Traditional door to door trick-or-treating may not be a good fit for your family (it’s not for mine, that’s for sure), you can find a great alternatives to trick-or-treating if you keep an open mind and do a little digging. These 5 Alternatives to Trick-or-Treating are great ideas to get you started thinking!
Halloween is a fun time for kids, dressing up like their hero, princes, or something spooky and gorging on more candy in one sitting than they are allowed to eat the entire rest of the year.
Yeah, who wouldn’t think that’s fun?!
But, the idea of allowing children to trick-or-treat door to door has lost its appeal for me. Even just to our neighbor’s houses.
I know, I know, but really. I don’t know those people like my mom and dad knew our neighbors and I just don’t feel comfortable
There’s just too many dangers from cars hitting kids to an increasing number of children coming up missing due to human trafficking, not to mention those weirdo people that don’t give out candy that is safe and sane.
End of story. Door to door trick-or-treating is not really an option anymore.
The good news is that I have 5 Alternatives to Trick-or-Treating that are boo-tter than the original.
5 Alternatives to Trick-or-Treating Boo-tter than the Original
Trunk or treating.
Lots of schools, churches and local community centers hold annual trunk-or-treat events.
These are a great alternative to trick or treating door to door.
Volunteers decorate the trunks of their cars and “trunks” to stand in for houses. Kids just go trunk-to-trunk to get their candies in a safe and closed-off environment where cars will not be driving.
To find one ask around or do a quick search on Google or Facebook for local events open to the public.
If you can not find a trunk or treat near you could even start your own with your friends, if you’re so inclined.
Treats in the Pumpkin Patch.
So, you know that big field where you can go buy a pumpkin anytime between the first of October through mid-November?
Where they have pony rides sometimes and a bajillion people descend on weekends to do their own Pumpkin Patch Photos?
Those places usually have a whole trick-or-treating thing set-up similar to the trunk-or-treat idea.
From my experience, these are usually held all day on Halloween and maybe even the weekend before the big day, so it gives you some flexibility on festivities.
Flexible festivities=fun. Heh.
Treats at the Mall.
SO MANY malls do a trick or treating thing, letting kiddos go store-to-store in a temperature controlled and closed off trick-or-treating activity giving the kids the freedom to trick-or-treat in safety.
This benefits the mall because parents are likely to shop while taking their kids out for fun making it worth throwing a large event that like free trick-or-treating.
I would highly recommend this if Halloween is cold, wet, hot, or just generally not super pleasant.
It’s also well-lit, so if you have a kid that’s afraid to go around in the dark, this is PERFECT.
Only thing I DON’T like about these events is the parking–you have to park at the mall, which means walking through the parking lot, with a super-eager kid. Not the funnest of times.
Trick or Treat on the Square.
Some towns will do similar daytime outdoor trick-or-treat events in their historic or shopping districts.
While these big events are not enclosed (you know, being outside and all), they do usually happen in areas where car traffic has been shut down for the event.
So, combined with being done in daylight, is is a great safe alternative to door-to-door trick or treating.
I tend to like the parking better at these events over the mall option, since you can walk on the sidewalk to get to the event, the event being held in the “downtown” area.
The best place to look for information on events like this in your area would be your city’s website.
Boo at the Zoo.
These are the funnest events!
I seriously can’t wait until our local zoo holds theirs this year.
And it’s not just zoos–museums, and science centers will also often host trick-or-treating events.
These activities are done in great educational environments allowing for a little learning and a lot of fun to happen together (which is part of why I feel like these are the funnest to be had).
These events often run several times throughout the month of October, too, allowing you to get the kiddos out more than once, or pick a date that works for you, even if Halloween is not a great day for your family to go trick-or-treating.
Again, flexible=fun.
Fright Night at the Park.
If you live near a theme park or plan on taking a vacation during the months of September and October, this might be a supremely fun option for your family.
The overwhelming majority of theme parks hold Halloween parties or trick-or-treating events that drive traffic to their parks in what would otherwise be “slow” months.
This is a great way to have a full family event that allows older family members (read: TEENAGERS) that may not look forward to trick-or-treating to have something fun to do as well.
And, because these theme parks are trying to gear their fun to the whole family, there will be plenty of things for the little kids, as well as the parents (read: adult beverages) in most cases.
These, however, are usually the most costly of all the alternatives to treat-or-treating, so be prepared to have a lighter wallet when you walk out.
While traditional door to door trick-or-treating may not be a good fit for your family (it’s not for mine, that’s for sure), you can find a great alternatives to trick-or-treating if you keep an open mind and do a little digging.
If you live in an area that truly has no other options for your family you can create your own alternative or choose to have a night in with fun treats and movies to make the night special for your kids.
Remember all those Halloween parties you went to as a kid (yeah, me either, but I wished there were), you can always do that and invite all of your kid’s classmates…so many ideas…just look around, you’ll come up with something.
And since it’s still a few days before the big , be sure to pin this post so that you can come back to it in a couple weeks when you’re making plans…