No Tricks, Just Treats: 9 Ideas to Make Your Own Boo Basket

Leave a Boo Basket on the porch of a friend or neighbor as a happy Halloween surprise!

Booing friends is a great way to spread some cheer throughout the community during the Halloween season!

The goal is to put a smile on someone's face with an unexpected surprise, so you don't need to spend too much money or overthink.

Knowing someone thought of you is usually a great surprise on its own!

What is a Boo Basket?

It's simply a little Halloween treat that you leave on the doorstep of a friend or neighbor to surprise them!

Ring the doorbell and run, or simply just leave it right outside for them to discover next time they come outside.

You can leave it anonymously or add your name! You can leave it anytime this month — not just on Halloween.

Really, there are no rules. A Boo Basket is simply just an act of kindness meant to bring a smile to someone's face.

Hopefully the recipient will pay it forward, helping spread Halloween cheer throughout town!

Want to surprise someone with a Boo Basket this October? Check out our nine creative Boo Basket theme ideas, for all ages.

Kid Boo Basket

Kids love surprises! Fill a basket with Halloween toys, coloring books and crayons, glow sticks, play dough, puzzles, and balloons.

Create some fun with a craft kit or gather materials to complete any of these easy, fun Halloween and fall projects — don't forget to include the directions!

Teal Boo Basket

Don't forget your friends with food allergies! We love to support the Teal Pumpkin Project, a special way that you can make Halloween brighter for youngsters with food allergies and other medically restricted diets.

Fill that teal pumpkin with things like glow sticks, bookmarks, playing cards, stickers, and stencils.

Click here for more ideas and to find out how to take part in the Teal Pumpkin Project this Halloween.

Baby Boo Basket

You're never too young to get Boo'd! New parents and babies are the perfect target for a bag of helpful goodies.

Fill it with diapers, bubble bath, sensory or teething toys, wipe pouches, and story books.

Add in some treats for parents such as snacks, lactation treats, or maybe even some fancy coffee for the sleep-deprived parents.

'Boo'ze Basket

Boo Baskets don't just have to be for kids! Adults can have some treats of their own!

Gather your favorite bottle, or a few mini ones, and mixers. Look up a festive drink recipe and pack up the ingredients.

Pick up some spooky goblets and some snacks and you have a 'Boo'ze Basket adults will enjoy!

Baking Boo Basket

Make your own baking kit with all the ingredients for your Boo'd recipient to whip up something tasty.

Pre-mix dry ingredients and print out instructions on how to do the rest. Get festive with Halloween themed sprinkles and cupcake papers.

This is a great gift for a family to enjoy together!

Pumpkin Carving Boo Basket

One of the most fun Halloween traditions is pumpkin carving. Include a pumpkin carving kit, tealight candle or electronic light, jack-o-lantern stencils, and plastic table cloth to lay on the floor or table while carving.

Throw in a packet of fun seasoning for their baked pumpkin seeds after carving.

'Boo'k Basket

Share the joy of reading! Pass on a few books you've already read, pick some out at a used book store, or purchase new.

This is a great basket to leave as a surprise for someone at a Little Free Library, perhaps!

Need a book suggestion? Kids are loving the new Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure, the newest book by Jeff Kinney, author of the beloved Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

Pampering Boo Basket

Have a friend that just needs some pampering? Give them an excuse to enjoy some time alone with a Boo Basket filled with things like face masks, body scrubs, bubble bath, nail polish, epsom salts, bath bombs, and scented candles. Sounds heavenly.

Photo Boo Basket

We take so many pictures now, but how many of them aren't on a screen?

Actually print out some of those photos featuring the friend you're giving your Boo Basket to and put them in a small photo album or punch holes on one side to tie them together with string or rings.

The trip down memory lane will be a real treat! And kids love looking at pictures of themselves and people they know.

Add extra fun with some stickers.

Special thanks to FARE, along with Macaroni KID publishers Andrea Kistler, Carmen Kaethler, Julie Dikken, and Mary Campbell for supplying the photos used in this story.

Andrea Kistler is the publisher of Macaroni KID Abbotsford, British Columbia.