2020
Canceled! By Jamie Davis Smith
Any other year, Halloween without
trick-or-treating would have been
unimaginable. But 2020, as we all know, isn’t
a normal year.

While 96 percent of parents still plan to
celebrate Halloween with their families,
according to a Party City survey, 70 percent
will forgo traditional trick-or-treating. And
that’s a smart move: The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention advises against
giving out candy to trick-or-treaters, as
well as other high-risk activities, including
trunk-or-treating, indoor costume parties
and haunted houses and going on hayrides
with people other than immediate family
members. However, with a little bit of creativity as
well as some flexibility, Oct. 31 can remain a
spook-tacular day for kids and adults alike.

Here are three ways to make the most of a
pandemic Halloween.

DNY59 / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS
Come up with new ways
to trick-or-treat
As long as you follow all local health and
safety regulations—avoiding large crowds,
wearing a mask, staying outside—modified
trick-or-treating might still be able to happen.

Create a Neighborhood Map: Use
Google Maps to create a neighborhood map
that allows participating houses to add a
pin if they are giving out candy. Without
unnecessary stops, your children can finish
trick-or-treating faster. Of course, you’ll want
to keep your group small and maintain 6 feet
of distance between the kids.

Make Masks Part of the Costume:
Encourage your child to choose a costume
that includes a mask as part of the ensemble,
such as a ninja or doctor. You can also look
for a mask in a coordinating color or pattern
at the same time you purchase their costume.

Institute a “No Eating” Rule: It can be
tempting to tear off the wrapper of a favorite
piece of candy before it even lands in their
trick-or-treat bag, but don’t allow children to
eat until they are home. Eating requires them
to remove their mask, which increases the
risk of spreading Covid-19.

Move Away From the Door: Distributing
candy at your door puts you in close contact
with ghosts and goblins. Instead, try placing
candy in chalk-drawn pumpkins 6 feet apart
on the sidewalk, sending treats down a PVC
pipe or long cardboard tube, or tossing
sugary snacks to trick-or-treaters Mardi Gras-
style. Other ideas include hanging bags of
candy from a tree or simply spreading out
candy on a table at the end of your driveway
so kids can easily grab a piece as they pass
your house. You may also want to limit candy
options, as kids often linger while trying to
make the perfect selection.

Celebrate at home
For those families who don’t feel comfortable
with any type of trick-or-treating, there are
plenty of ways to make Halloween special at
home. Host a Spooky Backyard Movie Night:
Watching a scary (or not-so-scary) movie
is a favorite Halloween tradition. Instead
of hitting the theater, set up an outdoor
experience in your backyard or nearby alley
with a projector, Bluetooth speaker and
movie screen or ironed white sheet. Or keep
it simple and bring your TV outside. Set up
blankets 6 feet apart and settle in for a fun
evening with friends. The price of admission
is wearing a costume!
Go Hunting for Candy: Kids don’t have
to go trick-or-treating to find candy behind
every door. Hide their favorite treats around
the house and have them search in costume.

If you are feeling creative, send the kids on a
spooky scavenger hunt or make life easier by
hanging a Halloween-themed piñata.

Take Your Decorations to the Max: Make
Halloween extra special this year by taking
your decorations to the next level. Blow up
some spooky inflatables, hang orange twinkle
lights and put out some jars of green goo. In
the absence of a neighborhood celebration,
setting the scene at home will help get your
kids in the Halloween spirit. You can also
walk around the block checking out other
people’s decorations.

Boo Your Friends: If you’ve never boo’d
friends on Halloween, this is the perfect year
to start a new tradition. However, instead of
anonymously leaving bags of candy at their
doors, let your kids wear their costume and
say hello to their buddies from a distance.

You may want to coordinate with your
children’s friends’ parents ahead of time so
the gang can take turns boo-ing each other.

Host a Costume Parade: Invite friends
and family to a virtual Halloween parade
so kids can show off their costumes to each
other. If you are lucky enough to live on a
street with a lot of children, set a time for
everyone to step out on their front steps in
costume while the adults clap for them.

Have a “Yes” Day: Another way to make
Halloween memorable without trick-or-
treating is by saying “yes” all day. Candy for
breakfast? Yes! An extra hour of screen time?
Yes! Staying up late? Yes! Kids will have so
much fun being in charge that they may not
even miss going door-to-door with friends.

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