Time to "Boo" the Neighbors

It’s that time of year again – it’s time to “boo” the neighbors! We started a little Halloween tradition last year in our neighborhood where kids and families take turns “booing” each other, secretly leaving fun little packages of treats and goodies by a neighbor’s door. We are new to the tradition, but the tradition is popular in many neighborhoods across the country. Booing the neighbors is sort of like “Secret Santa,” where the gift recipient is left to guess who the gift giver is – but this fun activity is a fall tradition instead of a Christmas one.

Today, my daughters and I picked out cute little trick or treat bags to fill with goodies for two young friends across the street. We got a treat bag for each kid, and in each bag we placed: Halloween-themed caution warning banners, glow sticks, glow-in-the-dark spiders, and of course, candy. Later this week, my kids plan to place the treat bags by their friends’ door, ring their friends’ doorbell and then RUN! After that, it will be those friends’ turn to “boo” another family’s house, and then that family will do the same, and so on, so hopefully, all the families with young children on our block will get booed this Halloween! For our “booing” activity, I created our own “boogram” that explains how the “booing” tradition works. I also made a custom sign that our neighbors can post on their door to let other neighbors know that they have already been booed. Both of these boo notes are posted as PDFS at the end of this post if you would like to download them and do some booing of your own!

Rules of the Game

To start booing your neighbors, this is what you need to do:

1. Buy or make a cute treat bag to hold a collection of goodies. Crafting your own boo bags can be a fun activity to share with the kids.
2. Buy, bake or make items to stash in your boo bag. You can include candy and small toys for kids, or if you are looking to “boo” a mom friend, you could include Halloween-themed dish towels, candles, soaps, etc. The $1 store (or the $1 section at Target) are great places to find inexpensive (but fun) items for your boo bags.
3. Fill your boo bag and print out your boo notes. (You can print or download the notes I used below.)
4. Carry the bag (be sure to include the boo notes) to a neighbor’s house and ring the neighbor’s doorbell. Place the bag by the neighbor’s door.
5. RUN! so your neighbors will have to guess who left their treats.
6. It is now your neighbor’s turn to make their own treat bag and leave it at another neighbor’s door!

Have Fun!

Last Halloween, my kids waited until dark to boo our neighbors. That way it was easier for them to boo our neighbors unseen. But, if your kids also wait until nightfall to do their booing, make sure that they stay safe by following safety precautions and tell them not to run out into the street when fleeing after ringing the neighbor’s bell!

Print Your Own Boograms

These are the two Halloween notes that I created for this year’s booing activity. The “Neighbor, you have been booed” notes explains the booing tradition and how to play the game, while the “We have been booed!” note is the sign our neighbors can hang on their door to let other neighbors know that the first neighbors’ house has already been booed, and that potentials boo-ers should look for another house to hit! To print these boo documents, click on the link below each image and click "print." Or, if you place your cursor at the bottom of your screen, you should get options that allow you to print or save each image.  

Boo Sign        

Boogram

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Lauren Kim is the executive editor of MomHomeGuide.com, a website for moms on creating the perfect home for one's family.