Boo Basket a Fun Halloween Tradition

Looking for a fun Halloween tradition? Try the Boo Basket!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. It happens in the fall; which means sweater weather. It is a great excuse to get outside with your kids and meet your neighbors. I am a firm believer that it takes a village to raise a child and Halloween gives us the opportunity to get out, see our neighbors, make connections, and share smiles. It doesn't get much better than that.

Our neighborhood is rich in tradition with Easter Egg Hunts and Luminary Night leading up to Christmas. We had Halloween parades during the pandemic and we BOO each other.

We BOO and it's cool. It started for us about 13 years ago when my daughter was a toddler and my son was just born. Every year, in the weeks leading up to Halloween, we would find a gift left on our front porch. The gift came in a Halloween themed bag or bucket and included a couple dollars worth of cute Halloween themed items that made my daughter smile.

Now that my kiddos are older, the torch has been passed along to my family to start this tradition every October. The my teenagers and I have so much fun thinking of which family we will choose to start the chain of kindness. We love finding cute little items for the kids in that family, package them in a Halloween bucket and include a note explaining what to do.

Filling your Boo Bucket takes very little effort. Next time you are at the dollar store, drug store, or grocery store pick up a few cheap Halloween themed items that fit the age range of the kids in the family you are Booing. I stay away from candy because of concerns for food allergies and some parents just don't want their kids eating it. Here is some inspo:

There are several online options for you to print, or you can create your own; just make sure you include all the pertinent information. Here are some cute ones you can print for free:

It's back to school time! And with it comes so much stress and so many expenses! (This list will help you save money.) Check out these school lunch hacks your kids will love, and you'll love to make!

I've learned to compartmentalize my issues so I tackle just one at a time. It helps me from becoming overwhelmed. Helps. And I can use all the help I can get. (Like these great items every mom needs for back to school!)

One thing that used to really give me anxiety is packing my kids' lunch. When my daughter was in kindergarten, she wouldn't eat a sandwich. (I mean, really? No peanut butter and jelly, no turkey and cheese, not even grilled cheese!) That was a challenge I tackled, and feel I won. Both she and my son were known for their fun little "bento box" lunches that included kabobs and deconstructed sandwiches.

Thank GOD for the internet. I was on every mom blog, Instagram, and TikTok I could find to figure out how to be creative with healthy foods for the kids. Okay, relatively healthy foods. They are kids. My goal was to get a fruit and or vegetable in them at lunch. I knew the carbohydrates and proteins would be a little easier.

But here's the thing. You know as well as I do that eating healthy foods that are fun and enticing to kids can be easy if you're willing to pay an arm and a leg for them. It's a real shame that junk food is so much more accessible and more cost-effective than real food. But our kids have enough hurdles to overcome, especially at the beginning of the school year. So, let's take this one for them.

And getting creative with your kids' school lunches doesn't have to take up all your time and energy, either. Don't reinvent the wheel. There are others who came before you (who somehow have time to create snazzy social media posts) who really want to help. Use their ideas and let's do what's best for our kids.

I get it. Being organized will make everything easier. But sometimes it is hard to get there. This lunch hack will take some time to prep on Sundays, but your lunch-making will be so much easier all week long!

These Bento Boxes make lunching fun. My kids didn't like sandwiches, so I would have to get creative with their lunches. Bento Boxes allow you to put lots of little morsels in those little compartments for a happy day!

Yes! My momma used to do this for me, too. Whether you're packing soup or spaghetti for your kiddo, warm up that thermos with some hot water before you fill it!

Nachos have to be one of my favorite meals. Just because it's not a sandwich or traditional lunch meal item doesn't make it any worse for you than some other choices your kiddo might make in the lunch line. This is a fun way to lunch (with or without the hair dryer).

Lunch for 2-bucks? Yes, please! And look how pretty it is! Listen, I've made roll-ups in those little bake-at-home croissants and they never look this nice, but they taste good!

Your kid will enjoy lunch more if they know they've put the work into making it. While it can be tough (and time-consuming) to try to get your kid to do any work in the kitchen, it might be fun for them to assemble their own lunches if you have a lunch box station to make it fun!

What kid doesn't like grilled cheese?! And if you are thinking, "mine!" then you can do this great hack with any kind of sandwich. Heat it up, put a little crunch on the bread, and it's like a brand new sammy!

So simple - but a game changer. This momma makes all of her kids' sandwiches ahead of time and then packs them back in the bread bag. So easy to grab and go!