Engaging the ToTs

[highbury]

So I've begun to build new props for 2011, but I really want to concentrate on flow and interaction this year. In previous years, the ToTs walk up my driveway, across the front of the house and into my front porch (the crypt) to get their treats, which is great, except it seems like they don't interact enough with my cemetery haunt. They just kind of "walk by" everything, get their candy, and then off to the next house. The only time the kids stop is when there is too much traffic trying to get into the crypt. I'm going to add some tombstones and fog in my neighbor's yard (across my driveway) to get a feeling like your walking through a cemetery, but I'm looking for some ideas from other haunters as to what they have done to engage the kids a little more, to get them to slow down and interact with their haunts? I guess I want the ToTs to "earn" their treats a little more... :D

[austenandrews]

I know what you mean. A lot of TOTs make a beeline for the candy and miss the decorations. That's why we usually have explicit doors or entryways for the kids to open or pass through, to reach the candy. They have to actively cross into the unknown part, which boths interacts and puts them on edge. By forcing them to pay attention, they have more fun and so do me and mine. Everybody wins.

Of course it requires building some kind of partition to block the second area from view. Maybe there's a tree where you can hang a curtain of vines, then funnel the TOTs around it?

[samhayne]

We are 5-6 disguised adults outside and each one of us is position in a zone where ToT need to pass to get there candy. Each caracter is telling a bit of the place haunted history while showing the diff. props.

Last year we got a little more then 900 ToT's and it worked well enough. I would say that 70% (younger kids and parents) taking the time to listen and the rest (mostly teen) just by pass for candy's.

People outside also help to protect the props, contain the crowd and help younger kid to go across.

Hope it help,