Halloween is quickly approaching…are you ready?! Because you know your children are!
Are you tired of taking your kids door to door on Halloween for Trick or Treating?
Are you looking for something fun and safe to do that is an alternative to Trick or Treating? Read on to find some great ideas for Halloween instead of boring old Trick or Treating!!
All kids, young and old look forward to Halloween and going Trick or Treating. Parents on the other hand are not always excited and enthusiastic about dragging their children around the neighborhood to go Trick or Treating.
Most times, if you have smaller children, they don’t want to walk, they get tired after about three houses, or they literally don’t want to go up to anyone’s door. Interesting since the whole point of Trick or Treating is to go up to people’s doors, right?! Trust me, I’ve been there and done that. In the end, it can be more of a hassle than it’s actually worth.
Let me paint the picture…your children practically beg you to take them Trick or Treating. You try to convince them otherwise but to no avail. So you give in and prepare for your night out in the neighborhood. Once you finally get out there and start your journey, you start to remember why you did not want to do this. There is constant complaining, probably some crying, and if you’re lucky; all out temper tantrums. Sound familiar?
Once you have made it to the few houses your children have fought you to go to, you make it home. Then the dreaded task of combing through the candy for anything that looks suspicious, weird or half eaten begins. Even if you look through the stash of candy multiple times, you may still not be completely comfortable with letting your children eat any of the candy. Plus, you may not even like for your children to eat tons of sugar, so the torture you put yourself through for the night was all for nothing…
Why in the world would you put yourself and your children through this, I ask? So, do yourself a HUGE favor and find fun, safe alternatives to Trick or Treating.
5 FUN Alternatives to Traditional Trick or Treating
1. Get your kids dressed up in their costumes and head to a shopping mall.
It provides entertainment for the other shoppers while you do a little shopping!! Just kidding! The shopping mall actually provides a safe, fun and carefree way for your children to Trick or Treat. The stores in the shopping mall provide opportunities for children to dress up in their costumes and Trick or Treat to each store and receive goodies! You can even get some shopping in while you’re there. You’re happy, the kids are happy…it’s a win, win for everyone! Contact your local shopping mall to see if they are providing this fun event.
Related post: Top 20 Halloween books for young children
2. Participate in a Trunk or Treat event at a local school or church
What is Trunk or Treat, you ask? Well, Trunk or Treat is something that has gotten to be pretty popular over the last five or so years. Instead of going around door to door around the neighborhood, you take your kids to a school or church that has a Trunk or Treat event and visit the “trunks” of the other participants cars! Many times, the participants decorate their cars and trunks, and it is such a fun twist on Trick or Treating! Check with your local public school or church to inquire if they have such an event.
3. Let your kids dress up in their costumes and go to a Halloween festival or carnival.
Similar to Trunk or Treat, Halloween festivals or carnivals provide a fun variety for your Halloween night. Many schools or churches put on Halloween festivals or carnivals, equipped with games, rides, and contests! Festivals and carnivals can be a lot of fun for children of all ages! Check with your local schools (private or public) and churches to find out if there is a Halloween festival or carnival in your area.
Related post: 25 helpful tips for a happy and safe Halloween
4. Make some Halloween treats with your kids.
Skip Trick or Treating altogether. Yep, I said it. Staying in for the night is not always a bad idea. You can keep busy by making some fun and yummy Halloween treats with your kids. Make treats earlier on in the day so that you can pass them out to the children who come to Trick or Treat at your house! You can always choose to give out candy as well, rather than going out to Trick or Treat. Your children can pass out candy in their costumes to make it fun! The point is to make it a fun filled night, by staying in!
5. Start a new tradition by staying in and watching classic Halloween movies or cartoons.
If you choose to stay in for the night, start a new tradition! You can watch classic Halloween movies or cartoons with your children. When I was younger, one of my favorite Halloween cartoons to watch on Halloween night was “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”. It is such a fun family classic, and definitely a must see for children of all ages! Pop some popcorn, get in your pajamas, and cuddle up as a family and enjoy your quiet Halloween night!
Make it about your child or children
Ultimately, Halloween is supposed to be a fun experience for children. So keep in mind that you want to do things that they are comfortable with and will enjoy participating in. It is a good idea to talk with your child early on to find out what they would like to do for this fun-filled night. If they are apprehensive or unsure about any activity, it is good to have these alternatives handy!
Related post: 20 fun filled Fall activities that every family will enjoy
I am not a big fan of Halloween, even though my birthday is just six days before Halloween. I’m a big scaredy cat, and am easily scared. I personally never enjoyed going Trick or Treating as a child, and that carried over to when I had children of my own. I tried everything I could when my kids were younger to avoid Trick or Treating like the plague!!! I know that I can’t be the only person out there…I know there are others out there that can agree with me; who also don’t fancy Halloween!! Anyone?!
