Halloween Tips, Tricks and Treats

BOO! It’s Halloween, and scary movies have played on your TVs and smart devices. You and your kids have figured out the perfect costume. The drug stores have huge bags of candy waiting for your taking. The city is having so much fun planning and preparing that we almost forget – it’s the year of the Rona. 

COVID-19 has changed the way we live, but things don’t have to change entirely, right? We’re just going to have to be a little more strategic and creative. Keep reading because below we have five ways your family will be able to have a spooky – but safe – Halloween. 

Go Virtual 

• One way to protect yourself and your family while still having a Hallo-good time is to party online! Families can host a Zoom party, and invite friends and families. Families can break the party up into segments to keep it moving along. Maybe first its family time, then the children only and, at the end of the night, the adults will play. 

• Host a virtual Google Meets Halloween contest with your friends and family. The kids can join in on this one as well. Make sure to have cool prizes like Grubhub and Uber Eats gift cards, or have pizza or groceries delivered to their homes. 

• A Halloween-themed movie night is a great way to wrap things up. Netflix now has a free extension called Teleparty that allows you and your friends to watch a movie at the same time, in separate locations, online. Pick a scary or silly Halloween movie, make popcorn and stuff your faces with more candy than you should. 

Remember COVID-19 Guidelines

Michigan is allowing trick-or-treating this year for children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers this a high-risk activity for your child. However, there’s a few tips families can follow to stay safe. 

• Wear a mask over the nose and mouth. Halloween costume masks do not count. If your child needs to remove the mask for a breath of fresh air, take them away from the area to remove their mask.

• Trick or treat with children in the same household. Avoid rounding up cousins and friends.

• Do your best to stay six feet away from other trick-or-treaters, and avoid hanging out in large crowds. 

• Bars, clubs and lounges are still having Halloween parties. The safest way to party is to stay with who you came with. If there are booths available, get one. That way you can dance, drink and have a good time in your own bubble with your spooky friends. Keep your mask on whenever you are not with your group. Consider dressing warmly and going to an outdoor party. 

• Corn maze and haunted hayrides are great ways to celebrate Halloween in an open space. If you are going to a hayride and there’s people on the ride you do not know, keep your mask on and hand sanitizer near. 

Party with the Family 

• Family time is always the best time. Get your costumes on, take family photos and stay indoors. Watch movies, carve pumpkins, eat lots of candy and make Halloween masks. 

Host a Creative Block Party 

• Go over here, look over there, lift that rock and have a Halloween scavenger hunt throughout your neighborhood. This is a great way to get out of the house yet stay away from each other because each person will be at a different clue. 

• Who doesn’t love a good Halloween movie? Host a movie night outside. Place a white sheet up or cast the projector on the garage. Make sure you tape off circles six feet apart, and invite the neighbors over for some ghostly good fun. To make it more contactless, make it BYOC – Bring Your Own Candy. 

• Host a Halloween costume parade on your block. Set up a couple speakers outside, and let the children show off their characters for the night. 

Drop-Off/Pick Up Halloween

• If you want to pass out Halloween candy it’s important to follow COVID-19 guidelines to keep yourself and others around you safe. Instead of having a big bowl of candy for children to grab at, consider having small grab bags of candy on a table. The children can grab the candy and go. Remember to disinfect the area throughout the evening.

• Instead of having children come to homes, poll the neighborhood to see who would be interested in going to an open space, like a park, and setting up tables with grab bags for children. Also use tape or spray paint to mark six feet of separation for children forming lines.

• Ghosting is a great idea when it comes to Halloween fun. Ghosting is when you leave Halloween goodie bags on the porch of someone you care about, knock on their door and run away. 

Halloween looks different this year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create lasting memories. Tag us in your Halloween photos this year. We would love to see what you and creepy crews came up with.