Trunk or Treat VS Trick or Treat

Due to being neuro-spicy there are some things we manage daily that many don't even think about. Some of our bigger battles at this preschool age are things like wearing regular clothes instead of the fleece sleepers they wear to bed, being adamantly opposed to going outside of the house even if it is known that the activity we are going to is something they would love, and so much more. That said we ended this past month doing something I never thought possible, our preschool aged boys got to participate in "trunk or treating."

Now some people really don't like trunk or treating. I have been told that it is not the "right or good" way to do trick or treating. I give merit to that for some but every child is different and as parents we all just want to do what is best for our kids too.

So how do you decide which you would rather do with your kids? Well first the following factors were major reasons for why we did trunk or treating instead, and thinking about each factor is what will lead to doing what is best for your specific child as well:

1. Trunk or Treat events take place anytime of day. Some are Halloween night, some the day of, and many the weekend before Halloween. Trick or treating however is listed generally as a rule of thumb 1-2 hours before dusk (5-6pm) and ending about 1 hour after dusk (about 8pm). With preschool age children the timing for Trunk or Treating being earlier is a much easier time to finish long before the kids end up cranky for bedtime. We did one Trunk or Treat Halloween from 4:30pm-6pm. The other Trunk or Treat we did the weekend before and did it about 2pm-5pm.

2. So I do know that the old school trick or treating was you dressing up in costumes and walking door to door through the neighborhoods asking for candy. If it was too cold you would hope your parent was willing to drive the car for you to get your candy and then jump back in back and forth all night. Some kids would go in groups with their friends, some just went with their families, etc. It was still a great way of celebrating for many. For us though, the trunk or treat provides a perfect benefit of walking a small parking lot where your child walks with you up to the decorated trunks (and some are very elaborate and spectacular to look at) and end up trick or treating to the equivalent of 20-30 houses in a shorter walk and smaller space.

3. With it being during the day it was easy to see what they were handing out candy wise too and I could even quickly ask the adult if they could give my child a specific candy option. We aren't candy snobs. We are a family with a lot of food allergies. My kiddos can't have any of the chocolate, no really strawberries, no raisins, no dairy. It's a lot to manage but a trunk or treat makes their risk much less than the regular trick or treating at night where I likely can't see what the kids are getting and it may be more difficult to ensure they don't quickly eat something they can't before we notice.

4. Trunk or Treat is an entire experience! It is more like attending a community Halloween party. The one we went to on Halloween afternoon had an amazing scarecrow stilt walker our kids loved seeing and getting photos with him. The one we went to over the weekend before had a petting zoo with animals in costumes. A cute pet pig wearing a rooster costume, a sheep dressed as a strawberry, and lots of other cute animals to pet. It created a cute experience for Halloween for my boys, especially our youngest who is still very much scared by some of the more "spooky" elements like skeletons and monster decorations people use on their homes. We are far from being able to take in the sensory overload of haunted houses or even the houses covered in the 6ft skeletons and lots of lights and sounds. That is just a lot of input for some neuro-spicy kiddos.

So the take away is that we live in a day and age that we are actually able to have both options. You can take your kids to both types of events and see what they prefer, maybe they would love both and that is even more candy (if you want that). For neuro-spicy and food allergies the trunk or treat gives us a much safer and more enjoyable experience to avoid the sensory overload or risk of anaphylaxis. And the goal for everyone at Halloween is for our kids to just have fun and stay safe. Do what is best for you and yours and enjoy these wonderful years the best you can!