another vote for let the kids decide for themselves. teenagers are still kids, after all. they’ll lose interest in it in their own time. i think freshman year of high school was the last year i went out.
I’m too afraid of the ‘trick’ (vandalism) that will happen if I don’t give a treat to those low life teens.
I don’t care how old the kids are. In STL the kids had to do a trick to get a treat. So it was entertainment all night long. The older kids performed singing and dancing routines, the younger kids told jokes. All was good. Some of the mom’s said their kids could not T&T after they were 12. That made me sad:( Halloween is for kids of all ages.
I voted 15. If they look like they just got off work, then they shouldn’t be out trick or treating. That said, I did have 2 adult women, probably in their 50s, uncostumed, show up last year, about an hour apart. That was just weird.
I always think of it as an activity for little kids, but gradually, teens and adults have gotten in on it. The lure of free stuff and running around dressed in a costume is alluring. As long as whoever rings my doorbell is in some kind of costume, I have no problem handing over the candy or glowing bracelet.
RTFirefly - Sounds good. And provide plenty of treats that are healthier than candy (that’s the point I was trying to make with the powdered coconut and almond clusters). Never too late to form good habits.
Never. You asked about kids. So, Never.
Non-kids should not trick or treat.
Let the kids decide. At some point you realize that walking around in the cold for $10.00 worth of random candy is not really a great deal.
Let the kid decide up to a point, but if they haven’t stopped by high school, maybe drop a few hints that they’re gettin too old for this shit. If they haven’t stopped by college, well, they’re probably gonna turn into the sort of person that winds up on a reality show on Syfy.
I live near a college. Every year I get a couple of college students. My comment is for them to go get a beer, chocolates are for kids.
My vote is 10-12. When you’re old enough to go on your own, you’re too old.
I can’t stand the people who pile kids into a van and drive around the neighborhood from out of town.
I want to be clear here. When I said that my kids stopped at age 12 unless they 1) dressed in legitimate costumes and 2) escorted younger children, that doesn’t mean that I don’t hand out candy to everyone who comes to the door. If I have my porchlight on and you ring the bell and say, “Trick or treat,” you get candy. If you’re wearing street clothes and carrying a plastic shopping bag, you won’t get as much candy as the adorable 8-year-old in the princess costume, but that’s life!
Little kids are perfectly fine no matter what they’re wearing. They’re small enough that they probably can’t put together a costume on their own if the parents were too busy. After about 13, there’s got to be a good costume. Personally, I went until I was about 17. It was a fun thing to do with a bunch of friends, and we all had great costumes, and certainly wouldn’t have egged anyone’s house or anything like that.
My daughter is almost 12, and says she will never ever stop trick-or-treating. Personally, I think she’ll stop sometime in high school. This year, we invited along one of her cosplayer friends who is 14 and, until recently, lived in a rough neighborhood so her parents never took her trick-or-treating. When other friends around that age heard about this, they wanted to come along. So now I’m escorting about 7 or 8 teenage girls in non-slutty cosplay costumes around my neighborhood. I think we’re most likely going to walk a few blocks, end up at McDonalds or Starbucks, and finish up at my house watching “Nightmare Before Christmas” or something.
I forgot to mention: Last year it was my job to hand out candy at my sister’s house. We had several teenagers show up in street clothes, alone or in pairs. I made them dance “Gangnam Style” before giving them any candy. 
The one kid who actually sang it in Korean got extra candy.
Personally, I think it’d be great if dressing up in costume and going door to door were a thing that all age groups participated in. Presumably, most of the adults wouldn’t really care about the candy.
It’s about meeting your neighbors and enjoying the fall and having fun making costumes. It’s good clean community-oriented family-friendly fun. Why should we put an age limit on that?
I went trick-or-treating into college (freshman year we dressed up as Wizard of Oz characters and sang songs from the movie at people’s houses). Didn’t really care about the candy, but the experience was fun.
That said, if there’s no costume, then you’re just begging. At any age.
I want to live in your neighborhood. 