Survey Says: Halloween is for the Young at Heart
My first Halloween in New Jersey, I found it incredibly odd that kids started trick-or-treating right after school. Sure, it’s safer to do in the daylight, but in the Midwest, we always waited until it was just dark enough to get out there knocking on doors and procuring our candy.
Now that my daughter is two, we’ll probably trick-or-treat at a few houses in our neighborhood. We have pretty friendly neighbors, but I love the idea of the site Nextdoor.com. It’s basically a Facebook for your neighbors so that if you only know a neighbor as “the young family two doors down” you have a shot at putting a face with a name before it’s been so long that it’s awkward that you don’t know them. Plus, the better you know your neighbors, the smaller your block feels and the safer you’ll feel letting your kids eat the candy!
So as you put the finishing touches on your costumes and stock up on candy to give out, check out these fun Halloween facts from a Nextdoor.com survey.
Fun Halloween Facts
- Not just for kids. Nearly one in three (30 percent) parents dress up in costume for Halloween.
- Creativity reigns. Nearly one in three parents (32 percent) have dressed their kids in homemade costumes.
- Halloween reigns. 60 percent take their children trick-or-treating, 60 percent give out candy and over half (53 percent) decorate their home for this holiday.
- Age appropriate. Thirteen was the magic age when the most respondents believed that a child becomes too old to trick-or-treat (19 percent say this).
- Early start. The average age when parents believed it was most appropriateto begin taking a child trick-or-treating was around three years old.
- Never ever. A mere 5 percent of Americans believe it’s never appropriate to let a child partake in this most neighborly of holiday traditions.
- Young at heart. One in four (24 percent) people believe you are never too old for trick-or-treating.
Do you plan to trick-or-treat with your kids this year? How do you help your kids stay safe? —Erin