Covid-19 and Trick-or-Treating
Halloween is just around the corner….a night full of candy, adorable witches, silly ghosts, spooky goblins…and the scary concern of Covid-19. Whether you are trick-or-treating like normal, considering an alternative, or opting to stay at home you can still have a safe and spooktacular Halloween!
Traditional Trick-or-Treating
Trick-or-Treating is a huge part of what makes Halloween what it is! If you or your family, like mine, are considering trick-or-treating this year, you will want to take a few extra safety precautions than that of previous years. Of course you will want to follow all the typical safety tips found here….but since 2020 has to be all extra with a pandemic, it’s important that you and your family take extra safety precautions, too.
- Wear a Mask, a cloth one that covers mouth and nose!
- Maintain social distance (at least 6ft apart) with other trick-or-treaters.
- Do not reach into the candy bowl, let the person passing it out put it in your candy bag!
- Map out a one direction route and avoid revisiting the same house over-and-over (I know those full-size candy bars are tempting!).
- If you knock on a door, knock and then step back a good 3 ft or more.
- You may want to consider only visiting houses where you do not need to knock.
- Bring hand sanitizer (at least 60% alcohol), use it between every house!
- Avoid going in an enclosed space like a “Haunted Porch” or “Haunted Garage”.
- Avoid taking food or beverages (sorry adults, I know the traditional adult Halloween walk may need to take a break this year).
- Avoid eating any candy while trick-or-treating!
- When you get home wash, wash, wash your hands (before eating candy)!
- Carefully inspect all candy, any piece that is not individually sealed should be discarded.
- Have fun!!! Take pictures with fun decorations, bring fun glow sticks, make up silly songs, start a new tradition etc.
Passing Out Candy
This is my absolute favorite part of Halloween night! I send my husband around with our kids and I pass out the candy. I love all the costumes, I love letting kids grab handfuls of candy from my candy cauldron, I even love when teenagers trick-or-treat, as they are holding onto bits of childhood! However, this year will need to be a bit different!
If you are passing out candy like I am, please take the following precautions:
- Wear a Mask!!!
- Do not let any little, medium, or big hands other than your own reach into the candy bowl.
- Hand-sanitize between each group!
- Only pass out individually sealed pieces of candy.
- Consider having pre-made candy bags for a grab and go style of trick-or treating.
- Perhaps make a Candy Chute out of PVC pipe from your local hardware store.
- Try to maintain as much distance as possible.
- Consider passing candy out from your porch or driveway.
Non-Traditional Options
I think we can all agree that very little about 2020 is traditional! This is the perfect year to celebrate Halloween in a non-traditional way!
- Have a Zoom Halloween party, complete with a costume contest!
- Organize a trick-or-treat car parade (think birthday parade)
- Make Halloween baskets for your kids (think easter basket but Halloween style)
- Trick-or-Treat from room-to-room in your home.
Share your other non-traditional ways to celebrate Halloween in the comments section below!
Opting out
Maybe you are taking the opportunity to curl up on the couch with a spooky movie and your own yummy treats, or maybe you are simply opting out of Halloween this year. No matter the reason, if you are not passing out candy, please make sure your porch light and any light up decorations are turned off as to not confuse trick-or-treaters.
No matter how you and your family are deciding to celebrate, have fun and enjoy each other. I think we can all agree that this will be a Halloween to remember!
*Advice given is this article is not approved by the CDC for CDC guidelines regarding Halloween, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays/halloween.html
