My favorite season is here! The colorful leaves, cozy sweaters, pumpkin-flavored everything, and of course, getting free candy just for wearing a costume… there’s just so much to love about this magical season!
Sadly, with the CDC’s social distancing guidelines, Halloween might look a bit different this year.
But for lovers of all things spooky, this nightmarish holiday is nowhere near canceled. With a little bit of planning and these creative low-contact trick-or-treating ideas, we can all have a spooky good time!
General tips:
- Keep your kid’s trick or treating squad as small as possible.
- Make sure everyone is wearing masks or pick a costume where masks are already necessary. Think Batman, a mummy, a ninja, Venom, Deadpool, a nurse, etc.
- Leave a bowl with wrapped sweets, and skip baking homemade treats altogether this year.
1. Leave a Social Distancing Trick-Or-Treat Table in Your Patio
Ghouls just wanna have fun, but they also want to be safe. If you want to deliver goodies to the neighborhood’s trick or treaters, set up a social distancing trick-or-treat table outside on your porch, patio, or driveway.
It’s much easier for kids to maintain a safe distance from everyone else if they can reach for their favorite candy bar and go on their merry way.
2. Set up a Halloween Candy Tree in Your Yard
Have a skele-ton of fun without having to open the door every 5 minutes with a Halloween outdoor candy tree. If you have a tree, a fence, a hammock, or a column in your yard, use a piece of string to hang candies, party favors, and chocolate bars. That way, the little goblins will get to see all the options available and grab their favorite ones.
3. Design Your Own Candy Chute with a PVC Pipe
Do you have a porch with steps? Then you’re the perfect candidate for a PVC candy chute! Of course, if you can’t get your hands on PVC pipes, you can also use an old tube or even fishing rods.
Attach the pipe safely to your stairs’ handrail. When a trick or treater comes around, ask them to place their Halloween bucket or candy bag down below. All you need to do is drop those precious Halloween goodies and become everyone’s favorite neighbor!
4. Give Away Sealed Halloween Goodie Bags
Let the ghoul times roll for everyone in the neighborhood, especially those who might not be able to leave their home. Spend an afternoon making your own sealed Halloween goodie bags and gift them to neighbors who are sick, injured, disabled, or quarantined. You can also approach your local community center or nursing home and spread some joy with everyone!
5. Set up a Ghoulish Scavenger Hunt instead of Trick or Treating
The easiest way to stay low contact this year is to set up an epic nighttime scavenger hunt in your backyard. All you’ve got to do is get creative!
A nighttime scavenger hunt is the perfect excuse for kids to wiggle around that last shred of energy before catching some ZZZs. Here are different scavenger hunts you can try:
- Ask a few neighbors to hide some Halloween candy or party favors in their yards. Make sure to make the clues pretty obvious so the little ones don’t get frustrated when they’re out searching for the hidden treasures.
- Skip bugging your neighbors and hide all kinds of Halloween treats in your own patio. You don’t need to dig into your backyard to do this. You can just hide the treats and toys in potted plants, trees, under your house’s doormat.
- Want to go ALL OUT this year? Get a bag of glow-in-the-dark plastic Easter eggs from Amazon or Target and fill them up with toys, snacks, and candies. When you hide these across the yard, they will glow in the dark making Halloween night extra spooky.
These simple safety tricks can help ensure that everyone has fun on this spooky night without putting each other at risk! And don’t forget to check out the full list of CDC recommendations here.
