Trick-or-treating has a problem nobody talks about: after the fourth house it's a candy sprint, the little ones get tired, and the big ones stop looking at anything. A scavenger hunt list fixes both. The little ones keep walking because the next ghost is on the list, and the older ones start noticing the street instead of just the door.
Everything on these lists is spotted from the sidewalk. Nothing gets touched, nothing gets taken, and a cardboard black cat counts every bit as much as a real one.
What's on the list, by age
Ages 4 to 6: one thing, easy to spot
At this age every item has to be visible from across the street and need no reading, because you'll be reading it out anyway. For example:
- A pumpkin on a porch
- A ghost
- A skeleton
- A spider web
- A decoration that lights up
Ages 7 to 10: look twice
Now each item needs a second look, which is what keeps them busy between houses:
- A jack-o'-lantern with a scary face
- A jack-o'-lantern with a happy face
- A house with its porch light off
- Two people dressed as the same thing
- Three pumpkins on one step
11 and up: noticing, not just looking
Older kids will roll their eyes at "find a pumpkin". Give them things that need an opinion, and they'll argue about the list all the way home:
- A pumpkin carved into something that isn't a face
- A costume that took more than a day to make
- A decoration that's only scary up close
- The best-decorated house on the street, and agree on it
How to run it on the night
- Print it before you leave, one list for each kid or one for each team of two. A clipboard or a piece of cardboard behind the paper makes it easy to tick in the dark.
- Say the one rule out loud: we look, we don't touch, and we stay on the sidewalk with a grown-up.
- Tick as you go. Nobody needs to finish at any particular house, and the list doesn't care what order things turn up in.
- Finish at home. Count the ticks at the kitchen table. The winner, or everybody, gets first pick of the candy trade.
Keep the game going at home
If the list was a hit, the next step is a Halloween treasure hunt inside the house, with the candy at the end of it:
