No need to skip on Halloween fun; try these crafty ideas,
Going door-to-door may be off the table, but there are still ways to celebrate
Halloween is just around the corner and with COVID-19 numbers rising, traditional trick-or-treating is uncertain. While some families are hoping to head out for an evening of trick-or-treating if local health authorities say it’s safe, others plan on staying closer to home, but still want to make it a special occasion.
Amanda Newman’s two children will skip trick-or-treating this year and participate in a scavenger hunt organized by neighbours on their street.
“We have a very small street, with only about eight houses. Everyone will hide some candy in their yards and the kids will go looking for it,” says Newman whose daughter doesn’t seem to mind that she isn’t going trick-or-treating. “She loves the idea of Halloween, but is not so big on going out to people’s houses and asking for candy. So, I think she’s actually kind of jazzed about it.”
Many of the those she’s talked to are doing the same thing, says Newman, who connects with parents through her shop, Tokki, in Toronto’s west-end, where she sells gently used clothing, including Halloween costumes.
And some Toronto businesses have come up with ways — inspired by their own kids — to help bring Halloween cheer (delivered) right to your front door.
When Tanya Todd noticed her three kids weren’t really engaged in some of the COVIDera zoom birthday parties they were attending, she thought there must be a way to do it that is more interactive, so she came up with the idea for “celebrations-in-a-box.”
It’s a party delivered to your door that includes goodie bags ready to deliver to guests including activities for the kids to do together during a zoom party.
“I thought how can we do this as interactive as possible, but still be physically distanced and celebrate together,” says Todd, a former high school teacher who has created “The Boo Bucket,” ($75) from Bug and Bird Events, a kit that includes eight Halloween-themed activities such as Eyeball Pong, a family-friendly take on beer pong, Follow the Boo Poo, a trick-or-treat hunt with faux glow in the dark poo, a scavenger hunt called Ghoul Hunt, plus trick-or-treat bags, decorations and treats for a candy hunt.
Todd says they still plan to dress up and walk around the neighbourhood. She explained an activity called, “You’ve been Booed,” in lieu of treat-or-treating. “We’ll fill a bucket with candy and treats and drop it off at the front door of a friend, then ring the doorbell and run away. And I’m going to drop wine off for the adults.”
When designer Lindsay Stephenson’s 10-year-old son Oscar asked whether all the holidays would be cancelled this year, she started to think about how she could make Halloween fun even if they couldn’t go trick-or-treating.
“I thought what would they want to get that’s super fun that would bring some excitement, ” says Stephenson, the founder of Penny Paper Co. a Torontobased product design studio. So, she came up with the idea of a Halloween-themed box that lets you create a gift according to your budget, that can be shipped or picked up at Collected Joy, in Toronto’s east end.
“We’re finding that a lot of aunts and uncles and grandparents are sending them. It’s just happiness, there’s nothing serious about it, you can open up this box and you might get googly monster finger puppets, jawbreakers; and we’ve teamed up with Mad Batter Bakers, a local bakery, to include freshly made Halloween themed cookies.”
It was Michelle Laratta’s nineyear-old son who came up with the idea to create a line of 18inch “Party of One” pinatas.
“When Covid hit, we knew we had to do something different to stay afloat and it’s turned out to be our busiest year ever,” says Laratta who started Big Ass Pinata six years ago. Now, her company is known for its oversized handmade pinatas that are popular at weddings and corporate events. Laratta’s been busy creating Party of One Pinatas ($75) that are filled with an assortment of Halloween candy and a portion of all sales are donated to Second Harvest. Pinatas can be shipped to your door or a distance pickup can be arranged.