Trick-or-treating is a custom for children on Halloween. Children proceed in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as confectionery, or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The "trick" is an idle threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given.
In the United States, trick-or-treating is now one of the main traditions of Halloween and it has become socially expected that if one lives in a neighborhood with children one should purchase treats in preparation for trick-or-treaters. The National Confectioners Association reported in 2005 that 80 percent of adults in the United States planned to give out confectionery to trick-or-treaters,[1] and that 93 percent of children planned to go trick-or-treating.[2] The tradition of going from door to door receiving food already existed in Britain and Ireland, in the form of souling, where children and poor people would sing and say prayers for the dead in return for cakes.[3] The North American Halloween custom of saying "trick or treat" has become more common. The activity is popular in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Central America, South America, Western Europe and Scandinavia, but over the recent years has become popular in Australia and New Zealand.pzrgbty8n6
