I love holidays because of all of the traditions you can start. One year a neighbor left a cute Halloween package on our porch with a You’ve Been Booed Printable sign on it.
It started a fun tradition for our entire neighborhood. It’s also fun to surprise friends and teachers during the Halloween season.
Read on to learn more and scroll down for your free printables!
YOU’VE BEEN BOOED PRINTABLE
The first time you get booed by your neighbors, you might not know what to do! But have no fear! It’s very easy to boo your neighbors and keep the tradition going. The way this Halloween tradition works is that one neighbor delivers treats to the door of another. That person then delivers treats to another neighbor and the chain continues!
HOW TO BOO YOUR NEIGHBORS WITH YOU’VE BEEN BOOED PRINTABLE SIGN
You don’t have to do this tradition with just your neighbors, I used to do it with other teachers when I was teaching elementary school. You can also start the fun with a group of friends. It can be whatever you make it!
It’s so easy to do!
- Put together a basket or treat bag of goodies for your recipient. Or find a cute Halloween-themed gift. You could do candy, little toys, crafts, homemade cookies, etc. The point is to put together a little gift that your neighbor or friend will enjoy.
- Print out the You’ve Been Booed Printable tags. (If you are the first person starting the chain, you will not need to hang up a We’ve Been Booed sign since you are starting it. But you still want to print out the entire set to include in your gift. Add them to your gift basket.
- Leave your gift on their porch for them to find!
- The instructions card will tell them what to do next to keep the chain going. They will need to hang their We’ve Been Booed sign and make copies of the tags or print new ones. Then they can put together a gift basket for the next neighbor!
If everyone hangs their We’ve Been Booed sign in their window, then it’s easy to see which friends have been gifted already so everyone can enjoy the tradition and receiving some fun goodies.
FREE YOU’VE BEEN BOOED PRINTABLE
To make this fun tradition easier, I’ve got a FREE You’ve Been Booed printable that you can download and use to put together your treats for your neighbors and friends.
Click the link below to download your free printables and get started!
You will include a set of these with your boo basket or gift so they can hang up the sign and then continue the gifting chain.
One thing to think about doing if you’re the one starting the chain — consider including an envelope with a couple of copies of the printables so they can use them to pass the boo baskets along. It’s not a requirement but it’s helpful when you’re kicking of this neighborhood tradition.
WHEN SHOULD I START BOOING MY NEIGHBORS?
One of the biggest questions you might have is, “When should I start booing my neighbors?”
I recommend starting around the middle of October. You want to have time for your neighbors to pass the fun around. You don’t want to start too close to Halloween or time will run out.
The earliest I recommend starting is October 1st, but we usually kick it off around October 15th in our neighborhood.
HOW TO PACK A BOO BASKET
If you need ideas for what to put in a “You’ve Been Booed” basket, here are some things to add to your basket of treats:
- Homemade treats like cookies or candy
- Fun activities like little puzzle books, puzzles, coloring pages, etc.
- Assortment of candy – miniature chocolate bars, candy corn, cute themed candy (I’ve seen gumball eyeballs and gummy brains)
- Glow sticks
- Fake teeth
- Spider rings
- Mini bubbles
- Halloween socks
You can usually find a lot of Halloween-themed trinkets at Target, Dollar Tree, and party stores. They make it easy to do boo baskets without spending a lot!
You can also get Halloween bags or buckets at those stores as well. You can make this tradition as budget-friendly as you like. You can go all out too if you’re doing it with a smaller group of friends. The great thing about it is that it’s so flexible and really is just a fun way to make people you know smile!