Additional Needs

Halloween is Not Cancelled

Posted by Jennifer Arnold on 11th October 2020 Additional Needs, Advice & Support, Disabilities

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Halloween is less than a month away. With many cities and towns putting restrictions on festivities or even banning trick or treating altogether, the holiday won’t be canceled, but it will look a lot different.

Decorations will still go up, we’ll still carve pumpkins, but our annual trip to the pumpkin patch and trick-or-treating will be out of the question for us this year.

Between the sharp rise of COVID-19 cases locally and the beginning of cold and flu season, we opt to lay low and celebrate at home.

For the past few years, we have gone trick or treating at a local nursing home. It’s a great set-up; the residents gather in the common room of each of the three houses on the property and hand out candy to the kids as they walk through.

They love seeing all the littles dressed up and having that interaction, and we parents have a safe, well-lit place to bring our kids to be loved on and get some treats. This year with all the COVID-19 restrictions, the nursing homes are, of course, off-limits.

I searched for fun, alternative options to the traditional Halloween activities and found some creative ideas that I wanted to pass on:

Zoom costume parties: Gather a bunch of family and friends and show off your costume while catching up.

Candy scavenger hunt in the backyard: Hide the candy in the backyard and give the kids clues on finding it. If it rains, just move the search inside!

Glow in the dark eggs: Some stores sell glow in the dark eggs to hide treats for a nighttime candy hunt.

Go wild with decorations: Many neighborhoods go all out with Christmas or holiday decorations- why not do it with Halloween decorations this year?

Trunk or Treat or Drive through Trick or treating: Many places are hosting safer alternatives to trick or treating- you can check your local events calendar and, most likely, find a few.

Make “Boo buckets”: Boo Buckets are fun to make and don’t have to be expensive. Think of them as a Halloween- themed Easter basket. You can do one for your kids in place of trick or treating or leave one as a surprise on a friend or family member’s doorstep.

“Drive-in” Movie Marathon: Have kids decorate boxes as cars and have a Halloween movie marathon!

This year, if the weather cooperates, we’ll be doing a scavenger hunt in the backyard and a scary movie marathon afterward. How are you planning to celebrate this Halloween?