In the spirit of the spooky (yet fun) season, a relatively new (to me) practice is taking neighborhoods by storm. The practice of leaving treats BEFORE Halloween on someone’s doorstep. Ring the doorbell, knock and scoot! Be gone. I’ve seen it called ‘Boo Gram,’ ‘Halloween Phantom Boo,’ ‘Treats, not Tricks,’ ‘Ghost Gram,’ ‘Boo Basket.’ I’m sure there are many variations.
The gesture is a fun way to spread cheer among neighbors. You can take into the office for coworkers, into school for classmates, teachers, administration, security and environmental staff, deliver as a pick-me-up for hospital patients *check with the Child Life Department for children’s hospitals and the Volunteer Department for adult hospitals to see what items they allow in gift baskets.* You can leave boo gifts in the mailbox for mail carriers, take one to your favorite stylist, business owner – you get the idea. You can adapt the size and scope and not just reserve for your neighbors.
It’s funny, I knew I was going to write about this today and guess what? We got ‘Booed’ last night! My kids have already eaten the yummy cookies someone made us, but here is what remains of our special delivery.
I was wrong! They saved me a cookie!
Last year was the first we participated. For our neighbors without young kids living in the home, I adapted the contents (see below). You can spend as much or as little as you like. I try to keep the treats to about $12 each and most instructions I’ve seen direct you to make two treat baskets or bags to leave for friends/neighbors. Trust me, if you do this, and they find out you were the culprit, you will be friends! I find it especially nice for people new to the hood. But mix it up, leave treats for new people each year.
Ideas for Kids: Halloween-themed stickers, bubbles, glow sticks, dollar store trinkets, coloring books or coloring pages, sugar-free gum, disposable camera, craft projects, roll of cookie dough & sprinkles (make sure they are home and can retrieve goodies so they don’t sit out!), decorations, candy, orange drink boxes or a bottle of Sunny Delight, popcorn packets, hot chocolate packets, cinnamon applesauce cups, mini pumpkins & markers, a dozen Halloween donuts from Krispy Kreme – they come in a cute box!
Ideas for Adults: Fall candles, flame-less candles (I’ve found tea lights), Halloween-themed dish towels, window clings, a favorite fall recipe written on a card, maybe even ingredients (if not dry, be sure they are home!), bottled root beer, pumpkin ale, popcorn & flavored sprinkles, variety of apples, caramel & sticks to make caramel apples, fall photo frame, bottle of wine, fresh garlic bulbs, dry cheese ball mixes, solar yard stakes, a potted mum, apple cider, door decor.
Place your finds in a basket, gift bag or plastic candy bowl like we received. Shhh! Don’t share your secret until Halloween. If you get booed, place the boo sign in your window or on your front door. I’ll have my kids color ours.
Download this free original Halloween boo sign and poem my friend Jen Goode created on her site Lil Goodies, art for your creations. Check out the rest of her site, she also offers cool witches potion stickers to make your dinners more festive this month and other fall fun. No tricks, just treats!
Have you been booed? What did you get? Have you booed? What did you give? Share your ideas.
We used to do that in our neighborhood. Maybe I need to start it this year!
Jo-Lynne, I like the tradition very much, and yet it is still so new to us. If you feel it has tired in your neighborhood, go to a different group – school, your service providers, office, etc. Have fun! Oh, and Boo!
I’ve never been booed like this before. Maybe this will be my year!
And maybe I should start a boo movement of my own in my neighborhood this year.
Hahaha, Lori, you’re killing me…a boo movement! Yes! do it! And keep it regular, er, each season!
I have never heard of this before. We just moved to a new neighborhood so I think my daughter and I just found our craft project for tomorrow
Amanda, I know, it was brand new to us last year and though, I’ve heard other friends have been doing this for years. I like the idea and think it would be a terrific way for you to meet some of your neighbors. With schools not accepting homemade treats anymore, I like that we can still bake cookies or bread and share with others in this way and I’d love to receive someone’s handmade craft for the season! Hope you enjoy!
We used to get booed a lot when the kids were little, but now that the kids are older it seems to have died off. Maybe I should start an adult boo.
Kelly, Halloween is not just for candy and kids! I know our neighbors without young kids appreciated our adult boo treats. It made me sad to see a few doors and windows without a ghost sheet telling us they’d been booed. When I realized it was the homes without kids, I took it upon myself to include them. I got many thank you’s. I think the unexpected is often the best kind of treat. Enjoy!
I used to live in the most fabulous neighborhood where we did these kinds of fun things. My new neighborhood though, you can just tell that the people aren’t into it, a lot of them don’t even decorate let alone participate in these sorts of fun activities. Maybe I should give it a try though.
Tonya, we stay clear of the really spooky decorations while our children are young, we focus on fun. For our Boo Grams, we do the same. I hope you’ll give it a try in your new neighborhood, if it falls on less than neighborly response, next year, concentrate on a different group. We have been planning our baskets for a few days and hope to deliver sometime next week. I wish us both a good time!
[...] night after reading Rajean’s fantastic post about Booing your friends, I couldn’t stop thinking of ways I could spread a little joy and positivity to my friends [...]
My sons and I “boo’d” my mother-in-law once but it didn’t go very well. She doesn’t go out her front door often and I was afraid she wouldn’t see our delivery but I didn’t want her to know it was from us. I called my husband to have her tell her to check her porch, which he did but he thought it best to block the number and say in the creepiest voice ever “Look on your porch.” Five seconds later she called him in tears asking him to come over because my father-in-law was out of town and she was freaking out because of a creepy call she had just gotten… Sigh. We tried though
Oh my, Sarah! That is a case of a boo gone bad. But you had the best of intentions. Okay, maybe your hubby didn’t, ha, with the creepy voice. Thanks for sharing. I tried not to laugh because I had visions of your scared MIL. I hope you try again, with the cute boo sign minus the scary voice!
Hi Rajean,
Our family usually boo’s a few families every year. This year one of our neighbors is having some blood sugar issues and has been eating a lot of oatmeal. We got her a big can of it and decorated it with construction paper to look like a jack-o-lantern. It’s all about being creative and spreading the love!
Hi there, Raejean. Thrills me to type that, ha. Not sure how many ‘others’ you know who share our name, but I find it fun to finally be meeting some. I love that you shared your creative way to spread the love with your neighbor. Couldn’t agree more. Halloween should not always be all about the candy!