People leaving boxes of sweets/a toy in park - weird, right?

[MidnightRunning]

Took DS to the park this morning. Quite a few other families there. One several benches and pieces of play equipment, there were toy trains (new) and small cardboard boxes which had a note attached saying 'open me'. Out of curiosity, I opened one. Full of sweets (individually wrapped, like lollies refresher bars etc...) Had to explain to DS (5) that while it was a lovely gesture, if we don't know who left them there, it's not safe to eat the sweets. No one else had touched them either for obvious reasons. I'm sure the resounding answer will be yes but, just to check - that's a weird thing to do, right??

Yeah quite odd.

It’s a bit odd

But it’s also just reminded me, a child of the 90s, how much it was drummed in to us to never accept sweets from strangers. An old lady once offered me a sweet in the street but I’ve never seen it / heard of it since

Do people still tell their kids this?

People do it here and it's seen as a kind gesture. I understand your misgivings but it was started locally to alleviate the misery of the cost of living crisis. I know one of the women who started it and it's generally well received.

There must be better ways of helping people out. In Australia, a lot of the big stores do a thing called “lay-by” where they basically reserve an item (often for a Christmas present) and pay off an amount weekly to spread the cost. I’ve heard of wealthy people going in and paying off a whole store’s lay-bys or even just people going in and paying off $100 towards someone’s item. That seems like a better way if you’re wanting to help (I know it’s not perfect, but surely better than leaving stuff in a random park).

There's plenty of stuff like that locally as well. It's not an either/or.

In our local area people did that with those stupid painted rocks and were leaving them in the town’s shops etc. It seemed ridiculous to me but everyone seem really swept up in it. Someone also does it with books but then gets cross on FB when people don’t collect them before they inevitably get rained on.

It all feels like glorified littering to me.

Happens in my local park just before Christmas... Secret santa visits and leaves some presents

Presents I can understand, but I'd be very surprised if any parent will allow their children to eat sweets left in a park by a random stranger.

Honestly it’s a weird waste of time and money. I can’t imagine anyone letting their child eat sweets that some random had left in a park for them. Gross, unhygienic and frankly dangerous.

Our local area does things like this all of the time. ‘Treasure Hunts’ around the local villages that are advertised on Facebook.

Do you not do trick or treat at halloween?

Yes. Of course I do. But there is a world of difference between visiting the neighbours down our street and allowing my child to eat sweets from a park not knowing who left them there or how long they've been there!

I would eat anything. I'd definitely have a nose though and if it was something other than food or drink that I might fancy I'd take it.
One of the strangest phenomenon I struggle to understand is painted rocks. People leave them about to 'cheer up' others. How do this work. Are people genuinely delighted to find a pebble?

What kind of treasure hunt though? Kinda seems like a nice thing to do if properly organised and not too weird?

It's a kind gesture by someone but misguided. A child could open it, only to find it's treats they can't have because of allergies or other health issues. The parcels could attract rats.

Wouldn't donating to the food bank achieve the same aim, and be safer into the bargain? Who knows what sort of weirdo could decide to have a little fun with sweets left on a park bench.

No one is going to eat random park sweets.

I'm part of a crochet group, Random Acts of Crochet Kindness, and I often make small toys and leave them with a twee note to be found. Someone posted a picture of their child, clearly delighted, holding a toy I made and it made me really happy.

I think this gained traction during lockdown. It made sense then, a reason to get the kids out of the house and on a walk, and a way of semi connecting with people when you couldn't really do it.

Someone just trying to spread a little happiness so well intentioned (still very odd) I'm sure but YIKES! I know a young child with severe and complex allergies to ingredients that are commonly found in many manufactured foods. Eating random sweets could result in anaphylaxis for him. Schools no longer allow sweets to be brought into school for birthdays etc. due to the sheer increase in numbers of children with allergies and the massive risk such actions would pose.
You are right to be cautious.

Leaving outdoor toys is a nice idea. Leaving sweets is a bad idea because we teach children not to eat sweets if they don't know where they came from/not to accept sweets of strangers. That and young children don't always understand their food allergies. A child with a serious allergy could eat something without their parents noticing or before they have time to get to them.

We have, as of about a month ago, a village rock snake, a line of random painted pebbles alongside a footpath into church. A bit of a trip hazard and the acrylic paints will weather into environmental micro-plastics.

I think its weird. Possibly done for likes on the internet, for attention. Ditto when people leave knitted hats/scarfs about "for the homeless" and the craze for painted rocks. I think its litter, cluttering up the place.

I bet you're fun at parties
I know a lot of people really liked the " stupid painted rocks"

It’s someone attempt at “Random Acts of Kindness” - but anything edible is a big no no.
These gestures can be in theory nice - but unless the person who leaves them goes and checks at the end of the day that they have been taken then they just become another case of fly tipping.
Round my way people often put a box of books/small toys on their garden wall with a “free please help yourself” sign - but they take the box back in at the end of the day. This is fine - but a “trendy” thing is to leave paperbacks or soft toys on a park bench instead. But if no one takes them they get wet with rain, fox wee on them and then ripped apart by foxes/squirrels and the park is soon a shit hole full of rubbish.

We've had those random act of kindness crochet gifts round here, they do brighten up kids days. My kids found a little teddy in a bag hanging in a tree and it's still a favourite.