Halloween. Just the name of this holiday brings images of ghosts, witches, and goblins to mind. Yet it is the favorite holiday for many kids and every loves to go Trick-or-Treating. But how did we start the custom of trick-or-treating?
On Halloween night, children across North America and in other countries go from house to house in costumes, asking for treats with the question, "Trick or treat?" The "trick" part of "trick or treat" is a threat to play a trick on the homeowner or his property if no treat is given. Of course, many children are only interested in the treat part!
The origins of Trick-or-Treating is hard to define. Many cultures around the world have some type of fall festival that includes either begging for some type of treat, or doing something to earn the treat.
Chinese, the Egyptians, and Aztecs all believed that the dead required food, which was put outside as part of the custom.
There was an old Irish peasant practice called for going door to door to collect money, bread cake, cheese, eggs, butter, nuts, or apples, preparation for the festival of St. Columbus Kill.
In Britain, the poor would go begging and the housewives would give them special treats called "soulcakes". This was called "going a-souling", and the "soulers" would promise to say a prayer for the dead. In time, children became the beggars going from house to house asking for apples, buns, and money. It even shows up in Shakespeare's play, The Two Gentlemen of Verona
As Europeans immigrated to North America, many different Halloween customs blended together to the current Halloween custom of Trick-or-Treating. In 1911, a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada reported that "it was normal for the smaller children to go street guising on Halloween between 6 and 7 p.m., visiting shops and neighbors to be rewarded with nuts and candies for their rhymes and songs"
The real question is "What do you give out on Halloween?"
Often our modern values compete with the trick-or treating customs of our childhood. Many of us are concerned about environment. It's hard to fit those values with the idea of buying low nutrition snacks, that are mass produced and could have traveled thousands of miles before reaching a store near you.
With today's economy, does it make sense to spend money on candy or chocolate bars when most families have other financial priorities?
Of course, many families are trying to encourage healthy eating habits. Should we be giving out potato chips or other high calorie snacks?
But it still comes back to when the door bell rings on October 31, what are you going to hand out to all those expectant faces?
Creative Kids at Home has asked it visitors to share some of their best ideas for creative Halloween Treats.
For people who want to hand out more nutritional snacks, they could think about things like:
- Mandarin Oranges
- Small boxes of Raisins
- Pretzels
- Packet of Hot Chocolate
For people who would like ideas for something other than food to hand out, they could consider handing out:
- small puzzles
- hand games
- passes to the recreation center or movie theater
- interesting stickers
Do you have some great ideas to add to this list? Add you suggestions to the growing list www.creativekidsathome.com/ and we can all have a healthier, greener Halloween.
Christine Nicholls lives in Victoria, BC, and loves being an At-Home Mom. She has developed a home-based business that lets her combine her skills and business background with full-time parenting. Her company, Creative Kids at Home, encourages children to have fun while being creative. Check out their free online library of kids crafts, games, activities and science experiments. http://www.creativekidsathome.com
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