How Kids Do Trick-or-Treating Around the World

4/9 Previous Next

© Getty Images

Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria

In several European countries, children go to houses on November 11th (St. Martin's Day),  singing songs about St. Martin and carrying homemade beet lanterns or paper lanterns that they made in school. In return for their songs, the kids hope to receive candy or other treats. The practice varies in each country, and in some regions, children simply walk in procession through the town singing their songs. St. Martin's legacy shows him as friend of the children and patron of the poor, which likely explains how this tradition came about.