A New Halloween Tradition: Have You Been 'Booed'?

I’ve mentioned before how much I love Halloween, right? I do. I love everything about it. I even love the month of October because it's associated with Halloween:  costumes, decorating, fall folliage, pumpkin patches.

But my absolute favorite family activity has to be a new Halloween trend:  “Booing!”

I was introduced to this fun trend a few years ago, when my family found a treat filled bag on our front steps a week or so before Halloween.  Included with the treat was a short poem explaining the gift’s appearance, along with an “I’ve Been Booed” sign to hang on our front door, so that we weren’t “booed” twice! We loved it and decided this year to start the trend in our neighborhood.

What Is a Boo-Gram?

A Boo-Gram is a Halloween poem you leave on a neighbor’s door, usually with a treat bag. You also leave a large Boo sign with the poem (just print out the one below) and they hang it on their door. The sign or decoration tells other neighbors that this house has already been hit.

Half the fun is ringing the doorbell and running away without your neighbors seeing you! Kids love to get in on this and it's even more fun when they choose which neighbors to Boo and pick out some of the treats. It's easy to start your own and your neighbor’s will thank you! As people participate, by Halloween you'll see Boo's lining up and down the street on all the doors in your neighborhood!

Here’s how to start a Boo in your neighborhood:

1. Make up two Boo buckets/baskets of treats

• These can be as big or as small as you want. Items usually vary from small candy to small kid's toys (play-doh, coloring pages, halloween activities) to hand towels and magazines for Mom. We found some fun items at the Dollar Store and Safeway. Just keep it fun and easy! The whole point is just leaving a treat for a neighbor.

2. Print a Boo gram and deliver with the basket

• Download the neighborhood version here. You can also print extra copies to leave with your Boo-gram making it really easy to pass on the Boo’s to the next neighbor.

3. Deliver, ring doorbell and RUN (they must not find out who it was from)!

4. To keep the chain going, when you get Boo'd, you need to Boo one or two other neighbors.

If your neighborhood has already started the Halloween Boo, count yourself lucky. It's so fun to kick off the fall holiday season with festive treats and messages on all your neighbor's doors. The anticipation for the kids is great. We love watching the neighborhood fill up with Boo’s and can't wait to get Boo'd so we can make up Boo baskets of our own. And this is such a fun way to strengthen ties with neighbors. And the good will spreads throughout the neighborhood with Boo signs on all the doors that are participating.

Wouldn’t it be great if Sonoma became the biggest “Booing” city with all houses booed by Halloween?

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