Good question! In this article, we will tackle everything you need to know about trick-or-treating and Halloween party alternatives. Without any further ado, let’s get to the point and answer the question: What is the oldest age you can go trick-or-treating?
In 2022, most kids stop trick-or-treating between the ages of 12 and 17. However, only a few places in the United States have laws on the books concerning the oldest age you can go trick-or-treating. Those that do put the age between 12 and 14 in most cases.
With all that in mind, a young adult of any age can still have fun trick or treating, especially if they have younger children with them.
- What is the Oldest Age You can Go Trick or Treating?
- Halloween Fun for Older Kids
- 10 Tips for Those Young Enough to Trick or Treat
- 1 – Walk in a group
- 2 – Stick to your neighborhood
- 3 – Don’t approach strangers
- 4 – Don’t accept candy from strangers
- 5 – Don’t Eat Candy from Stranger’s Houses
- 6 – Be smart
- 7 – Don’t ask for candy from homes that you don’t know.
- 8 – Limit Your Candy Intake
- 9 – Stay home if you are sick
- 10 – Don’t lose those treats
- Bonus Halloween Party Ideas
- Conclusion: How Old Is Too Old to Trick-or-Treat?
What is the Oldest Age You can Go Trick or Treating?
If you are a teenager, it is easy to get confused by all of the Halloween rules and laws in the United States. Some states let you trick or treat until you are 18, while other states have a set age that you have to be under before you are allowed to go trick or treating. If you are looking for the age where you can go trick or treating for the last time, the best thing to do is to contact your local police department and ask them.
For example, the police department in my area tells me that the oldest age you can go trick or treating is 16. However, if you visit the police department in another area, they will give you a different answer. The trick is this, those police departments that say you can go trick or treating until you are 18, are right, but you have to be realistic about it.
In most places, when you are 16, you are not out trick or treating with your friends, you are out with your friends at a Halloween party or going to a Halloween party. So, while you are allowed to go trick or treating until you are 18 in most places, the majority of people who are over 14 years of age tend to do something more “mature” on Halloween.
Halloween Fun for Older Kids
With the above in mind, here’s seven great ideas for Halloween fun for older kids.
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If you have a home, it is a great idea to host your own Halloween party! You can have a very mature-themed party, like an elegant masquerade ball or you can have a fun creative party. You could even just offer low-key parties where you just play board games, or you could have some Halloween costume contests. It all depends on what you and your friends want to do.
2 – Enjoy a Halloween Horror Movie!
If you love Halloween horror movies, they are still fun to watch even if you are an older teen. The classics are great, but contemporary movies are pretty good too! One of my favorite shows is Stranger Things. It is set in the 80s, but it is extremely enjoyable even today, and it is perfect if you are a fan of 80s movies!
3 – Go on a Haunted Halloween Tour!
If you are looking for a good scare, join a Halloween haunted tour! There are a lot of them in the United States, so you should be able to find one in your area. Some of them are really scary!
4 – Go to a Halloween Festival!
Halloween Festival are a lot of fun and they are a great way to celebrate Halloween. Some of the best festivals are in New York City, Charleston, and Astoria, but there are some in most cities.
5 – Buy a Costume and Go Trick or Treating!
If you are a teen, you are allowed to go trick-or-treating even in places where the oldest age you can go trick-or-treating is 13 or 16. You should be okay as long as you stick to neighborhoods where your age is appropriate. I would just make sure to stick to neighborhoods that you are familiar with.
6 – Give Out Candy at Home
One of the transitions of growing older is that instead of going out to get the candy, you’re responsible for giving out candy, and getting the candy from the store. You can still dress-up in a costume. In fact, it’s recommended that you do.
While you are giving out the candy, you can have some fun with it and do some other things like play Halloween music, or have some Halloween decorations up in the house. This is a great way to celebrate Halloween with your family.
7 – Make Your Own Halloween Costume
Another great way to celebrate Halloween is to make your own costume. You can go to a store and buy a costume, but if you make your own costume, you will feel a little more creative. You can make your own costume as simple or as complicated as you want.
