Today’s guest post is by Amy Patterson. It’s soon Halloween and for those of you who celebrate this spooky day I hope her very interesting article gives you a few ideas on how to put a different swing on “trick or treating” – with “Trunk or Treating”!
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This Halloween you should try “trunk or treating” rather than “trick or treating”. The basic difference between the two is that while in trick or treating you tend to go from one door to another for collecting candies. In trunk or treating, your kids are in the safety of a space where there are no speeding cars, and they are able to gather candy from the trunks of parked cars that belong to family, friends, and known acquaintances.
Benefits
Trunk or treating is safe and less tiring for the kids. The parents also do not have to drive the trick and treaters throughout the neighborhood and community to collect the candies. The trunk or treating is often organized by schools and churches. Thus, these are often organized within the safe boundaries of parking lots. The back portions of the vehicles are where children collect the candies from are usually decorated well in advance. The kids can take part in that as well, adding an extra bonus to the Halloween experience.
During Halloween, it often gets difficult for the parents to keep track of the kids’ movements. Thus, they risk becoming victims of speeding cars, or car accidents as they commute from house to house. The kids also vulnerable to the risks behind each closed door. This is not the case with trunk or treating. All cars are parked and the children are able to roam around the designated area safely.
Generally, when children go trick or treating, the candies they bring need to be inspected before those are allowed to be eaten by the children. This is important because candies often come from unknown neighbors and unknown people in the area. However, this is not the case with trunk or treating. The parents can keep a close watch on their children. Most of the time the members of the church or the organization organizing trunk or treating are well-known to each other. Thus, by organizing such an event in a confined area, the safety and security of the kids can be ensured.
Not just the kids, the parents also tend to have fun when trunk or treating is organized within a confined area, such as a large parking lot or public park. There is less stress over making sure their kids are safe. Moreover, in a trunk or treating event, many interesting and fun games are organized. These games are organized and enjoyed by the parents as well.
How trunk or treating is organized
Generally trunk or treating is organized by local churches or other religious organizations. All the members of the organization are asked to park their vehicles centrally at a specific location. The children, all dressed up for the Halloween party go from one vehicle to another to ask for candies and treats. All the cars and the vehicles that are used for the trunk or treating on Halloween are well decorated and filled with candies and chocolates for the kids. It may get competitive, as parent try to outdo one another for the title of the best decorated trunk!
Have you participated in a trunk or treat?
Do you prefer trunk or treating or traditional trick or treating?
Therese has completed the ‘Advanced Child Car Seat Training Course’ at TRL (Transport Research Lab) and is a CPD accredited car seat expert. She blogs about in-car safety, car seats, tips, reviews, giveaways and advice. She’s a mum on a mission to change the law and raise awareness. She is also a breastfeeding advocate and gentle parenting promoter who loves cloth nappies, baby-wearing, BLW and co-sleeping/bed-sharing.