Trick or Treating - Opa Locka,FL

In our area, we are going to a block party downtown. They are going to have a 'candy row' to safely take kids trick or treating. They are also going to be having food and game booths, live entertainment, and costume contests. Much more fun than plain ol' trick or treating! lol. Maybe there is something like that going on?

Other good places to check are malls, churches, rich neighborhoods, etc. If you DO decide to do door-to-door trick or treating from strangers though, most hospitals will allow you to take the candy to them for an x-ray to make sure it's safe. I would definitely call and ask about that... OR you can do like my cousin does, and throw out the trick or treat candy and buy a bag for the kid to eat that you know is safe. I hate to sound paranoid, but there are way too many crazies out there any more, and candy is too easy to taint...

~~~ETA~~~~
To the mothers who are against going outside your own neighborhood... what are kids living in the country supposed to do? Where I grew up, our 'neighborhood' consisted of about 10 houses... our closest neighbor was over a mile away. So every year, we drove to town to trick-or-treat. Also, there was a specific neighborhood where EVERYONE took their kids. This particular neighborhood LOVED the fact that people would come from the neighboring cities to trick-or-treat from them. Also, when I lived in the city, I didn't know my neighbors, let alone everyone in the neighborhood. We weren't able to afford rent in the 'nicer' neighborhoods, so we had to settle for a shady area. You can bet your behind that if my DD had been old enough to take trick-or-treating then, I would have searched out a different neighborhood! I absolutely don't see a problem with B. here trying to find a place for her kids to go.

I cant answer for your area, but you could check into some local churches. Alot of them will have a fun night for kids; games, candy, costume contests, all kinds of cool stuff. It is safe and fun, alot of families in my community will go to all the churches that provide it.... have fun!

Back when my kids were at home and we were looking for a nice place to go trick or treating, we always went to the richest neighborhoods or very expensive apartment complexes.

They have the money (usually) to buy the fanciest treats.

Our church has a "Trunk or Treat". The members buy cndy or treats and sit on the backs of their pick up bed or suv's or the trunks of their cars and the kids go from one car to another until the candy runs out. Its safe and fun for the kids and visitors are welcome. Other churches in this area do the same, but its not on Halloween. Ours is on Saturday this year.

Good luck to you and yours.

Check and see what your community is doing, if they're having any city sponsored block parties or festivals. One near us is and that's where the kids want to go that night. Also look and see about churches in the area, many do "harvest" parties with tons of goodies for the kids to eat while there and send them off with a bag full of candy, and some offer "Trunk or Treat" where cars park in a circle in the parking lot and the kids go car to car trick or treating.

Agree with T.F. Not sure of your motivation here.

We often had truckloads of kids from other neighborhoods driving around ours. It was really annoying. Half of them barely dressed up, too.

I HATE seeing parents driving around loads of kids in a neighborhood (and this is true whether it's their neighborhood or not) - it's just seems so greedy/moochy to me. Of course, that's a lot of what Halloween trick or treating is about, but when I was young, we pretty much only hit the houses of people we knew (a few that we didn't). We didn't drive all over the neighborhood to get as much as we possibly could.

A lot of times these truckloads of kids will also still be trying to ring doorbells at 8:30 and 9pm - way past when most lights are off.

Again, not saying this is your motivation or anything like what you would do - just my experiences.

I would think the goal for your (only?) son would be to create a nice experience. I still remember going to my daycare's halloween festival with my parents. I have more/better memories of that than of all the years I actually went trick or treating. Try finding a festival or something where he'll have games and activies in addition to the candy.

Does your neighborhood not participate with trick or treating? Why not go to your own neighborhood to participate?

Many churches, malls, etc have trick or treating, games and festivities. These are good for those living in areas where you don't really know people well.

I personally hate it when a load of kids obviously not from my neighborhood come to our house (as does most of my neighbors). I have candy for the children I know (my good stuff) and candy for children I don't know (the stuff I want to get rid of) Why bring kids to a neighborhood where you know no one? Just to get the goods? We see it also as people casing out our houses and red flags go sky high. We have a higher police patrol for that reason.

Our neighborhood block is one big party and we know who lives in the neighborhood and who does not. It os obvious when a big van lets out a load of kids.

I don't mean to come across rude... just realistic for our neighborhood. I don't understand why parents would take their children to any neighborhood (rich or poor) where they did not know people. Talk about stranger danger???