[sydneybeach]

How popular is Halloween to celebrate? Do kids go door to door trick or treating?
How else is Halloween celebrated?

While I'm here, & this has nothing to do with Halloween; Do kids get outside & play on their street with other kids from the street?
Obviously this is for those who live on quiet streets.

Thanks.

For those interested, in Australia kids obviously want to celebrate halloween by trick or treating bc they want lollies. Unfortunately the majority of people do not participate & some are darn right rude to kids who dare to knock on their door.

My boy plays on our street with more than 10 other kids (there's generally someone around to drag out). We are lucky enough to live in a very quiet area with a park for them to explore & be creative & inventive. As summer is coming & we have a pool we'll no doubt have a constant stream of kids in & out. Hmmmm.

Look forward to hearing of your traditions.

[Cambium]

Kids on my quiet street don't play with one another.. But there are some kids on otherside of neighborhood who are always hanging out and exploring together.

I think Haloween was made up by terrorists..a rediculas holiday(if you can call it that)..cut off heads, scary masks, ghosts, devils...ect.

Or by the government...hey let's have everyone buy candy for kids across a country who 1 in 10 have diabeties anyway and projected to be 1 in 4...maybe obama should have a candy stimulus package. Lol

[kidyankee764]

Halloween is a big deal for most kids (in Connecticut, at least). I can remember going trick-or-treating when I was a kid and seeing a ton of other kids doing the same. Generally, if you had candy, you left your front lights on and if you didn't, your house was dark.

Recently a few towns in Connecticut have been thinking safety first. I know the Senior Center of Oxford sponsors a "Trick or Trunk" event on Halloween at the high school where people park their vehicles, decorate them and kids go from car to car to collect candy. There are also Halloween games that take place with prizes. Not the same as I remember it, but in current times when safety is an issue, not a bad idea.

[andthentherewere3]

Most people in family neighborhoods turn on their lights at dusk and give candy out to children. If it's a close-knit neighborhood, they might even just leave a bowl of candy on the front steps for the kids to take on their own. Most children do go trick-or-treating, although some parents prefer to take their kids to places that have Halloween celebrations, like malls, private parties, etc. Most elementary school classrooms also have some kind of holiday party to celebrate Halloween, and some include a parade around the school with the children wearing their costumes.

I think the above terrorist comment by Cambium is not the norm.

As for kids playing outside together, it really depends on the neighborhood. In some neighborhoods you will always see children out playing, in others very rarely. Sometimes it just depends on who is living on your street, you might end up in a neighborhood with mostly older adults and few kids. In my experience it seems that kids in cities don't play outside as much as those in more suburban neighborhoods, too. I would not be too worried about the pool, most parents are respectful of others' privacy, and you won't likely get too many kids showing up to swim without an invitation first.

[willow wind]

I live on a quiet, -no traffic street in a small town. It's very safe here. Trick or treaters seem to be less and less every year- sometimes just a half dozen children, down from a couple of dozen in years past. That could be because local children have grown up and moved on and have not been replaced or could be because of parental fears. In years past children under 11-12 usually came with parents waiting discreetly at the street while the kids rang the doorbells. The unwritten rule is that if you want trick or treaters you leave your front lights/ driveway lights on and if you don't you keep the front of your house dark. Your children in Australia seem to have lived the life I had as a child- Mom put the kids outside in the morning or when school let out, kids came in for lunch, went back out, came in for dinner, then went back out until the streetlights came on. Then could hang out in front of the house until bedtime. We roamed all the place. I grew up in a large city, and no, it was never some safe paradise, kids were just watchful and developed a radar about who and what to avoid and where not to go. Today kids are scheduled after school and during the daylight hours are seldom without some adult hovering around supervising and directing. You may or may not wind up in a neighborhood where kids play outside on weekends, more likely they will play at someone's house. Pre teens and young teens don't really wander around on their own anymore.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by willow wind

Your children in Australia seem to have lived the life I had as a child-

My parents are from Australia and I still have close family there. It's a very similar country to the USA in many respects. I didn't get the culture shock there that I did when I went to most parts of Europe, and even Quebec.

[KH02]

My neighborhood is FULL of trick or treaters every year.

The quieter neighborhoods with less traffic and sidewalks tend to have more activity on halloween then main roads do, simply due to safety.

Here, if you DO NOT WANT to participate by handing out candy then you simply shut off all your exterior lights. Kids will only trick or treat at houses with the front light on.
It's always worked for us!!

[laulob]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Halloween is a big deal for most kids (in Connecticut, at least). I can remember going trick-or-treating when I was a kid and seeing a ton of other kids doing the same. Generally, if you had candy, you left your front lights on and if you didn't, your house was dark.

Recently a few towns in Connecticut have been thinking safety first. I know the Senior Center of Oxford sponsors a "Trick or Trunk" event on Halloween at the high school where people park their vehicles, decorate them and kids go from car to car to collect candy. There are also Halloween games that take place with prizes. Not the same as I remember it, but in current times when safety is an issue, not a bad idea.

I agree Halloween is a big deal around where I live. Most kids participate in parties at school and do trick or treat. The trick or trunk (which is actually sponsored by Parks and Rec) is popular although we've never gone. It began though because there aren't many traditional neighborhoods in the town where the roads are safe for kids to walk. Many are dark and windy with fast moving cars. I don't don't know too many people concerned about kids safety in terms of knocking on the door of someone they don't know.

We choose to drive to a friend or relative's neighborhood that is more easily walkable, which is another option. My parents neighborhood is ideal and they get people driving their kids there from all over their town. They get over 100 kids during the evening knocking on the door, and a few times have run out of candy and have had to shut the light.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Cambium

Kids on my quiet street don't play with one another.. But there are some kids on otherside of neighborhood who are always hanging out and exploring together.

I think Haloween was made up by terrorists..a rediculas holiday(if you can call it that)..cut off heads, scary masks, ghosts, devils...ect.

Or by the government...hey let's have everyone buy candy for kids across a country who 1 in 10 have diabeties anyway and projected to be 1 in 4...maybe obama should have a candy stimulus package. Lol

I really wish people that post here would think about what they say before posting it. The person asking about Halloween is from outside of our country and is asking about our traditions in order to know what to expect. this response really give the person a bad impression which is NOT the norm for this holiday here in Connecticut.

To answer the OP's question, there are many ways this holiday is celebrated. There are still neighborhoods where kids go out dressed in costumes and "trick-or-treat" for candy (my neighborhood). Some towns have large parties for children with a typical Halloween theme. Depending where you end of living will depend on what is done. It is a great holiday that kids here look forward to. Jay

[Cambium]

Oh come on Jay, this is a forum to express opinions right? One person who says what I said won't give a bad impression..but if you stop and think about it, it really is rediculas...think of all the other holidays kids have fun with..christmas gifts, easter bunnies, ect ect. And correct me if I'm wrong but the parent(s) should do something exciting for the kids every week at least without using halloween as an excuse for kids to have fun..

P.S- look into the history of how Halloween got started.