If you wear a store-bought costume on Halloween, it is very easy to wear it again. If you make your own costume, you might have a hard time wearing it again. Of course, “making your own costume” doesn’t mean you have to make your own costume from scratch.
If you really want to make your own costume from scratch, you might have a little trouble figuring out exactly how to do it. There are a lot of Halloween costume ideas online.
10 Tips for Those Young Enough to Trick or Treat
Here’s ten tips for those of you still young enough for trick-or-treating.
1 – Walk in a group
Don’t go out trick-or-treating alone, go out with a group. If you walk in a group, you will be safer, and you will be better protected from any crooks that might try to give you trouble.
2 – Stick to your neighborhood
Don’t go out trick-or-treating in a neighborhood where you don’t know anyone. You will probably be fine as long as you stick to your own neighborhood. Just make sure to be safe and stick to your own neighborhood. You don’t want to wander into unfamiliar territory!
3 – Don’t approach strangers
If you see someone in a costume that you don’t recognize, don’t go up to them and start asking them for candy. They could be trying to trick you into letting them into your house, or they could have something else in mind. You are much safer if you just stay away from strangers in costumes.
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If someone offers you candy, you should decline it.
5 – Don’t Eat Candy from Stranger’s Houses
You should never eat candy from a stranger’s house.
6 – Be smart
Don’t go out trick-or-treating at night if it is too dark. Walk in a group. Don’t go out if you see a storm coming. If it is too hot or too cold, don’t go out trick-or-treating. You should be smart about it and not let this celebration put you in danger.
7 – Don’t ask for candy from homes that you don’t know.
You should only ask for candy from houses that you know.
8 – Limit Your Candy Intake
The best thing you can do is to limit your candy intake. If you have too much candy, you are more likely to eat it all.
9 – Stay home if you are sick
If you are sick, you should probably stay home.
10 – Don’t lose those treats
If you lose all of your candy, you should try to find it.
Bonus Halloween Party Ideas
Here are some of the best Halloween party ideas that you can begin planning right now!
1 – Halloween Movie Night
One of the best Halloween party ideas is to have a Halloween movie night. You can invite all of your friends over and watch a scary movie. If you don’t have any scary movies, you could always watch a romantic horror movie, or a comedy horror movie. Some of the best Halloween movies are Frankenstein, Dracula, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
2 – Halloween Party Games
To make your party more fun, you can play some Halloween party games. Whether it’s a time-tested classic like Bobbing for Apples or it’s a new favorite like Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin, you’ll have all of your friends screaming with excitement.
3 – Halloween Crafts
Another great way to have a great time on Halloween is to get some friends together and make some Halloween crafts. Have a contest to see who can make the best pumpkin patch, or have a contest to see who can make the best costume.
4 – Halloween Party Recipes
Have some friends over for a Halloween party. Make up some Halloween party recipes. Try some pumpkin pancakes, chocolate chip pumpkin cookies, or some pumpkin chocolate cream cheese brownies. You could also try making some Halloween donuts and some Halloween cupcakes.
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Decorate the house, decorate the yard, and decorate the front porch with Halloween decorations. There’s all kinds of different decorations that you can decorate with. Make sure you get some spider webbing, you could use fake cobwebs or you could even buy some real spider webs if you want to get really freaky. You could get some plastic bats, ghosts, and pumpkins to really make your decorations come together.
6 – Halloween Music
Have a Halloween music contest to see who can come up with the scariest playlist, or the funniest playlist. If you are doing a Halloween party, then you need to have a Halloween themed playlist.
7 – Halloween Contests
If you have a lot of people coming over for your Halloween party then you should have a Halloween costume contest or a Halloween pumpkin carving contest. You could also have a pumpkin eating contest. You can have a contest for the best name for the house, for the best driveway, for the best front porch, or for the best yard.
Conclusion: How Old Is Too Old to Trick-or-Treat?
As we’ve shown, the generally accepted age to stop trick or treating is 12 to 14 years old. However, older teens might still be able to trick or treat depending on the situation. Even if you’re older and can’t go trick or treating anymore, there are a lot of other cool ways to celebrate Halloween.