Who said trick-or-treating must be limited to candy?
As someone with a sweet tooth, I loved filling my pillowcase with Sour Patch Kids, gummy bears, and Reese’s every Halloween growing up. But if I had known trick-or-reading was a thing, I would’ve loved spooky season even more than I already did as a kid. As an adult, sign me up.
What Is Trick-or-Reading?
Trick-or-reading is the bookworm’s (and my preferred) version of trick-or-treating, where you receive books instead of candy. Of course, it’s primarily set up for children, empowering young readers to get their noses in books.
“Children are very likely to be motivated by Halloween themes as the first thing that comes to mind is the expectation of costumes, fun, and of course some treats!” says Elizabeth Fraley, Founder and CEO of Kinder Ready, Inc., a premier Los Angeles-based education company dedicated to empowering children through early learning. “Often, Halloween-themed books are full of excitement with rhymes and high-frequency color words—think green, orange, purple, black! Many Halloween books have interesting pop-ups and exciting pictures.”
How to Host Your Own Trick-or-Reading Event
Many communities host trick-or-reading events for children in the area, and it’s as simple as replacing candy with children’s books.
“Community members can simply pass out Halloween books during trick-or-treating time instead of candy,” says Fraley. “Trick-or-reading can also mean utilizing literacy time in the classroom to explore literacy concepts such as boosting fluency with Halloween-themed books … The key to the classroom literacy experience is to infuse the fun of Halloween into lessons.”
As for the broader community: I’d love to host an adult version of trick-or-reading. In fact, a family in my neighborhood decks their house with tons of Halloween decorations (I’m talking Christmas-level dedication) and puts up an annual Halloween-themed little free library on their lawn for locals to add and take books of their choosing. What better treat than a new novel?
Benefits of Trick-or-Reading
Trick-or-reading has countless benefits, especially for young readers.
“Trick-or-reading will benefit kids by building their enthusiasm and productivity with reading,” says Fraley. “A new theme excites and amuses children and gets them motivated to learn and read to their highest potential in class.”
Think about it: Halloween already excites kids with its spooky themes and funny costumes. Adding books can create a positive association.
“Children love to make self-to-text connections with reading. If they are trick-or-treating soon, they want to hear about that ahead and get excited for Halloween fun!” Fraley says. “Halloween is a great theme to build, boost, and excite literacy among young children.”
And, of course, this doesn’t mean you need to pry the candy away from them. Growing up, I personally hated the houses that offered pretzels or fruit in lieu of candy. Don’t be that person in your neighborhood.
Instead, why not offer both candy and books? Two sweet treats: one feeds the tummy, the other feeds the brain.
And while you’re at it, you might as well throw in a book for the adults accompanying the kids. They deserve some love, too. (Okay, perhaps this is becoming an expensive version of trick-or-treating. I digress.)
The post Introducing ‘Trick-or-Reading,’ the Halloween Tradition That Swaps Candy for Books appeared first on VICE.
