Thread: Little TOTs Area

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I am curious how many of you have an area in your haunt for the little TOTs.

90 percent of my haunt is set-up for the "older" TOTs - but I do have an area set up for the little TOTs (under the age of six). I find the parents that accompany the little TOTs really appreciate that area. It contains plush toys (snakes with smiles, happy monsters with smiles, and others like this), animated motion activated toys that play "happy" music and other things geared toward the 6 and under crowd.

What do the rest of your put in the little TOTs area?

Thanks for the feedback

jbrimaco, I voted no because I don't even get many TOTs. I'm lucky to get 12 (that was the high last year). I'm way off the road, and my stuff is down by the roadside.
If TOTs make it up to the house in their parent's car, all I have at the door is a pumpkin and some lights, so that really doesn't count as a kid safe area.

I've had Boo Corner for the last seven or eight years, for littler ToTs and scared grown-ups. And, as jbrimaco mentioned, lots of parents really appreciate the easier-to-handle mini-haunt.
There's a Halloween Tree they can help decorate, with a Haunted Express train set running around the tree (just like a Christmas tree, only NOT!), there are cute props and some stuffed animals, and the picture window above that area of the porch is where I show the movies (NMBC, Mad Monster Party, Disney's Legend of Sleepy Hollow, etc.) all night, so little kids just hang out there and love it.
It's also neat to see the littler ToTs grow up, and choose "this year is the one I'll go out to the bigger haunt", the looks on their faces when they finally do.
Just this past Halloween, I had at least four ToT's who began coming here when they could only be in Boo Corner because they were so little, who got to go through the rest of the display for the first time.
If you have a little extra room, and have some cutesy props and decorations which you wouldn't otherwise use in your haunt, a littler-kid-friendly area is a very good idea that parents will appreciate and they will remember your haunt next year.


Mike C.

We do not have a cute area but will once we move. Last year it bothered me to see clearly terified little ones pushed pulled or drug up the sidewalk by parents or older siblings.

Originally Posted by slightlymad

We do not have a cute area but will once we move. Last year it bothered me to see clearly terified little ones pushed pulled or drug up the sidewalk by parents or older siblings.

I know the feeling. When I was just a little guy myself, and my family put on their annual haunt at my grandmother's big house, I recall seeing a lot of kids who were almost being bullied by their older siblings and parents into areas I felt might not be right for them if they're THAT scared. And it was odd because we never did anything gory, and nothing violent or loud, just spookiness and strangers in scary costumes and haunting music was all it took to really shake up the littler kids.
Of course, one of the aspects of Halloween we all understand and celebrate is the idea that a good spooky but safe scare is healthy, cathartic and needed in a rightly-raised child's life. So it's good to get them scared, but traumatizing's a whole other concept.
So I made sure to have a littler-ToTs area once I got my own home.


Mike C.

Michigal,
I understand your answer. I also saw your haunt and the wind damage. It really bites when the elements do a number on the displays. Were you able to get it all repaired before Oct. 31?

Mike C,
I love the end of your message. It was very nicely put. Boo corner is your primer for the real haunts of Halloween. Kind of like my Little TOTs display. I have seen many TOTs go from the little TOTs area to the main haunt. Some even get brave enough to ask if they can help set-up when they see me outside working on the displays in the daylight.

Slightlymad,
Good luck with the Little TOTs display after your move. Your description of the TOTs being "pushed and dragged" also bother my wife. She came up with the idea of the Little TOTs area and I built the shelter for her display and let her do her thing. It's nice to have her "own" part of the haunt.

I give out different treats to little ones and am always trying to improve my givaway system. Last year, I put the tiny TOT things on a short table. However, I had it too close to the bigger kids table. MISTAKE! The short table gave some TOTs an opportunity to 'steal' from the short table by simply grabbing the items at hand level. Grrrrrrr!

Having learned my lesson, I will now set up the tiny TOT area well away from the bulk of the toys and treats.

Having an area for little ones is brilliant! We don't do a full-on 'haunt', just some silly, slightly spooky stuff in the driveway. That way, my daughters, who are scaredy-cats, can have fun and enjoy it, and it makes it "all ages". I appreciate what you're saying about being concerned about not traumatizing the little ones. Don't wanna scare away future business!