Halloween Boo Grams

It’s that season again – it’s almost time to “boo” the neighbors! We started a little Halloween  tradition two years ago in our neighborhood where kids and families take turns “booing” each other, secretly leaving fun packages of treats, toys and goodies and a Halloween boo gram (a cute Halloween note) by a neighbor’s door. I’ve also created some free boo grams to share!

My family is to the tradition, but Halloween “booing” and boo grams are popular in many neighborhoods across the country. Booing the neighbors is sort of like “Secret Santa,” where the gift recipient is left to guess who the gift giver is – but this fun activity is a fall tradition instead of a Christmas one.

Our Own Halloween “Boo Gram”

Each year, my daughters and I pick out cute little trick or treat bags to fill with small gifts for friends of theirs on our block. In each treat bag, we put things like Halloween-themed caution warning banners, glow sticks, glow-in-the-dark spiders, and of course, candy. We also leave a custom boo gram with the treat bags.

Later this month, my kids plan to place the treat bags and a Halloween boo gram by their friends’ doors, ring their friends’ doorbells and then RUN! After that, it will be those friends’ turn to “boo” another family’s house, and then that family will do the same, and so on, so hopefully, all the families with young children on our block will get booed this Halloween!

For our Halloween “booing” activity, I created our own  Halloween boo gram that explains how the “booing” tradition works. I also made a custom sign that our neighbors can post on their door to let other neighbors know that they have already been booed. Both of these boo notes are posted as PDFS at the end of this post if you would like to download and print them and do some booing of your own!

Rules of the Game

To start booing your neighbors, this is what you need to do:

1. Buy or make a cute treat bag to hold a collection of gifts and goodies. Crafting your own boo bags can be a fun activity to share with the kids.
2. Buy, bake or craft items to stash in your boo bag. You can include candy and small toys for kids, or if you are looking to “boo” a mom friend, you could include Halloween-themed dish towels, candles, soaps, etc. The $1 store (or the $1 section at Target) are great places to find inexpensive (but fun) items for your boo bags.
3. Fill your boo bag and print out your boo notes. (You can print or download the notes I used below.)
4. Carry the bag (be sure to include the boo notes) to a neighbor’s house and ring the neighbor’s doorbell. Place the bag by the neighbor’s door.
5. RUN! so your neighbors will have to guess who left their treats.
6. It is now your neighbor’s turn to make their own treat bag and leave it at another neighbor’s door!

Halloween Fun

Last Halloween, my kids waited until dark to boo our neighbors. That way it was easier for them to boo our neighbors unseen. But, if your kids also wait until nightfall to do their booing, make sure that they stay safe by following safety precautions and tell them not to run out into the street when fleeing after ringing the neighbor’s bell!

Print Halloween Boo Grams

These are the two Halloween notes that I created for this year’s booing activity. The “Neighbor, you have been booed” notes explains the booing tradition and how to play the game, while the “We have been booed!” note is the sign our neighbors can hang on their door to let other neighbors know that the first neighbors’ house has already been booed, and that potentials boo-ers should look for another house to hit! To print these boo documents, click on the link below each image and click “print.” Or, if you place your cursor at the bottom of your screen, you should get options that allow you to print or save each image.

Boo Sign

Boogram

This party was shared at the Pin Junkie Pin Party.