To go trick or treating to strangers' houses?

Front lights = outside lights. People who don't want visitors leave their outside lights off so the front of the house is dark.

He won’t be a stranger anymore. Because your mum took you to his house and let you take sweets off him.

I also don't teach my children to never knock on strangers doors because sometimes they might have to do exactly that, for example if their ball goes over a fence or there's an emergency and they need help. I teach them what you've said, to knock and then stay firmly on the doorstep.

Become a familiar and appearingly face to a child?
Being a familiar/friendly face starts a trust journey.

Sorry, what?
Why should people not be able to put their own lights on?
An undecorated house gives enough message that no beggars guisers welcome.

But what will the person behind the door who isn't decent do?

We go to decorated houses. That's the rule.

When I take my children trick or treating I don't wait outside the house while the owner of the house takes them inside. They stay on the doorstep!

Do you know how trick or treating works?

Any decorated houses are fine. Where we used to live, the village PO, shop and pub would decorate and do games (apple-bobbing in the pub garden, and they’d dressed up skeletons having a drink at the bar, which was both sweet and canny, as half the village would then go in with their children after trick or treating), and lots of people went to enormous lengths to decorate, some to the point of making entire walkways through their gardens to the front door, or dressing up — one family dressed up as the Addams family, and another took it in turns to wear a werewolf mask and jump out on older children from a log pile. It was my nicest memory of living there.

We knock at decorated houses only and our own house is decorated so we're expecting lots of knocks too.

If you don't want anyone knocking then don't decorate and don't out your front lights on, if you still get knocks then just hang a sign on your door saying "sorry, sweet all gone" and no one will knock.

Have you read the thread? Everyone who has said they knock on strangers houses knock on decorated strangers house.

Don't put a pumpkin or any decorations outside and you're grand.

I live somewhere with a Halloween Committee. In fact I’m on the Halloween Committee. Each year we produce free maps of houses to make trick or treat trails, always ending up at the church carpark where they (it’s an American type church) host a trunk or treat, hog roast and cider.
I always hand out hot chocolate (to the grown ups because of the small alcohol content), sweets and chocolates. Usually we have dog biscuits, chocolate lollies, toys for allergen friendly and balloons for babies in prams. Basically we go all out for Halloween where I live.
last year we had over 2K visitors, this year I’m expecting 2.5/3k to knock/ring the doorbell and wait. I’ve even asked my tech hubby to make me an app for next year so I can prepare the hot chocolate ready! Give everyone a time slot to visit and two slow cookers!
PLEASE come to our house on Halloween, I prepare all year for this one day!!

A child is far more likely to be abused by a paedophile already in their life and known to them than they are by a random person whose door they once knocked on while under the direct supervision of their parent(s)

I’m glad you’re not going in a large group. We’ve stopped offering treats for this reason - the smash and grab by a few groups whose parents would stand and watch them clean out the bowl greedily, even though I’d say please just have one or two treats each.

Far more likely to be the paedophile in the family that is the issue than a stranger. How is my kid in danger at the door of a stranger if I and my, built like a brick, husband plus strapping teens are there too? What’s this paedo going to do? Grab my kid at the door? I think not. Take a photo? Well he’s dressed head to toe as Spider-Man. The stranger is very rarely the danger.

It would be much better if folk stick to folk they know imho. A decorated house doesn't mean a decent person is behind the door.
As an aside, don't knock on non-decorated doors, because that's clearly a sign that folk don't want visitors.

Yes. You find the estate that’s well decorated and knock only on those with decorations. Normally tons of kids out and we wait at the end of the drive. Isn’t that the norm?

I don't get why you would teach kids that it's OK to go to a strangers house and accept sweets off them?! It's literally the complete opposite of what we teach our children. Most people are nice but it would be pretty easy for someone who wasn't nice to partake in Halloween and give out something questionable.

I'm very sorry for people on this thread who don't want to participate (as is their right) but still get kids knocking. That's not cool. I thought it was fairly universally understood now that you only knock on houses that are decorated.

That being said, just because some families near you are ignorant of the 'rule' (or are playing dumb), doesn't mean you need to be so negative for everyone who does like to participate. It's a big thing in our village, we used to have 100+ kids knock every year, and a lot of houses go all out on decorations.

And as for the fear-mongering... I pity anyone who lives in a neighbourhood where the local paedo is swiping kids from his doorstep. But obviously you have a parent accompanying littleys; then when they're bigger they go in groups and stay together

We don’t decorate, I hate the whole premise of Halloween, yet we always get plenty of knocks at our door.

No. That’s why it’s important to only go to houses that are decorated. Do you actually get people knocking on your door? I never used to decorate when my kids were babies. No one ever knocked…

So you don't decorate then.

Where do you all live that multiple people are coming to undecorated houses?

They are local strangers unless you are going very far for your trick or treating. I do a sweet audit when we get home and chuck anything that isn't in a wrapper, but only because of how many other unwashed child hands will have been in the buckets. I have a replacement selection at home, so the kids don't feel hard done by.

I have a baby and a dog who I'm getting ready for bed and settling down. I honestly don't want anyone knocking on the door, causing my dog to bark and wake the baby. Some elderly people or people with mobility issues might feel the same. I think that's why it's important to only go to people you know.

We don't trick or treat as it's not a thing in my country but we have something similar at Easter and DD went all round the estate in the years she did it, plenty of strangers. DS has only gone to people on our street though that we know, as by the time they've finished chatting to him (as he's polite and will always chat back as long as they talk) he's tired and just wants to go home