October 30, 2007...6:24 pm
The Lowdown On Trunk-or-Treat
One of the moms in Keri’s first grade class recently asked me what we were going to do to celebrate Halloween. I casually replied that one of the things we like to do is attend our Church’s annual Trunk-or-Treat party.
She looked at me with this incredulous look on her face and asked, “A what kind of party?”
“A Trunk-or-Treat party,” I explained. Apparently this social phenomenon isn’t understood by everyone.
So what is a Trunk-or-Treat party? It is when a bunch of people get together (i.e. through a Church, neighborhood or school organization) to celebrate Halloween, but instead of going door-to-door trick-or-treating, you go trunk-to-trunk trick-or-treating. People park in a big lot, decorate their trunk and hand out candy to those dressed in costumes.
**Picture courtesy of Google. I was too busy following my trunk-or-treaters to snap any outdoor shots of my own.**
There are a myriad of benefits to this type of activity. For example, it prevents people from getting hit by cars (the parking area is normally roped off), the candy is safe (everyone knows everyone since you are part of a community) and it is an extremely family friendly environment.
If you don’t have one in your area, you should really think about starting this new tradition.
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For more Fall activities, check out Scribbit’s Winter Bazaar carnival. For more Works-For-Me-Wednesday participants, check out Shannon of Rocks In My Dryer.
35 Comments
October 30, 2007 at 7:12 pm
I had never heard of this delightful tradition growing up. I LOVE it. I don’t know how my kids will feel about it when they’re a little older, but for now it’s wonderful!
October 30, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Very cool. I had never heard of this before… we’ll look into it in years to come!
October 30, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Yep we’re having one at our church along with a whole night of games, food and fun. Have a safe and sane trunk or treat!
October 30, 2007 at 8:35 pm
I wish our congregation were big enough to do that!
October 30, 2007 at 8:35 pm
I’ve never heard of this either! What a great idea… definitely safer than normal trick-or-treating AND less crowded than mall trick-or-treating!
October 30, 2007 at 8:39 pm
There’s a Trunk or Treat at the church that hosts our school, and I thought they’d invented it! I’ve never been to one, but I’m excited about it.
October 30, 2007 at 8:50 pm
We did trunk or treat in our old ward, and it was great!
October 30, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Thank you!!! I have been seeing this phrase everywhere this year and had absolutely no idea what it meant until now. I hope you have a great time!
October 30, 2007 at 9:21 pm
our church did this one year. i thought it was a great idea but they have never done it again.
thanks for taking me down memory lane.
October 30, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Trunk-or-Treat is GREAT! Our church does it too and it is so wonderful each year. The children show off their costumes during the children’s service held immediately before. We know most of the people who decorate their cars so it’s very safe. People put a lot of work into decorating their cars and they do such a great job each year.
October 30, 2007 at 10:05 pm
It sounds like you totally had a “Conversation at the Well” going with that lady in Keris’ class.
October 30, 2007 at 11:58 pm
What a good idea! I have never heard of that before!
October 31, 2007 at 5:28 am
Never heard of this. It’s an excellent idea!
October 31, 2007 at 5:43 am
What a great idea! Our church does a party with games and such but this sounds equally fun!
October 31, 2007 at 6:24 am
Love this idea! I am going to suggest it to my church. Love that the parents have fun decorating the trunk too.
October 31, 2007 at 7:02 am
We’re Trunk or Treating tonight! We’ve done this every year since my son was born–though we do hit up the neighbors first! Happy Halloween!
October 31, 2007 at 8:01 am
This is a good idea. We did it with my daughter’s ballet class just this week at the end of the Ballet Halloween Party.
October 31, 2007 at 8:31 am
cute idea. you could include some kind of charity activity as well…making scarves or something…
October 31, 2007 at 8:45 am
We are going to do that at our church tonight!
October 31, 2007 at 9:21 am
Trunk or Treat is very popular in SC. Churches are doing it tonight, instead of holding Wed. night services. I take my kids through town. All the business give out candy between 3-5, so we are home safe before it gets dark.