Do you have any alternatives to traditional Trick or Treating? Any Halloween night traditions that you’d like to share? Please share them in the comments, I would love to read about them!
Until next time,
Anitra J.
I think it’s great having alternatives for kids other than Trick or Treating. Thanks for sharing.
I pinned this post. Such great ideas!
I love the idea of going to Harvest Parties or Trunk or Treat. I never took my kids trick or treating, but we would go to Harvest Parties which were so much fun!
These are great ideas! I knew about trunk-or-treating but not any of the others. Great post!
Great ideas. I know there are usually tons of Trunk or Treat events around October. And I believe a mall near me does the trick or treating thing too. Another idea is to look into public libraries – many have trick or treating, or parties, or craft nights. Just lots of fun Halloween events.
-Lauren
My kids love Trunk or Treat! They insist on going Trick or Treating too though 🙂 It’s not my favorite, but we do it since they love it. My favorite part is when we get back and turn on a Halloween movie, trade candy, drink cocoa, and eat pumpkin casserole!
While trick-or-treating is generally a great experience for us..we go with a group of friends so have several adults on hand and have a great neighborhood to do it in – I like these alternative options for nights where its just too cold or rainy to enjoy the fun!
These are all great ideas. Hopefully some day I can do these with my own children. These are all really good ideas to have and maybe even make them into new traditions!
D, xo || from https://livedreamcreate-d.com
These are some great ideas! I have never thought about the shopping mall. Every year “The Witch” comes to my Mom’s house and leaves a Pumpkin full of goodies for each of my children. This helps so we visit a few houses in our neighborhood and we are done and head home to hand out candy. My kids love this part too. 😊🎃
Great suggestions especially for the younger children that can’t walk a lot yet or are easily scared. We love traditional trick or treating but also enjoy local fall festivals.
My family does a few of these ideas already. We go to our church trunk or treat, watch Halloween movies, and make yummy treats. I never even thought about going to the mall. What a good idea.
There are so many great activities for enjoying our Halloween costumes in our community! Our local zoo does a “Boo at the Zoo” event a few weekends in October. Kids can dress in their costumes and there are tables with candy, treats, toys and crafts set up for the kids to do throughout the zoo. I’ve never been to a Trunk or Treat, but I see them advertised at many of our local churches. Great topic for a blog post as I’m sure many parents out there are looking for fun Halloween activities to do outside of your traditional Trick or Treating!
Love the suggestions! Our church is putting on a Trunk or Treat event this year and I’m so excited! 🙂
Great ideas! I always do a neighborhood Halloween party a few weeks prior. We have booths, food, and just get to know our neighbors pot luck style. The kids dress up and we just interact as a community.
I adore all of these creative ideas Anitra! Such a wonderful way to make sure that the night is still full of fun and excitment 😊💕.
Lots of great alternatives! The mall is great no matter what the weather, and trunk or treats are so fun! Great post!
All fantastic ideas!!!! We haven’t done trick-or-treating in years, but we love finding something to do that is fun and memorable. I love that there are options for families who don’t want to let their kids go door-to-door. Thanks for sharing.
These are great ideas to change the night up.
Great post mama. These are such great alternatives. Thank you for sharing.
I’ll definitely be looking for alternatives in a couple of years. Thanks for sharing.
These are all awesome ideas! Being military, we go on base to do trunk or treating every year. I find it to be faster and much safer!
These are some great ideas. I remember as a kid, when my friend and I couldn’t trick or treat anymore we would decorate sugar cookies and watch a movie.
These are great ideas! My boys are on the spectrum so trick or treat can be very stressful for them. I’m going to try some of these out!
This is such a great list! We aren’t “tricking” this Halloween but we have lots of treats planned!
These are awesome ideas. My kids have allergies do it’s often hard to find treats that they can eat. They are still young so don’t notice Halloween yet but these are great to jot down for the future !
These are all great ideas. Last year we kind of treated it like Easter, so we might do the same this year. She dressed up. I made her a “boo basket” and we did a Halloween egg hunt so she could get some candy lol.
I love all of these different alternatives. We do multiple trick or treats and trunk or treats. It’s always so much fun.
I love the harvesting idea. I wanna try it for my kid
Such great ideas here! We’re looking forward to doing a few!
These are great ideas. Thank you!
Love all of your posts!
These are so great. I love the trunk idea. We’ve been during a trip to Bulk Barn and rent a Halloween movie for the past 3 years.
These are great ideas! Staying in and watching a Halloween movie sounds perfect
I Like staying in the house option and eating candy.
Fabulous alternative ideas! Watching those Halloween movies are great!
such a great information you share