Ghosts, Ghouls & Social Distancing

Every year kids look forward to Halloween, having us parents chase through stores looking for the perfect costume and buying candy in bulk. This year seems to be a little different, with COVID still over our heads, which makes us wonder if anyone is going to participate or another holiday is going to the wayside due to the pandemic.

Whether you think we should stay home and not let our kids go door-to-door trick or treating, or you are already picking out costumes, we’d like to give you some guidelines on how we could make it safer for our kids.

STAYING HOME

If you are staying home, you will not have a lot to worry about, other than the letdown of telling your kids that this year you will not be participating. Explaining to them that taking candy from someone that may have COVID could possibly lead to spreading to them and your family may help, depending on their age, but there are some ways you can make up for it.

1. Treasure hunt – place candy all over the house in secret locations then have the kids go find it. Give them a bag and absolutely no hints and turn them loose to finding candy around the house.
2. Movie night – there is no better night to watch scary movies than Halloween! Plan in advance the movie, and keep in mind you’ll need snacks and drinks.
3. Make popcorn balls – a family favorite on Halloween is making these delicious treats. Add some color to make them look like pumpkins, and you can even add other things like sprinkles and chocolate chips.
4. Meet up – if you have a family you’ve been around since the pandemic, you can get together with them and have a great time giving out candy to them, have a costume party, or even share your movie night with them.
5. Games – This would be a great night to pull out the games and have candy as rewards for winning or when they meet certain criteria. A good game of war with candy as the reward can be a fun time.
6. Theatre – have your kids dress up in their costumes and play out the character they chose. Have them improv a movie or make up their own script for one and show it to you when they are done.
7. Make sure you shut off your porch light so you don’t get any trick or treaters.

 

GOING OUT

If you have already decided you are going trick or treating, have chosen the costume and are ready to hit the streets, keep in mind not everyone will be participating, and that is fine. We all have different views, and that is good. Being upset because people are not going to do what you are doing is useless. Do your thing and keep in mind not everyone thinks like you.

Here are some tips to keep your trick or treaters safe.

1. Have your kids wear gloves – just in case you do come in contact with someone with the virus, you won’t need to worry about washing their hands after every house. If they are too young to understand the use of gloves and not touching their face with them, then you take the candy at every house.
2. Sanitizer – have some in the car just in case. You may decide to stop and eat some candy or go out to eat and you will need to make sure their hands are clean when they eat.
3. Distance – keeping your distance is still a great idea, we do not need to get up close and personal with people that may or may not have this virus. Even the flu will be coming around soon, and colds are about to rampage through our schools, so even if you are not worried about the pandemic, there are other things to worry about right now.
4. Ride sharing – if you are taking other kids with you, make sure they practice the same safety guidelines that you and your children are. Explain to their parents you will be having them wear gloves and sanitizing or whatever rules are you are instituting so they can be on board.
5. Lights – make sure you only visit homes with porch lights on, as the universal symbol of participation of Halloween.

This year certainly has been different, and we have had to change the way we do some things, but it also gives us the opportunity to come up with some new family traditions. You may enjoy what you did this year so much that next year you do the same thing, you never know.