What do you get for Halloween at the White House? The coolest treats!

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s the ultimate trick-or-treating treasure, that one house on the block that offers the coolest candy and surprises galore.

This year it’s the big gated place on Pennsylvania Avenue, No. 1600. Welcome to the White House, boys and girls.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama awaited more than 2,000 children Saturday night from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. The Obamas themselves were to spend time handing out goodies to the trick-or-treaters on the most famous front porch in America, the North Portico.

What do you get for Halloween at the White House?

Not bad, kids: A box of White House M&Ms with the president’s signature imprinted on it, a sweet dough butter cookie made by White House pastry chef Bill Yosses, a National Park Foundation Ranger activity book, and a serving of dried fruit mix made up of cherries, apricots, pears, apples and papayas.

By early afternoon, a big, stuffed, black spider was dangling in a web of string from the top of the portico, and pumpkins had sprouted up around the columns. The White House will be lit orange for the occassion, and three giants pumpkins — about 1,000 pounds each — will be on the grounds.

The loot is just part of the treat for the kids, ages 6 to 14. The White House said that set to roam the North Lawn were fairies, bubble makers, wandering trees, Star Wars characters, theater actors and artists and a “skeleton band.”

The president and the first lady weren’t planning to wear costumes. But don’t rule out the chance that some youngsters might dress up as the Obamas.

Later, in the East Room, the first couple were to be joined by Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, at a Halloween reception for military families and for the moms and dads who work at the White House, along with their kids. The visiting children were chosen, with help from the Education Department, from schools in the capital and surrounding suburbs.

It’s the first White House Halloween for the Obamas’ daughters, 8-year-old Sasha and 11-year-old Malia.