Halloween is just around the bend and the witching hour is fast approaching. We’re sure your own little goblins are getting excited with anticipation.
We wanted to pull together two key things that we thought would be of interest: trick-or-treating times for the McHenry County communities and some helpful Halloween tips and tricks.
For the times, we have amassed quite a collection of official trick-or-treating times, so please share (buttons below) with your network of friends. We’re still a little short, but will add other times when we get them.
As for tips, once we came across the following on Parent Hacks, we realized that this list was too good not to share.
Check out this great list of Halloween tips. If you see anything you like, just click on the Parent Hacks link below which will take you to the full list and to get to each of the individual tips.

McHenry County 2019 Trick-or-Treating Hours
Location | Date | Hours |
---|---|---|
Algonquin | 10/31/19 | 3:00pm – 7:00pm |
Barrington Hills | 10/31/19 | 3:00pm – 7:00pm†|
Bull Valley | 10/31/19 | 4:00pm – 7:00pm†|
Cary | 10/31/19 | 4:00pm – 7:00pm†|
Crystal Lake | 10/31/19 | 3:00pm – 7:00pm |
Fox Lake | 10/31/19 | 4:00pm – 8:00pm |
Fox River Grove | 10/31/19 | 3:00pm – 7:00pm |
Greenwood | 10/31/19 | 3:00pm – 8:00pm†|
Harvard | 10/31/19 | 5:00pm – 8:00pm |
Hebron | 10/31/19 | 3:00pm – 7:00pm |
Holiday Hills | 10/31/19 | 4:00pm – 7:00pm†|
Huntley | 10/31/19 | 4:00pm – 8:00pm |
Island Lake | 10/31/19 | 4:00pm – 8:00pm |
Johnsburg | 11/2/19 | 3:00pm – 7:00pm |
Lake in the Hills | 10/31/19 | 2:00pm – 8:00pm |
Lakemoor | 10/31/19 | 4:00pm – 8:00pm |
Lakewood | 10/31/19 | 3:00pm – 7:00pm |
Marengo | 11/2/19 | 3:00pm – 7:00pm |
McCullom Lake | 10/31/19 | 4:00pm – 7:00pm†|
McHenry | 10/31/19 | 4:00pm – 7:00pm |
Oakwood Hills | 11/2/19 | 12:00pm – 4:00pm |
Port Barrington | 10/31/19 | 4:00pm – 7:00pm |
Prairie Grove | 10/31/19 | 4:00pm – 7:00pm†|
Richmond | 10/31/19 | 4:00pm – 8:00pm |
Ringwood | 11/2/19 | 3:00pm – 7:00pm |
Spring Grove | 10/31/19 | 3:00pm – 7:00pm |
Trout Valley | 10/31/19 | 4:00pm – 7:00pm†|
Union | 10/31/19 | 3:00pm – 7:00pm†|
Wonder Lake | 10/31/19 | 3:00pm – 8:00pm |
Woodstock | 10/31/19 | 4:00pm – 7:00pm |
*Note: all times are subject to change. †Unconfirmed.
Easy Halloween Tips: Best of Parent Hacks
Getting ready
Check out Parent Hacks for all of these great Halloween tips!
- How do you prepare a toddler for his first Halloween?
- Never again forget how much Halloween candy to buy
- Combine door-to-door trick-or-treating with a block party for grownup fun
- Favorite Halloween books? Talk amongst yourselves.
- “All Hallows Eve” tells the story of the Halloween Fairy (you know, the one who exchanges the candy for a toy?)
- Consider keeping the Halloween costume packed away till October 31
- Skip the Halloween candy! Trick-or-treat for UNICEF
- Halloween craft: Turn a canvas tote into reusable trick or treat bag
- A “trick” to help kids remember to say ‘thank you’
- How to make a Halloween horror movie with your kids
- Halloween: it’s okay if you’re not prepared
Easy Halloween Costumes
- No-sew modular Halloween costumes (a huge Hedra favorite around here)
- No-prep costume: Baby Einstein
- Baby lotion takes the face paint off
- Turn Build-a-Bear Workshop outfits into baby Halloween costumes
- Self-adhesive DOT-It LED light as Halloween headlamp
- No Halloween costume yet? Swap!
- Getting a too-big costume hat to fit
- FlashBrite reflective stick-on patches add nighttime visibility to Halloween costumes
- Halloween costume hack: turn laptop bag pouches into play holsters
- Last-minute Halloween costumes from your closet
Halloween candy, treats and toys
- Tootsie Pop ghosts as decoration and hand-outs
- Watch out for lead in Halloween props and toys
- Martha Stewart’s Spiderweb Cheesecake: A hack
- How to have an allergy-free Halloween
- Give toys instead of candy
- No-effort entertainment: glow sticks
- Non-candy treat: Halloween-themed erasers
Halloween Decorations
- Tootsie Pop ghosts as decoration and hand-outs
- Halloween hack: Make a paper jack-o’-lantern
- Plastic pumpkin head Chia Pets
- DIY window clings with fabric paint
Jack O’lanterns and pumpkins
- Prolong the life of cut pumpkins with petroleum jelly
- Cut the jack-o’-lantern hole in the bottom of the pumpkin
- Let your toddler glue a face on the pumpkin
- Hollow out the Jack-o’-lantern pumpkin with an ice cream scoop
- “Paint” mini pumpkins with colored Sharpies
- Flame-free Jack o’ Lantern: use Christmas lights!
After Halloween
- Store the Halloween books with the decorations
- Storing vinyl cling decorations
- Expand the dress-up wardrobe with discounted Halloween costumes
- How do you dole out the Halloween candy?
- Halloween Fairy swaps candy for toys
- Buy your kid’s Halloween candy
- Use excess Halloween candy as cookie ingredients
- Save leftover candy for holiday gingerbread houses
- Still got Halloween candy lying around? Give it to the “goblins.”
- More ideas for using up the Halloween candy
- Long-term thinking about Halloween candy management
- Turn your disintegrating Jack O’Lantern into a garden experiment