Alternative Ideas for a Safe Halloween
By Caitlin Bootsma
We all know by now that the pandemic means that we're having to approach almost everything differently; Halloween is no exception. Whether or not your local government is restricting Trick or Treating, you may be looking for a germ-free Halloween experience for your kids. Here's just a few ideas to get you started!
- Holiday Mix-up Egg Hunt: Hey, this year is all upside down anyway—why not take an Easter favorite and adapt it for Halloween? Consider buying plastic eggs and decorating them into your favorite characters, then hiding them for the kids to find in their Halloween costumes!
- Celebrate All Saints Day: Did you know that Halloween comes from the term "All Hallows Eve" because it's the day before All Saints Day? Take this opportunity to dress up as saints and perhaps tell some saint stories by a fire in the backyard with smores or other special treats!
- Surprise and Serve: Instead of Trick or Treat, why not encourage your kids to "Surprise and Serve," this year? Think of creative ways to care for others: rake a neighbor's leaves; leave a friend a present on their doorstep; or bring cards for nursing home patients.
- House decorating contest: Gather a group of friends who want to decorate their houses in spooky or fun ways. Then, take a family car trip to drive by the houses and vote for the spookiest or most unique! Another variation can be to decorate with pumpkins and have the kids count and see how many they think there are (real and paper/plastic). Get the whole neighborhood involved! Whoever gets it right wins a prize!
- Pass out treats—Safely: Put together small packages of treats that have been sanitized and let friends or neighbors know that they are available for a safe porch or driveway pick-up! Or, hang up a clothes line and hang treats up individually for kids to receive.
- A Spooky Night In: Have kids help brainstorm "spooky food" to have for dinner (peeled grapes as eyeballs to touch before cutting horizontally, spaghetti as brains, if that's your sort of fun!). Pick some fun Halloween shows or movies and enjoy them in costumes with your favorite treats.
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