Thread: A different kind of Treat ?

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I have an idea I have been thinking about for some time, see what you think.

In my part of Western NC. people are very religious. That's VERY religious.

I try to respect people of all faith, but a lot of people in this area are just fanatic.

Each year I see Halloween fading away a little more and less kids Trick Or Treating.

Some people around here believe Halloween is an evil pagan holiday associated with Devil worship and witchcraft . (I know, it's 2010 and some still think this way...go figure)

To combat Halloween, churches have invented a "Fall Festival" held on Halloween.
The big thing for the kids is to take part in a thing the churches call "Trunk Or Treat". Kids in costume go from car to car in the church parking lot and say "Trunk or Treat ?" then the car owner gives them candy. (No, I'm not making this up)

As an effort to keep traditional door to door Trick Or Treating alive, as well as keeping the Trick Or Treaters that still come to my door coming, I think this year I will give out little toys as well as candy, you know like the small party favors they sell at the dollar store?

(Yes this is an obvious bribe, but hey, look where I live) Do any of you do this already? What do you think of the idea? I think the kids would love this and make the holiday even more special.

It's a shame some parents can't just let kids enjoy Halloween without turning it into some kind of religious public statement or protest. It's just a bit of fun for us all......what's the harm?

Check out www.orientaltrading.com. You can buy in bulk for really cheap.

Last year we handed out glow bracelets along with the candy. We picked them up at Michaels, they had packs of 15 for a buck. We bought 10 packs and gave away almost every one. My wife and my neighbors wife took the time to put them on the kids. They were a HUGE hit with the parents as well as the kids, and we recieved lots of complements on how nice it was. A little PR never hurts, and I have no doubt that most will be back this year.

Unfortunately Trunk or Treat has been around for a number of years and is gaining ground. I find it quite ironic that they're training kids to go up to strangers in their cars and take candy from them.

In addition to candy, I've given out glow bracelets, spider rings, bat rings (those were so cool!) and ghost whistles over the years and they all go over really well.

I second Oriental Trading and also check out US Toys. http://www.ustoy.com/cgi-bin/ustoy_c...2.0/index.html

I have a US Toy/Constructive Playthings store nearby and they have AWESOME stuff in bulk for Halloween TOT (where I got my whistles and bat rings).

I always have a cauldron of candy and a pumpkin ToT bucket of fun stuff. I get those bags of rings, rubbery bugs, skeletons, critters, snakes, lizards, spiders, etc. I let the kids pick out what they like while I get the candy. I usually give one funsize chocolate with a regular candy like dumdums, nerds, skittles, stuff like that. I give chocolates according to costume, if the kid isn't dressed up they get two dumdums, if the costume is awesome they get all chocolate.
I'm just evil like that!

The kids really like getting to pick out a toy, even though they are small. You would be surprised how often the little girls pick out the scariest of the toys! LOL

you give little pamphelts about the evil of halloween...

I am sure people will remember your house next year..

Since I celebrate Halloween every night of the entire year?
"Control" might be the main isue, forget about anything religious. What good is a kid if they do what they want to do?
"God made you like you are, how dare you change yourself with a costume and a wig!"
"God also made my brain that wanted me to pretend to be someone (Or something?) else."
There's the secret..they want us brainless..brains are ..evil.

I have no problem with trunk or treat.Most kids do both in our area because they put it on another day.I always give out some good loot.I put glowsticks-some sort of glow jewlery-cups-tatoos-fangs.I loaded up at walmart last year at 50-90% off soI am set for this year.

The idea of branding trick or treating as somehow evil and trunk or treating is wholesome and church approved turns my stomach. My immediate thought aligned with that of Frankie's Girl: they're encouraging kids to think that goodies will come from approaching the car trunks of strangers?!

However, I'm all for giving out cheap gifts instead of candy on Halloween. We put out trays of candy and small toys (cereal toys, fast food toys, you name it) and I think the non-candy items go out at about a rate of 4:1 over the candy. Whether you're encouraging the trunk-goers or merely rewarding the Halloween lovers, I say go for it! I always stock up at places like Walgreens in early November so I'm sure to be covered for the following year.

Luckily, Trunk or Treat and other parties/harvest festivals often happen on a different day or early in the evening, so the treaters just go from one thing to the next. The more places you go, the more candy you get!

Fortunately, so far in our neighborhood, door to door trick or treating is still pretty popular - my hope is to just keep making my house a fun destination and keep them coming back each year. And that the foot traffic on the big night draws more folks down to my end of the street!

I've been surprised that most of my tots seem to enjoy the whole experience and don't even pay much attention to what I'm dropping in their bags. I try to go with a nice snack sized candy bar (and keep a few bags of cheaper stuff in reserve in case we get mobbed.)

But this does remind me of a couple thoughts I had last year - for this Halloween I'm going to stock a few treats especially for the really tiny tots, perhaps little bags of Teddy Grahams for the babies/toddlers whose parents said they were too young for candy. (They were usually along for the walk with bigger siblings!)

And there were a few people who had dogs in costumes - I'll keep some little bags of doggie snacks to give as a reward for their creativity!!