Bored by the same boring candy giveaways at Halloween? Want to make your house the most popular stop of the evening? Try one of these five ideas to liven up your night of the dead!

Every year, we return to the same stores to buy the same larger than life bags of candy to give away to the ghosts and goblins that darken our doorsteps. Some people dress up their front yards, place tricks at their door for the unsuspecting kiddos, and even dress up to get into the spirit. But the real fun comes when you pass out the goodies! Here are five new ideas for what to give away to your neighborhood trick or treaters.

A World of Candy to be Explored!
In our faced paced world, it is easier to rip open a large candy bag and toss a few to the kiddies at the door, but who says you need to by the traditional brand names? Try something new. For starters, you can head to your local international market, or any store that sells candy from different cultures. Try out a few. If you can find some that are individually wrapped and at a reasonable price, grab’em! When the kids pull your candy out of their bags, you will have exposed their taste buds to a whole new world!

Toys, Toys, Toys!
You do not need to spend a lot of money to include toys in your giveaway basket. You just need to know which toys to give away. One great idea is to hit the small toy aisle of a party supply store. They will have every kind of noisemaker, kaleidoscope, pencil packs and school erasers you can imagine. Most of these items will have the kids’ favorite characters on them, like Spiderman, Star Wars and even Dora the Explorer. The kids will love it, even if it isn’t candy or battery operated.

Don’t Shoot the Messenger!
Kids are naturally inquisitive. You can feed that curiosity with information that they want to know. For example, you could make a flyer full of information. Type it up on your computer, print it and give one to each kid. What to put on it? For starters, how about simple science experiments? Remember the one where you put Alka Seltzer in a bottle of water, the quickly placed a latex glove over the lip of the bottle? That was fun! Just make sure it is generally safe. You can also create word puzzles and mazes.

Are You a Crafty Devil?
If you have a particular craft that you like to work on, perhaps this is what you can give out. One lady, who likes to make Origami birds, gives them away to children in paper Origami boxes. Printed on the inside of each “box” are instructions on how to make Origami shapes from paper. Her home is never in want for trick or treaters! Some children would return to show her what they had learned to make.

I’ll Get You my Pretty!
If you like children and love to tell stories, then do it! Set up a small staging area on your front lawn. Big enough for you, a chair, a light source and perhaps a CD player for sound effects. You could dress up like an old witch and sit in your rocking chair, reading stories to all who wish to take a break and listen. For those who do stop for a while, reach into your hollowed out book and hand them some goodies. They will love the surprise!

Whatever you can come up with for your giveaways, this Halloween, make it uniquely yours. Because if you spend time giving away apart of yourself, you will not only have fun doing it, you may just get much more in return: a larger crowd next year!