Halloween 2020: Making it Fun and Safe

This Halloween, health experts suggest that finding safe ways to celebrate can make the day playful and exciting. While some activities like dressing up and decorating pumpkins hardly need to change at all, others may need a bit of a twist: 

Halloween Treats – Spend more time than usual creating dinner and treats as a family. Decorate a pizza with toppings in the shape of a jack-o’-lantern. Make tangerine pumpkins by peeling the tangerine and sticking a thin slice of celery on top to look like a stem. Frost cupcakes with orange-colored icing and decorate using chocolate chips, candy corn, or other inventive ingredients. 

Virtual Costume Parties and Parades – Have fun using Zoom or other video chats with friends and family to show off costumes and play games. Stage an outdoor costume parade on your block, making sure everyone is socially distanced and masked, and let each kid pick up a bag full of treats as he or she takes center stage or passes the costume judges. 

A Halloween Piñata – Fill your piñata with treats and take turns batting it with a broomstick. This is fun for the family, but if you wish to invite a few other kids to participate, take precautions to see that everyone stays socially distanced and masked.

Start a Spooky Movie Night – Have the whole family dress up as their favorite characters, settle in with popcorn or other snacks, and choose from a wide range of age-appropriate Halloween-themed movies, ranging from Casper the Ghost and Monster House to Beetlejuice, Hocus Pocus, or your classic favorites.

Attend a Safe Community Event – Instead of door-to-door trick or treating, check with your library or parks and recreation department to learn about organized outdoor venues like a corn maze, a socially distanced haunted house, a drive-through treat event, or another activity your kids can safely enjoy.