11 Alternatives to Trick-or-Treating

Trick-or-treating is fun for big kids, but for toddlers? Halloween night can be too cold, too much walking and too much sugar for the littlest kids. They’ll likely want to be involved in the big day on October 31, but you might want to keep their fun in check and age-appropriate. Here, a couple creative moms offer alternatives to hiking from house to house on Halloween. Let toddlers have their celebration—and actually enjoy it, too.

“Instead of going around town, have your kids trick-or-treat in your own backyard with a scavenger hunt,” says party planner and mom Desiree Spinner, founder of the baby and kids blog La Petite Peach. She suggests you hide age-appropriate sweets in the nooks and crannies of your yard. “They can still dress in costume and experience the joy of surprise candy and treats.” Best part? If they’re tired after a half hour, you can call it a night!

If you’d rather keep sweets to a minimum, choose to go scavenging for craft pumpkins (with a surprise inside) instead. “Little ones love the thrill of the chase,” says creative-mom blogger Suzonne Stirling, a contributing craft editor for Family Circle and other magazines. “Flatten out some orange cupcake liners and draw Jack-o-Lantern faces on half of them with black markers. Put a party favor like a ball or sticker between two liners and glue the edges together. … Then, hide all of the Jack-o'-lantern faces in the backyard and provide buckets or bags for children to fill.”

Kids love games! Get in the competitive spirit by creating a beanbag toss with just a few items. “Use an orange hula hoop, or wrap one with orange crepe paper and place it on the floor,” Stirling says. “Make facial features out of construction paper and place them inside the hoop, then attach to the floor with double-sided tape. Children try to toss bean bags onto the facial features. You can assign points for slightly older children, who can add up points and win prizes for various levels.”

No need to carve Jack-o'-lanterns. Arts and crafts are more fun for little kids, so decorate Halloween pumpkins—especially of the small variety that children love. “It's a basic idea, but give them all kinds of fun things to decorate with, like pre-cut paper or felt facial features, buttons if they're old enough, feathers, stickers, even candy,” says Stirling. “Have the kids decorate small pumpkins together; they could be minis or pie-size pumpkins. It's a classic craft, and the kids can take pride in their handiwork. An alternative to decorating pumpkins is to have them decorate trick-or-treat bags for the pumpkin hunt.”

Remember this game from your childhood? Your kids will think it’s just as entertaining. “Bobbing for apples is a classic way for kids to have fun while getting a sweet treat,” says Spinner. “For a twist on the original, hang doughnuts from string and have the kids eat them with no hands.” They’ll love the goodies they’re fishing for, and will probably get a good giggle as well.

Forget Halloween’s staple candies, and opt for something a little more decadent—and decoration-friendly. “Nix candy altogether and decorate pre-baked cookies or cupcakes together,” says Stirling. “I find that children of all ages enjoy this activity, even more than they enjoy eating the final product.” Isn’t a warm cookie or gooey cupcake better, anyway? And if you want to keep it healthier, opt for pumpkin muffins instead.

Bust out the watercolor paint you have tucked away down in the basement, and let your toddler go for it. “Cut oversize pumpkin shapes from watercolor paper and have kids paint and decorate them,” Stirling says. If kids are a little older (age 4 or above), take it one step further and make pumpkin pillows. “Pumpkin shapes can have holes punched around the edges, and kids can lace them together with yarn, adding a little stuffing between the layers to create dimension.” You can buy stuffing at a local craft store.

A Halloween fiesta? Why not? “Make your kids work for it,” says Spinner. “A piñata bursting full of candy is just as much fun as trick-or-treating.” Feel free to fill the pinata with any treat you desire (and that’s mom-approved). All things considered, a lot less work for the kiddos than trudging through a neighborhood on Halloween night!

Photo via Cathie Fillian

Make use of your little ones’ cute costumes, and capture the Halloween memory. “Let kids ham it up in costume with a few simple props,” says Stirling. “Arrange a smattering of decorated pumpkins along the baseboards, maybe some bats, or a moon and stars on the wall behind them. Take individual shots—family shots or kids together. Maybe even provide some extra, simple costume items, like funny glasses or hats for kids who really want to amp it up.”

Limit the amount of sweets your kids consume on the big night without limiting the fun. “Make old-fashioned crepe-paper treat balls with candy and small toys wrapped between the layers,” Stirling says. “To make the balls feel festive, add decorative features made from black contact paper or construction paper and googly eyes. Add Jack-o'-lantern features and a stem to an orange ball, black ghost features to a white ball, googly eyes and wings to make bats out of black balls, and so on.” Stirling suggests this how-to, using paper streamers instead of cut strips.

Photo via Charlotte's Fancy

Even without trick-or-treating, you can still make Halloween a total event. Invite other toddler-age children along with their moms and dads over for a backyard DIY carnival. “Invite the neighborhood kids over for some supervised fun, complete with relay games, face painting and pumpkin painting,” Spinner says. Keep it laid-back, offer a few refreshments and let the little ones run around with friends. This is a comfortable, controlled party that kids and parents alike can really enjoy.