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Tips for a Fun & Safe Halloween

By October 19, 2020January 30th, 2023Community & Engagement

Halloween is just around the corner – usually a fun and spooky time of neighborhood parties, trick-or-treating, and haunted houses! Unfortunately, the continued COVID-19 pandemic means we’ll need to create new traditions and activities to keep everyone safe. But there are plenty of ways to be creative! We can still have festive celebrations with our families, roommates, or socially-distanced neighbors. Here are some of our favorite ideas for celebrating Halloween in 2020:

Maybe the number one question right now – is there a way to trick-or-treat while staying distant from others? You can get pretty creative with PVC pipe or zip line contraptions to deliver candy from a safe distance – almost like a mini water slide for candy! You could also create gift bags of candy and Halloween goodies and leave them on your font lawn for neighbors to pick up. Another fun way to surprise neighbors or friends is with a Boo Box – put together a gift basket of treats and secretly leave it on their door, with instructions to “Boo” someone else!


Candy

As an alternative to trick-or-treating, have a candy scavenger hunt! Hide candy or Halloween-themed items around the house for your kids to go looking for. You could also create clues and make it a fun guessing game to find where the candy is hidden.

Recreate fall festivals with face painting and pumpkin carving! You could even host a pumpkin carving time with your neighbors – everyone can sit out on their lawns and carve pumpkins from a distance together. Some tips for pumpkin carving – if you cut the hole on the bottom or back of the pumpkin it will slow the decay process, and if you put cinnamon on the inside and use a real candle it smells really nice!


Make homemade Halloween decorations like construction paper ghosts and bats, or cotton spider webs. Another creative outlet could be baking – from pumpkin bread, to apple pies, to spooky cookies, there’s no shortage of fun flavors for this time of year.


Have a Halloween trivia and game night! Some fun games could include pin the skull on the skeleton, pumpkin ring toss, or Halloween bingo. Make it a virtual night with other friends and have a costume contest – perfect opportunity to show off your decorations or find some festive Zoom backgrounds. There are also plenty of fun Halloween movies, cozy up with some warm apple cider and have a movie night!

Though this year is not the ideal in many ways, take this time as an excuse to make some fun new memories with friends and family!




 

References

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. “Holiday Celebrations”, Center for Disease Control & Prevention, 14 October 2020, (www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays.html#halloween) Accessed 19 October 2020.


Country Living Staff. “40 DIY Halloween Party Games for Kids and Adults”, Country Living, 10 September 2020,( www.countryliving.com/diy-crafts/g3476/halloween-party-games/) Accessed 19 October 2020.

Zawilinski, Kaelin. “10+ Ideas for Low-Contact Trick-or-Treating”, Fun365, 28 September 2020, (www.fun365.orientaltrading.com/article/safe-trick-or-treating-ideas) Accessed 19 October 2020.