FUN and frights
Pandemic friendly ways to celebrate Halloween with your kids
Halloween season is here, and the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us. Last Halloween, many communities followed the CDC’S recommendation to cancel trick-or-treat in an effort to curb the spread of COVID. h CDC director Rochelle Walensky said outdoor trick-or-treating can be done safely this year, but she recommended against indoor Halloween parties as the more contagious delta variant of COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the country and children under 12 remain ineligible to be vaccinated. h If you’re looking for more pandemic-friendly ways to celebrate the holiday with your family, here are some ideas.
1. Have the whole family dress up to do a costume parade through the neighborhood.
2. Invite friends to join your costume parade and then gather in your yard (with proper social distance) to give out costume prizes. Be creative about your categories so everyone gets a prize.
3. Head to a nature center for a haunted forest hike.
4. Visit a pumpkin patch, let everyone pick a pumpkin and go home to carve, decorate and roast pumpkin seeds. A homemade pumpkin spice latte would taste good too.
5. Invite friends and family over for an outdoor Halloween movie. Set up a screen or sheet on your garage door and rent a projector.
6. Let your kids help you decorate your yard and house for the holiday.
7. Take a walk around the neighborhood to admire everyone else’s decorations. Or take a drive to look at decorations outside your neighborhood.
8. Go on a Halloween scavenger hunt through the neighborhood by giving kids a list of things to look for.
9. Get the kids involved in the creation of their costumes by designing and making them together.
10. Make homemade candy, caramel corn or chocolates to enjoy at home.
11. Have every member of your household gather five to 10 clothing items and accessories. Put them in a pile in the middle of the room. See who can put together the silliest costume.
12. Pick a Halloween movie to watch with your family like “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” or the brand-new “Muppets Haunted Mansion” on Disney+. Have candy instead of popcorn, and have everyone dress as their favorite character when the movie’s over.
13. Write or draw clues on pieces of paper to send the kids on a candy treasure hunt through the house.
14. Put all the Halloween candy in a pinata to break open.
15. It’s not Christmas yet, but you can use Halloween candy to make gingerbread houses. Just make them haunted houses.
16. Set out a candy buffet for a Halloween-night dinner.
17. Check your community’s website, newsletter or Facebook page for local Halloween events.
18. Have a candy taste test with your family. Candystore.com has an interactive map with every state’s favorite Halloween candy. See if your family agrees: candystore.com/blog/facts-trivia/halloweencandy-map-popular.