My kiddos have never trick or treated but have always enjoyed halloween. We don't do the door to door because of an experience I had as a child with a friend of mine but we do "celebrate" in our own way! I come up with a theme for the day, plan a meal and rent movies within that theme and buy candy and goodies for them. They always look forward to the decorations and their friends are always welcome to come enjoy the party!
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Heather 10-01-2008 @ 7:34AM
We tried the trick-or-treat thing for a couple of years, but we found that our kids (ages 6 and 3) get WAY too much candy, and a lot of it is candy that they either don't like, or is stuff I don't feel comfortable giving them (hard candy, gum, ect.)
Our town does a downtown trick-or-treat about an hour or so before the actual time, so last year we started taking the kids to the local stores then comming home and handing out non-candy items. I feel safer with them only getting goodies from the stores (they give out better candy too!) and we get lots less. Then the kids still get to hang around the house in their costumes and treat other kids! Another good thing is that we get home before it gets really cold out and the kids get a chance to wind down before bed!
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