Publisher's Synopsis
Trick-or-Treating is an old Halloween tradition for many kids and adults in some parts of the world. At night before All Saints' Day, kids in costumes roam from house to house, requesting for sweets with the saying, "Trick or Treat". Kids dress up in various costumes such as ghosts, witches, devils, and monsters, seeking out sweets on Halloween. The practice of trick or treating started in the middle class households of America during the late 1800's.Trick or Treating differs from the traditional Halloween celebration because the focus is not on candy but the actual Halloween theme of candy buffets. Candy buffets are a family event, where kids go door-to-door, handing out goodies and usually a lot of them, in exchange for small token gifts they make while trick or treating. Kids go from house to house searching for treats and many houses even have designated someone in the family to be in charge of the candy handing out at the different houses.Trick or Treating has its beginnings in Ireland and Scotland, although it later became popular in England. Both the Irish and Scottish traditions of trick or treating began at the same time, but the origins of the tradition are quite different. The Irish version began at Halloween. There, they would go to candle stores and lanterns, hoping to find a child who would give them a candy. If no children came home on Halloween night, the group would set up a table outside of the store where children could hand out candy to each other, with a small piece of candy for the lucky child. This was considered very enjoyable by the Irish.
In England, the tradition of trick or treating began on Halloween day itself. Kids would visit children dressed up as witches, ghosts and ghouls and go from house to house knocking on doors and asking for sweets. Those houses that did not have doors blocked would have children sitting outside on the lawn with shovels full of dirt waiting for the trick-or-treaters to arrive. Those houses that did have doors blocked would have children waiting outside with buckets of dirt, hoping no one would leave their door until they came back to get their treat. If no one returned after trick or treating, the last child standing on the lawn would win a prize. Children can use the wide array of activity pages in this book for this holiday.
