COVID-19 Safety Tips for this Halloween
Families love the mystery and thrill of Halloween. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has parents and kids wondering if they can capture the same fun in 2020 and do it safely.
Like many experiences during the pandemic, a safe and responsible Halloween will need some adjustments. Your family can still celebrate Spooky Season while keeping each other and your friends safe. Here are some tips for a safe Halloween during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Individual Candy Bags
The CDC lists traditional trick-or-treating as a higher-risk activity because of the face-to-face interaction between candy distributors and seekers. You can mitigate the risks by using individually packaged candy bags.
You can find Halloween cellophane bags at any dollar store and can fill these bags with a few pieces of candy or other goodies. Pick a chocolate candy, a gummy candy and even a sour candy to go into each bag. Make sure you wash your hands with soap and warm water for 20 seconds before and after filling the bags and wear a mask during so.
Set up a table at the edge of your porch or driveway to line the bags so trick-or-treaters can grab theirs one by one at a safe distance from you. Don’t put all the bags out at once either; instead, restock them as they disappear. It’s also a good idea to have extra candy and bags to assemble more.
At-Home Candy Scavenger Hunts
With Halloween on a Saturday this year, your little monsters may struggle to keep their excitement for trick-or-treating contained all day. An at-home candy scavenger hunt is the perfect way to let them run around and find their candy fix earlier in the day or even replace trick-or-treating if the event is not happening in your neighborhood.
Similar to an Easter morning egg hunt, you can hide candy around the house for your goblins to find. To make it even more fun, create a series of clues for them to solve for each piece. You could even plan this as an outdoor activity and let your little demons run wild in the yard.
Outdoor Family Outings
A source of great family fun during Spooky Season is a trip to a pumpkin patch, haunted house, or corn maze.
If you’re the family that hosts these, you still can! Just make sure you create one-way traffic through the event and encourage social distancing and masks. If you’re traveling to one, there are plenty of ways to keep you and your family safe. You can stock up on masks for people to take at the door before they come in, you can find a surgical mask for sale, in fact, multiple surgical masks for sale, online.
Even though you’re outside, bring a mask for all of these activities for when you encounter friendly ghosts. If you’re going to a pumpkin patch, bring hand sanitizer to use before and after touching pumpkins. Stick to one-way traffic in a Haunted House or maze, as this reduces interaction with other people and will keep you from potentially catching stray respiratory droplets. It’s recommended to contact the venue to ask about their COVID-19 precautions.
Family Traditions to Keep
As much as we question what we should or shouldn’t do during the coronavirus pandemic, there’s no reason to discontinue nuclear family traditions. Here are some traditional Halloween activities your family absolutely can do together.
- Pumpkin carving
- House decorating
- Costumes
- Spooky movies
We hope you have a fun, safe Halloween!