The kids look adorable in their costumes!
October 31, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Weird, my mom just mentioned that her church back in Detroit was doing this, and itw as the first I’d heard of it. Now two references in as many days…must be gaining in popularity.
October 31, 2007 at 10:09 pm
I just assumed everyone knew about this too! I think it’s a great idea. Especially for little kids. The problem around here is that the kids get a bag full of candy at the trunk-or-treat and then still go treating around the neighborhood so you’re giving out candy to the same kids twice!
November 1, 2007 at 5:43 am
We have gone to several of these–great fun! The people are always friendly and every kid gets to feel good about their costume choices. Our Church now does a Halloween Carnival for the community–free food court for all [hotdogs, chili, nachos, brownies, tea/lemonaide/coffee] bingo room with donated prizes, cakewalk room with homemade and store bought donated goodies, TONS of candy for kid-game prizes, hay rides, Bounce House an Inflatable slide. We do not have a huge Church either–we just throw our hearts into it. Everyone had a BLAST last night. Many came from or went to the Baptist Chruch’s “Trunk or Treat” too!! Much saner and safer than traditional door-to-door trick or treat!
November 1, 2007 at 5:59 am
I think what I like best about Trunk or Treat is that our kids get to be with all of their best friends. Going through the neighborhood is fun, too, but unless all your buddies live on the same street, you don’t get to see what they wore for costumes. At a Trunk or Treat, it’s great to see the kids oohing and ahhing at each other. Especially since they’re not allowed to do any dressing up at school anymore.
November 1, 2007 at 7:01 am
Hi Lucy! I have heard of that, infact our church does something similar and my oldest teen worked it last night.
I love every family’s different traditions
Happy November!
November 1, 2007 at 10:07 am
My kids like to do that here, maybe it’s a north-west thing. But this year they thought they could get more stuff if they struck out on their own. They came home with a pillowcase full of candy. Don’t tell but I’m going to quietly, while they’re at school, throw pieces away each day.
November 1, 2007 at 10:49 am
that is an awesome idea… wow.. very cool!
November 1, 2007 at 11:25 am
Love the kids pics and I love trunk or treats. It only works in a place where the community is spread out though. We had one last year here and got some negative feedback on it. (Too many people not at home giving out candy to the people who wanted to go around the neighborhood.) Ah well.
November 1, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Alvin and I love taking our nephew and nieces to both the church “trunk or treat” and the community “trunk or treat.” It’s a great way to trick or treat.
November 1, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Our church had great success with the “trunk or treat”. We had a hot dog supper with door prizes, craft section to decorate your treat bag, cake walk, parade of costumes, then the “trunk or treat”. Many of our adults at the trunks were dressed as
women/men of the Bible. The children really enjoyed going from trunk to trunk. We had many new families to our community attend last night. Many replied that they would see us again on Sunday.
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November 2, 2007 at 12:40 am
That is an excellent idea! I’ll bet you guys had a great time!
November 2, 2007 at 3:29 pm
we do it at our church on a pretty big scale! we had 40ish cars decked out (our high school kids compete against each other for the coolest trunk and the little kids reap the rewards!)
http://www.kimistevens.blogspot.com I blogged all about it!
November 4, 2007 at 12:25 am
we attended one at the local LDS church here in town. we had a ball. what a great time! great tip.
November 4, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I went to my first trunk or treat this year with my grandbaby, and it is a terrific way to celebrate the holiday. Her church had bouncy houses, a refreshment stand, and a portrait booth, in addition to a large number of decorated trunks. Even my husband, who is usually bah-humbug toward Halloween, got into the spirit of the night. If you’ve never been to a trunk or treat, be sure to put it on your list of things to do next year.
November 4, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Our church has done it too—in two states. Here in Missouri, it is very common. Our Primary usually has a carnival-like game time in the gymnasium before the trunk or treat so they get the party and candy all at once.
My kids seem to get sick around Halloween every year so I limit the candy intake. (If they collect overmuch, guess who eats it!) As for food storage, chocolate lasts about a week around me so that’s not a great choice here! LOL
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