Spooky season is here, but it feels a bit different this year. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many places to cancel time-honored Halloween traditions, such as haunted houses and trick-or-treating this year, in following CDC safety guidelines. This means that families will have to come up with creative (and safe!) approaches to celebrating the beloved holiday this year.
Now here’s the good news: we’ve already thought of some fun ways for you and your family to celebrate! Here are some cute crafts and fun ideas that will make you forget that you can’t trick-or-treat this year:
Pandemic-friendly Halloween activities
Boo! your neighbors
If you want to spread some spooky fun around your neighborhood, consider putting together some Boo bags with your family!
Some items you can include in your “Boo” bags are:
- Stickers
- Pencils
- Fun rings
- Erasers
- Candy
- Lollipops
- Gift cards
- Small toys
- Homemade treats
- And more!
The best part about this you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg to spread some Halloween love in your neighborhood. You can find all of the items you to make my “Boo” bags and bucket at the dollar store or the Dollar Spot at your local Target.
You’ll need to print out some signs for your Boo Basket. Here is a free, printable download.
Make some scary treats
Making desserts is a fun way to spend time together and get in the Halloween spirit. Try to come up with ways to make your favorite desserts a little more spooky – or, you can be like me and search Pinterest for ideas. My kids and I made these spooky monster cookies together and we had a blast doing it. You can make this activity even more fun by seeing who can make the spookiest monster cookie! Be sure to save a few and add them to your boo bags, too!
Flashlight scavenger hunt
No trick-or-treating? No problem! Let your kids get dressed up while you hide candy all over the house (or in your backyard!), turn out the lights, give your kids a flashlight, and let them hunt for their Halloween treats! They’ll have so much fun, they won’t even miss going door-to-door, and you can still collect your “parent tax” after.
Have a scary movie marathon in costume
After the scavenger hunt, get the family together on the couch to wind down and watch your favorite (family-friendly!) scary movies. They can eat some of the candy they found and the treats they made with you as movie snacks. Who knows, this may become your new family Halloween tradition. Win-win!
Make some spooky crafts together
Crafting is an essential part of every holiday – at least, in my house. My kids love any excuse to make something that they can proudly display and say, “I made that!” If you have little ones, you can do something as simple as purchase a small canvas and some paint from the dollar store and make something cute (and spooky!) with their hands and/or feet, or you can bust out the watercolors, the glue, some salt, and construction paper and let them make these awesome watercolor spiderweb crafts. Your family can also carve, and even paint, some pumpkins together. The possibilities are endless, and you can participate in the fun, too!
Not being able to trick-or-treat doesn’t have to mean that Halloween is ruined. Take this opportunity to create new traditions and memories with your family and close friends. Who knows, this could be the best Halloween season yet!
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