Trick or Treat Question

Protocol is to go to the houses that look like they are being receptive to trick or treaters. Generally lights will be on and a jack0lantern or some other festive decoration will be present. Have fun ;)

Use it as a chance to meet new people!!

Oh, and at 3, don't expect her to get very far. My 2 year old made it to 3 houses last year, lol.

as long as the light is on, i always go up there with my daughters, strangers houses and all>.

We go door to door and knock on the doors that have the porch light on. We just check all the candy before we let our kids eat any of it.

Yep. Door to door. Strangers or not. If the lights are on (particularly outdoor lighting of some kind) then "Trick or Treat!" Have fun! :)

...Just don't forget to go through her candy afterwards and make sure it's all closed & wrapped up. Nothing open, nothing loose etc...

There is a church around the corner from us that has a trunk-or-treat. I don't attend their church at all, but they are not "in your face" for the secular events they hold. We took my son to the trunk-or-treat last year and had a very nice time. There was nothing "churchy" about the event, other than it was held on the church property. There was a little flyer about the church in the goodie bag they gave out and that was it. I'll probably take him again this year.

Re. trick-or-treating in your neighborhood, she's probably not going to want to walk forever, so you won't be going too far. I used to trick or treat the few blocks around my house when I was younger - strangers and neighbors - we just did it with an adult, older kid friend or in a group.

It's fine to go to all the homes in your neighborhood that have lights on outside, and appear "approachable" for the purposes of "trick or treating". If it is part of your neighborhood, then it is "fair game". lol

There are always a group of people who find it "common practice" to take their kids to "popular" neighborhoods or "easy" neighborhoods (the ones with nice sidewalks and lots of houses) even though they DON'T live there. Please don't be one of those parents. The people who live there know that you don't. Even if you think your car is far enough around the curve that you can't see it well. They know. Trust me.
Your 3 yr old is going to get tired quickly anyway. At 3, we took our daughter with her older brother (who was 6) to about 5 houses. She was done. It was just the few houses in a loop around our street (one loop out of a much much bigger neighborhood), but it was a lot of walking carrying a bag for a 3 yr old. Keep that in mind when you are making your plans.

And have fun!

P.S.
Some grocery stores will have a "trick or treat" time where they give out candy/prizes at different "stations" set up inside the store. Also, some malls will do this. Just look for signs as your local retailers or ask at their customer service counter. ;)

Out of 40 houses we knock on, we personally only know maybe 4 of them. Most people know that if they leave their porch light on on Halloween night, it will get rung and knocked on. So yes - knock on a door with the porch light on. Most candy-givers will bend down and let her pick a candy or two from the bowl. Most are very sweet-- "Hello sweetheart. Oh don't you look beautiful." Have fun. Bring a flashlight with fresh batteries. Maybe a stroller if she gets tired, too much candy to hold, or something to hold your jacket if it gets too hot running from door to door.

Oh and don't go into people's homes even if invited. That's kind of weird and would creep me out.

Just go to any house that has their light on. You usually don't go into strangers houses, just up to the door. =)

We live in a nice small subdivision and while I don't personally know every neighbor, I had no misgivings about taking my DD trick-or-treating last year when she was 2, and plan to do it again this year. There are several small kids in our neighborhood and as long as their porch lights are on, it's fine. We always go through the candy and inspect it before DD is allowed to have any, but she doesn't eat that much candy anyway. She seems more excited about the experience of wearing a costume and walking the neighborhood at night to collect the candy than about actually eating the candy itself.

Yep -we always just take the kids around the neighborhood. That's what I did too -I grew up in a small town, so we knew everyone, but we don't now. Some we know, but most we don't. Just give the candy a once-over and make sure nothing has been opened. We only go to houses with a jack-o-lantern or other Halloween decorations.

I have always gone door to door, as a child and with my children now, but I am always with them, no matter the age. I used to go alone with my bog sister, but we live in a different time now, and no matter the age of my boys I will always be with them if they are going door to door for any reason.

