Boo Baskets for Kids: What to Put in One
A boo basket is the Halloween version of an Easter basket – a bundle you put together for your own kids, handed over at the start of October so the Halloween things actually get used, or on Halloween night as the swap for the candy haul. Here is what actually goes in one that a child will still be playing with in November – sorted by the job each thing does, not by price.
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What is a boo basket?
It is the Halloween answer to an Easter basket: a small basket or bucket you put together for your own child. Most families hand it over at the start of October, so the costume accessories and the Halloween books and games get used all month instead of for one evening. Others save it for Halloween night.
That second version is where the candy trade comes in – the kids come home from trick-or-treating, hand over the haul, and get the basket instead. It is the reason a boo basket works best filled with things to do rather than more candy: you are offering a swap, so it has to be worth swapping for.
You will also see boo baskets left anonymously on a neighbor’s porch with a You’ve Been Booed note. Same contents, different delivery. Either way the hard part is the same: most boo basket lists are candy and plastic tat. Ours is not, because the point of a good one is that it survives past October.
The six-thing formula
You do not need a theme. You need one of each of these, and the basket writes itself. Every pick below is on our Halloween list.
Something that moves
The shriek item. A remote control crawling hand sent across the kitchen floor is worth more to a seven year old than a whole bag of candy, and it comes back out every October.
Something to build
Quiet, open-ended, and it outlasts the season. Magnetic tiles and tins get played with long after the pumpkins are composted.
Something to squish
For the car, the waiting room and the kid who needs something in their hands. Squishy ghosts do more work than their price suggests.
Something to make
A craft that does not need you to supervise it. Reusable light-up coloring toys and pom-pom kits buy you an actual half hour.
Something to wear
The sleeper hit. A set of Halloween-themed pajamas gets worn every night of October, which is more than any costume manages, and a ghost sweater and slippers carry on well past it. This is the category for the kid who will not do a costume at all.
Something to read
The one that saves bedtime. A Halloween picture book is the calm end of a very loud month, and unlike almost everything else in the basket it comes back off the shelf every October for years.
By age
Same formula, different weighting. The younger they are, the more the tradition matters and the less the contents do.
Toddlers
Skip anything with small parts or a jump scare. Sensory bins, chunky stackers, a soft ghost and a bath toy. The tradition matters more than the contents at this age.
Preschool
The sweet spot for boo baskets. Pom-pom kits, light-up coloring, magnetic tiles, and one silly thing that moves.
Big kids
They want the scare and the challenge. Remote control hands, haunted house builds, slime, and a real craft they can finish without you in the room.
A few things we learned
A basket handed over on October 1st gets four weeks of use – the book gets read at bedtime, the costume bits get worn around the house, the craft kit fills a rainy Saturday. The same basket given on Halloween night competes with a bucket of candy and usually loses.
The baskets our kids remember had a single real toy in them. The ones with eight pieces of plastic were in the bin by November.
If the basket is what the candy gets swapped for, tell them before Halloween night rather than at the door with a full bucket in hand. Ours has worked best when the kids got to keep ten pieces and traded the rest.
A coloring page or a Halloween bingo sheet costs nothing and fills the basket out without adding another plastic thing – ours are in the free Halloween printables.
Boo basket questions
What do you put in a boo basket?
One of each of six things: something that moves, something to build, something to squish, something to make, something to wear and something to read. One good item plus three or four small ones beats a basket packed with cheap plastic. The test is whether any of it is still being used in November.
When do you give a boo basket?
Most families hand it over at the start of October, so the Halloween books, games and costume pieces get used all month rather than for one evening. The other option is Halloween night itself, as the swap for the trick-or-treating candy. Early is better if you want the contents played with; Halloween night is better if the basket is the trade.
Do you put candy in a boo basket?
A few pieces are fine, but it works against the point if the basket is what the candy gets traded for. If the whole basket is candy you are handing over a second bucket of it on the one night they already have one.
How much should a boo basket cost?
There is no standard amount. The baskets our kids remember had a single real toy in them rather than eight cheap things, so the cost follows whatever that one item is and everything else stays small. A basket that cost more is not the one that lasts longer.
What do you put in a boo basket for a teenager?
Skip the toys and lean on the wearable and the watchable: Halloween pajamas, a hoodie, slippers, a horror paperback, or the makings of a film night. Teenagers keep the tradition long after they have stopped wanting a plush ghost.
What can you use instead of a basket?
A bucket, a crate, a tote bag, a pillowcase, or the trick-or-treat bucket itself, filled now and emptied on Halloween night. The container is not the tradition.
Fill it from our shop
If you would rather hand over one thing that covers the whole basket, the sensory kit is the one. It arrives ready to tip into a bin and lasts the month.
Make the basket, then play with it
The best boo basket we ever sent had one bought thing in it and three we made. These are the ones worth copying.
