Halloween Ideas for 2020

By Nadine Briggs and Donna Shea

Disclaimer: The ideas in this blog are based on recommendations from town officials to have a safe Halloween for everyone who chooses to participate in the holiday this year. It is not a political statement and comments of a political nature will be deleted.

Here comes Halloween and this year, like so many other things, it will need to look different. Many  families will decide not to participate this year and others will venture out and trick of treat. Our tips are meant to give ideas for both scenarios:

Trick or treat

If you choose not to hand out treats this year, keep your outside lights off and don’t answer the door. If you do choose to hand out candy, here are some tips for how to do so safely this Halloween. These are not all our own ideas but ideas that we have seen in social media posts and in discussions with friends.

Goodie bags – some towns are recommending that families hand out baggies of goodies to kids to avoid the public bowl. Ideas on how to pass these out:

• Leave them on a table in your driveway
• Put glow sticks in them and place them all over your yard
• Use long tongs to pass the baggies to children
• Create a “candy shoot” that you can slide the candy to children from a distance
• Full sized bars – this eliminates the need to stuff baggies but might be more costly. The photo shows a full sized Kit Kat on a stool with a battery operated tea light. You can place several stools or chairs in your driveway 6’ apart so kids can walk up and take one without being too close to other trick of treaters. This idea will require frequent replenishing so keep that in mind if you’d rather not have to monitor it that closely.

It’s recommended by health officials that kids who are trick or treating wear masks, use hand sanitizer and carry long handled tongs to pick up the treats.

For those who choose not to trick of treat:

• If the weather permits, you could show a Halloween movie on a white driveway door or pin a white sheet on the side of a house. This requires having a projector and sound system.
• Halloween scavenger hunt – Kids can dress up in their costumes and drive around town and see how many different types of decorations they can spot. Create a point system for each item they see.
  • Pumpkins = 1 point
  • If pumpkin is carved and lit = 2 points
  • Spider webs = 2 points
  • Hay bales = 3 points
  • And so on….
• Build a haunted house within your house with spooky surprises and creepy noises.
• Play flashlight hide and seek in the backyard with your family.
• Make your own Halloween treats like marshmallow popcorn balls with candy corn stuck inside.
• Have a pumpkin carving contest in your yard with friends at a distance with prizes for the scariest, funniest and most creative carvings.
• Tell ghost stories in the dark with a flashlight under your chin for an extra spooky effect.

Halloween is a fun time of year for so many kids and they can still have a great time, while staying safe, with a little creative thinking.