Do you ever give out anything other than candy to trick-or-treaters?

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Normally no but this year I've got leftover Halloween pencils, spider rings and little puzzles from last years Halloween party for the kids so I'll hand those out with candy this year until they are gone.

 

[cornflake]

Always!

I usually have the little tubs of Play-doh for the tiny kids, and various and sundry items for older - to go along with candy.

Last year I had wee glow-in-the-dark frisbees, bubbles in eyeball containers, foam and glitter stickers and Halloween pencils.

This year so far have stickers, temporary tattoos, and bouncy balls I think.

 

[BobbieD]

To date no we haven't. I don't object to it..in general though my focus is always on the candy (and what I might have leftover to eat myself ) and I generally don't get anything else. One of these years I will think outside my sweet tooth and do something non food related with the candy (temp tattoos, glow things, halloween rings..etc).

 

[FormrCastMbr]

Like other posters, I go after Halloween and buy some small items to include in treat bags. This year the bags include: halloween puzzle, bat rings, smiley stickers, bouncy ball and 3 pieces of candy.

I always liked getting the treat bags as a kid so I love to make them now.

 

[Rence]

Where do you all buy the glow stuff?

The two places we get our LED items from also sell tons of glow stuff. It depends on the selection and the prices which one we buy from each year, but we've used:
http://extremeglow.com/
http://coolglow.com/

If you like them both on Facebook, they occasionally have specials or coupon codes. About three months before Halloween I start keeping an eye out for specials. They both give quantity discounts.

 

[clh2]

For many years I handed out already activated glow bracelets to the kids along with their candy.

Most of them really liked that and it was an added bit of safety for them, making them more visible in the dark.

We have a neighbor who does this too! It is a "must visit" house- or at least it was when DD was little! (She's in college now...)

 

[design_mom]

One year we had Halloween pencils and stickers as an option (also offered candy)... mainly because I had been responsible for "prizes" at a Halloween party and I'd overbought. Not many people chose them though, so we didn't buy any more. We just do candy now.

One of our neighbors (has since moved) used to do chips and Capri Sun. I heard some other kids complain about it, but my kids always loved it. Another year, a family gave out cans of soda/pop and my kids loved that too (they don't get a lot of soda at home.)

 

[Ginny Favers]

We get about 400 trick-or-treaters on Halloween. I used to give out little swag items like pencils and necklaces and bendy figures and rubber duckies, because I thought the parents would appreciate not having more candy.

But it got to be too expensive, and also I realized that with all the goody bag items the kids got for birthday and school parties, they have bins and bins of junky little toys like that, taking up space. I swear, they have a drawer FULL of pencils. At least candy has a shelf life and you can just throw it away!

So I am back to just candy. I picked what I like. I saved money and I can eat whatever is left over.

 

[Southernmiss]

We get about 400 trick-or-treaters on Halloween. I used to give out little swag items like pencils and necklaces and bendy figures and rubber duckies, because I thought the parents would appreciate not having more candy.

But it got to be too expensive, and also I realized that with all the goody bag items the kids got for birthday and school parties, they have bins and bins of junky little toys like that, taking up space. I swear, they have a drawer FULL of pencils. At least candy has a shelf life and you can just throw it away!

So I am back to just candy. I picked what I like. I saved money and I can eat whatever is left over.

to the bolded. I don't buy a lot of snacks at our house. So this year we have sixlets, goldfish crackers, gummy fruit snacks and another bag of chocolate candy forgot what kind.

My kids are in it for the chocolate and like an occasional snacky treat that they don't get at home.

DD10 even says the cheapy pencils are junk and don't work LOL.

 

[bandit90]

We pretty much always give out candy and since we're two houses away from the fire hall with their big parade and party, we usually go through at least 4-5 200 piece bags of candy. If the immediate neighbors have small kids we usually find something small for them - a doll or a few toy cars.

I remember one person used to give out pennies and another house gave out Go-gurt once. The year I went as a hobbit was profitable as a lot of people gave me full candy bars for being out in the cold without shoes on, though most of those candy bars are probably still sitting on the shelf at home (I was a weird kid, rather have fruits and veggies than candy)

 

[leebee]

I alternate between rocks and religious pamphlets and toothbrushes.

I assume you save the coal for Christmas stockings?

We are usually away on Halloween night, but I leave big bowls of treats on the porch so the kids can take one or two treats (hopefully). Usually we do candy, but I have given out little bags of pretzels, little bags of microwave popcorn, and popcorn balls. We always have leftovers from those. We NEVER have candy left in the bowl!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

We're giving Candy. And lots of it. We even have sugar free candy for kids that cannot have sugar. But sometimes we give out little toys and the like. More and more I see people giving out religious pamphlets or voting guides. Yeah. Thanks pal. Like my 5 year old really wants campaign literature.

 

[Pigeon]

Candy is the only acceptable thing to give out for Halloween.

 

[LukenDC]

When I was a teen, I would take my younger brothers trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. There was one family that always handed out religious tracts instead of candy. Very conservative, and at times self-righteous, family.

My brothers were friends with their boys and one time borrowed a family-friendly movie from the parents. Popped the tape into the VCR and what came up on TV was certainly not family friendly. It was hard-core porn. Mom or Dad must have put the wrong tape into the wrong sleeve.

My Mom screamed and dove for the remote control. She made my brothers take the video back, but told them not to say anything about the content so as to spare the other family embarrassment.

 

[FormrCastMbr]

I forgot to add earlier, that I have a lot of toddlers in the neighborhood so I made special treat bags for them this year. Goldfish, animal crackers and 2 pieces of candy for Mom and Dad.

 

[luvmy3]

I'm handing out raisins and freeze dried tofu. The kids will get enough candy, I want to promote a healthy lifestyle.

 

[S. C.]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...70307259671888&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf
Can't get this to post.

 

[BlovesC]

This year I'm making goodie bags, and each one will have three fun-size chocolate candy bars, a skull/spider ring, and a little sheet of stickers.

I only decided to go the goodie bag route because this is only our third year in our house, and the first two years I was SO excited because we got a ton of trick or treaters and never had any in our apartment. So I kept giving kids handfuls of candy bars...like five, six each. And I ran out of candy way early, each time. In fact last year I panicked and wound up getting out my DH's bag from MNSSHP and giving out some of that! The goodie bags I hope will let me have more self-control...one bag per kid, no matter how cute!

 

[pumba]

for some special kiddos I give them the big bags of chips or doritoes..for the kids that I dont know they get the smaller bags of chips and cheese twists ..
One year when my kids were small...I ran out of candy and started to give out quarters to the next batch of kids that came...they loved money..another year they got pencils..
CAUSE I LOVE CANDY..if it doesnt go during Halloween...I will eat it..so better not to have any leftovers...

 

[MrsDuck]

We always do candy!