Also look at the community centers and malls were you live. A lot of them in our area have trick or treat events and if it's really grizzly outside, it's nice to stay indoors. Happy Halloween.

We always just went door to door to everyone and now on the other end of it, I rarely know the kids that come to our door.

we go door to door or to a community event. Tradition says door to door. I've met some of my neighbors that way. But that's a lot of walking for not that much candy. Only sporadic neighbors participate. I prefer going to a trunk or treat or a carnival.

Some places may have Trunk or Treating during the day that she can go to. My son is also going for the first time (2.5). We don't know all our neighbors, but plan to just go to a few houses in the area, with us being there, and then have him trade the candy in for a toy. When I was young, but older than your daughter, I did go to strangers' houses.

When I was younger my parents used to take us down to the "Main street" in our town and trick or treat all the businesses, so now that we are thinking of taking our daughter trick or treating I looked into if the town we are living in had something similar. I went to the Chamber of Commerece website and sure enough they do!! The best part is that its earlier in the day, from like 3pm-6pm, which is ideal for a 2 year old!! I would suggest checking your towns website and they should have a list of things that are going on in your area.... Good luck!!

Although I still live in the neighborhood I grew up in, many have come and gone...quicker than I can get to know them sometimes. We still go door to door (ones with lights on, halloween decor), but have the rule that no candy is to be eaten until we get home & sort through it for safety reasons. Some hospitals do offer free xrays of candy still, so you can call and ask to make things a little better for you. Is there somebody in the area your friends with that knows the people & maybe you can tag along with them so at least a mutual acquaintance will put you at ease? Since she is little and you are will be with her you won't have to worry about her going into a stranger's house. As my kids have gotten older I tag along at the street but remind them not to go anyone's house they don't know & most people are respectful of that (sometimes the older people offer them in briefly...it's just not what they are used to, plus it's hard for them to get to the door sometimes). Have fun....

try walking with a neighbor or two.. they will know the houses to go to.. see if your town is having a trick or treat party in town for little kids.. this is fun too. I would only go to the houses in my neighborhood... but i have many friends here... i have had friends from other areas come over because they don't have such a good neighborhood to go around too... so see if your neighbors are going around.. and join them. good luck

My parents took us to strangers houses to trick or treat and everything was fine. My parents always checked our candy and dumped the ones that were not wrapped good. They also ate a few of the chocolates and said they were testing for posion. lol.

I grew up near Muscatine! I think if you see where other children are going and see nice homes, then you'll be fine. There are some stately older homes near Unity Hospital and the neighborhoods are really nice around there. Maybe you could try that area. Where ever you go, I doubt she'll last too long being 3. Maybe go to Happy Joe's afterwards! My favorite pizza place in the whole world!

Ditto what the other mom's posted it's Trick or Treating not meeting people to be friends with them...So go have fun walk around the area where you live or go else where you don't need to leave her alone to go to the door I don't i'm standing right there NO CANDY IS TO BE EATEN TILL IT IS GONE THROUGH very strong rule of mine...
The lights maybe on for some folks but if no answer go on to the next house

Yep! Door to door!

We don't trick'o'treat in our own neighborhood (college area...we'd get beer, but no candy). Instead, since moving to this neighborhood 2 years ago, there is a "Christmas Lane" type street about two miles over where apx 50-75 houses spend THOUSANDS on their Halloween Street that we go to instead. Fog machines, lights, haunted houses, skeletons in trees, acting troupes. 1 or 2 houses are 16 and over... but the rest are geared for little kids. Like Christmas Lane neighborhoods... people moving in sign a covenant and there is a "right of first refusal" waiting list to get on this street. Grand fun. Like a carnival.

When my son was 3 we just trick'o'treated on our street (quiet, residential type). I was surprised as how quick it was. He got cold... so it was a 15 minute jaunt. Now that he's 8, we typically stay out for at least 2 hours. And for the first year ever, we're trick'o'treating on Saturday as well (weird, weird, weird), but one of his friends lives near an area that does trick o treating the saturday nearest halloween. I don't get it, but it should be fun.