Trick-or-Treat Alternatives for Halloween Fun

Halloween is a great time to be a kid. All the costumes, colors, and excitement, not to mention the treats, are a child's dream come true. As a parent, however, you may have some reservations about the traditional trick-or-treating. Don't feel bad; there are real health and safety considerations that are often forgotten in the haze of the holiday. Just because you feel like trick-or-treating isn't right for your family doesn't mean you can't still enjoy yourselves. Here are some fun alternatives for a fantastic Halloween.

1. Business Sponsored Halloween Parties: No matter where you live, you can likely find local businesses, especially the educational and child-oriented ones, offering some kind of Halloween entertainment. Many offer fun things to do like costume contests, games, and shows. Check out zoos, libraries and museums to see if they're offering any special festivities. Malls and other shopping centers are also good places to look as are local college campuses.

2. Pumpkin Patches: Take your children to a pumpkin patch, and let them pick out their own special pumpkin to decorate. Besides pumpkin picking, pumpkin patches sometimes offer other Halloween attractions like hay rides, corn mazes, and haunted houses. If they don't offer any other attractions, though, the kids will still love picking out their personal pumpkin, the time outdoors with their family, and creating a Jack-O-Lantern later on.

3. Halloween Sleep Over: Have you children invite their friends for a dress up Halloween sleep over party. Let them enjoy traditional games like tag, charades or bobbing-for-apples. Get "Monster Mash", "Purple People Eater", and other classic Halloween tracks playing and let them dance like crazy. Later, settle them down with a favorite Halloween kids' movie and get the little monsters off to bed.

4. Halloween Play: Allow your children to write a play that incorporates the characters they've chosen as their costumes and make invitations for other family members. Make some snacks for your guests and allow the children to perform their act. After that, just enjoy spending the holiday together as a family.

5. Halloween Treats: Instead of going door-to-door for candy, make your own Halloween treats at home as a family. Make baked goods like cookies, brownies, and cakes all decorated with fall colors and spooky characters. Your family could either enjoy eating them together later on, or you could create treat baskets to give away to family members, friends, or teachers.

Trick-or-treating is far from the only child-friendly thing to do on Halloween. These alternatives will not only ease your mind of any trick-or-treat concerns, but they'll live on in your children's memories as a Halloween celebration that was special for your family.