Halloween is right around the corner and it’s time to start thinking about how you and your family will have a fun, safe Halloween. This year in 2020, safety will be especially important since we’re in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While you could just cancel Halloween, your kids would be disappointed. If you have younger kids, you’ll miss out on watching your kids have fun dressing up, or putting a cute outfit on your new baby.
The good news is you don’t need to drop Halloween completely. You just need to make a few adjustments to your planned celebrations. Here are some crafty tips for celebrating Halloween while keeping everyone safe.
1. Buy candy in bulk for you, your kids, and their friends
Some might argue that Halloween isn’t Halloween without trick-or-treating. Those people are probably right. However, in the middle of a pandemic, trick-or-treating can be risky.
Instead of going trick-or-treating throughout your neighborhood, order a bunch of candy in bulk that you can use to play games at home. It’s the perfect time to get your kid’s new kinds of candy they haven’t tried before. For instance, if you live in the United States, your kids probably haven’t had a Cadbury Curly Wurly bar. They’re not usually sold in big packages at the store, which means they’re not likely to be handed out on Halloween.
Curly Wurly bars are designed to be just like the old Mars Marathon bars that were discontinued in 1981 – they’re eight inches of braided, chewy caramel covered in milk chocolate. Once your kids know you’ve got them, Curly Wurly bars will become the coveted prize in any candy game you play.
2. Toss candy into cups for prizes
Test your family’s skills at tossing candy into cups from various distances in the living room or the backyard. To make it harder, buy the miniature plastic cups rather than the standard size.
Set up prizes for getting candy in each cup and increase the prizes as the arrangement of the game gets more challenging. To make the game challenging, you could:
- Place cups above everyone’s eye level
- Place cups at an angle that requires tossing a ‘curve ball’
- Have players use their non-dominant hand to toss candy
- Allow people to run interference by tossing their candy at the same time
- Track points for every candy that lands in a cup and take points away for missed shots
The opportunities are endless for coming up with challenges.
3. Make a Piñata
No party is complete without a piñata, and Halloween is perfect for creating your own. If you’ve never made your own piñata, it’s not rocket science. Check out this YouTube tutorial for some simple instructions and gather all your materials ahead of time.
If making your own piñata from scratch feels like too much work, you can get pre-made holiday-themed piñatas to decorate from craft stores. If you can’t find an open craft store, you’ll probably find something cool on Amazon.
Get your kids to help make the actual piñata so they’ll be more excited about smashing it open on Halloween. However, fill it with more than just candy. Tell your kids you’ve put something extra special inside and make it good, like money or some kind of expensive candy your kids don’t get often.
4. Host a pumpkin carving contest
Have your kids carve one or two pumpkins that will be judged on Halloween day. However, don’t just create a contest that determines who is the best-skilled carver. That wouldn’t be fair. Find other criteria to judge each pumpkin. For example, you could have awards for the most unique idea or the scariest design.
Tell your kids they can decorate their pumpkins with more than just carvings if they’d like to get creative. They might want to put a wig on their pumpkin or dress it up in a t-shirt. Buy whatever craft supplies they need to have a good time.
Staying organized is the key to a successful Halloween
Instead of just winging it, create an official itinerary for Halloween to keep your kids’ interest all night long. Don’t give them time to wander off and start thinking about how much they miss their friends. Keep them focused and occupied and everyone will have a fun, safe Halloween.