by Bekah Hanson
I grew up in a neighborhood with very few kids and no trick-or-treaters. Once I became a home-owner and moved to the Fresno High neighborhood, I was excited to actually be able to hand out candy on Halloween. I've lived in my home for five years now, and each Halloween is busier than the last.
For the first few years, I tried to host a party in the back room while also going to the front door to hand out candy. Eventually, though, I realized that there were way too many trick-or-treaters to make multi-tasking possible. So, for the last couple of years, I've decided to stay out front for the whole evening. Tyler and I keep the house well-lit and make an effort to buy interesting treats for the kids.
We've done glow sticks, bouncy balls, and LED rings. We like to hand out light-up toys when possible to increase kids' visibility as they walk through the neighborhood. My desire is to make our house a place where our neighbors feel valued and kids can make fun Halloween memories.
This year we'll sit out front with our fire pit and hand out LED rings to about 300 trick-or-treaters. By being out front and present, we hope there will be many opportunities for conversations with neighbors.
*Insider tip: Put out a water pitcher on your front porch. Kids get super thirsty from walking and eating lots of chocolate.