While Halloween is a bit more normal in 2022, some families might be more inclined to still practice social distancing, especially for their unvaccinated kids. Looking for safer ways to keep the trick-or-treating tradition alive? We’ve rounded up some sweet and creative ideas that your kids will love.
Design a Halloween-themed scavenger hunt.
Organize a scavenger hunt with candy involved. Give Halloween-themed clues to have your kids find candy around the house or in the backyard.
Organize a Halloween car parade.
If there’s one thing that’s become popular since the pandemic, it’s car parades. Families can get creative with their kids and deck their cars out for Halloween, while throwing candy out the window.
Attend a trunk or treat event.
An organized event usually held in a school or church parking lot, trunk or treat events allow costumed children to collect candy through a parking lot as they stop at cars decorated for Halloween.
Set up a trick or treat driveway table.
Instead of having kids grab candy from a communal bowl, work with your neighbors to create driveway tables to pass out individually wrapped candy. This keeps contact to minimum while still letting kids go from house to house.
Fill up a Halloween piñata.
Find a Halloween themed piñata, fill it with candy and let the kids swing at it until your yard is showered with candy. Amazon has fun options for piñata, ranging from pumpkins and bats to skeletons and witches.
Hang candy bags from trees.
Dangle little baggies of treats from the trees or a fence. Just like kids would jump up to pick apples, they can grab treat bags.
Plan a bicycle Halloween parade.
Encourage the kiddos on your street decorate their bikes for Halloween and ride up and down the block. They can make stops for candy along the way.
BOO your neighbors.
A Halloween boo is a basket or treat left anonymously by a neighbor. Once you’ve been boo’d, you hang a ghost picture on your front door. Then, you pay it forward to boo someone else.
Put treats in Little Free Libraries.
There are so many Little Free Libraries around town! Create individually wrapped treat bags and hide some in the nearest Little Free Library for someone to find and enjoy.
Plan a spooky Halloween egg hunt.
Your kids will love to have a second egg hunt this year. Make this one spookier with a glow-in-the dark hunt. All you need are some small pumpkin containers (or leftover plastic eggs) and mini glow sticks.
Create your own haunted house
It doesn’t have to be super spooky. Set up some Halloween decorations and play some scary Halloween tunes and you have yourself your own haunted house. You can set up candy throughout and have the kids find it.
Organize a neighborhood talent show or fashion show
Get all the kids together for a show in their Halloween costumes. They can either perform a talent or you can set up a “catwalk” and have them strut their stuff (while in costume, of course). Candy and treats can be given at the end of their performance.