Should Older Kids Trick or Treat for Candy on Halloween

By: R. Renee Bembry

Kids should decide for themselves what the appropriate age to exit the Trick-or-treat for candy pool is. All kids do not mature at the same time. Thus, for one kid thirteen may be old enough to stop trick-or-treating while another kid may enjoy trick-or-treating for another two or three years. It is sort of like girls giving away their Barbies and boys putting away their Hot Wheels. Some enjoy the activities and need to engage in them longer than others do.

Despite its scary undertones, Halloween trick-or-treating for candy is a fun innocent event. It is an activity that the young and the old can participate in together. Furthermore, Halloween time is one in a handful of times a year that families venture to do something together without gluing their eyes to screens on their televisions or computers or video games. Even texting and phone calling is limited when kids are scurrying along from door to door filling their bags with Halloween treats.

Many parents do not allow their children to stay outside beyond a certain hour. Many of these parents associate the hour they expect their kids to come inside with the time it gets dark. For these parents, if the streetlights come on, their children are to go in the house. When children must go indoors at nightfall most of the time, they get an extra kick out of staying out for Halloween.

Trick-or-treating requires children to exercise! Children usually walk – at a quick pace mind you – for blocks and blocks to collect goodies in their bags. Older kids may even walk for miles to fill their Halloween sacks. Moreover, when older kids must walk along with younger brothers and sisters it would not make sense for those kids not to partake in the excitement. Most kids would probably prefer staying home to walking for hours unable to collect candy with their siblings.

So there you have it… No. There should not be a cut-off age for kids who trick-or-treat for candy. Kids should participate in this fun innocent activity for as long as they find enjoyment in doing so. Besides, many times, parents in disguise of taking their toddlers trick-or-treating, push them in baby carriages up to the door and trick-or-treat for them. Now, come on… What toddler is going to eat all the candy their parent just spent two or three hours collecting? I will tell what toddler…That giant adult – the toddler’s parent.