Don’t Let the Pandemic Ruin Your Halloween

How to have a fun holiday even if you can’t go to a party or take your kids trick-or-treating.

As the pandemic rages on, most places are canceling their traditional Halloween activities. Here are some ideas how you can have a fun holiday from the safety of your home — and maybe create some new traditions for your family.

1. Decorate the inside of your house and have a family party: We typically put our Halloween decorations outside of the house for the trick-or-treaters, but this year consider turning your family room into something spooky. Hang some cobwebs, put out some pumpkins, use costumes from previous years to make scary figures by stuffing them with old cloths, whatever you can think of to get your house feeling festive. Then set up some of the games from your childhood Halloween parties, like apple bobbing, the blindfolded “grapes as eyeballs” game, or pin the nose on the witch.
2. Have a craft day: If you’re crafty — or even if you’re not — gather your family and get creative. There are about twenty billion craft ideas on Pinterest, and you can get craft kits from Amazon, Etsy or your local craft store. It’s not about making something perfect, it’s about using your brain for something besides zoom.
3. Have a Halloween movie marathon: My top recommendation is always going to be “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” because, come on, there is nothing sweeter than Linus waiting in the pumpkin patch. Check your streaming service for other kid-related Halloween specials, or if your kids are older, watch some slasher flicks.
4. Have a dance party: Queue up your favorite Halloween-themed songs and dance your hearts out. Dancing to “Thriller” or “Monster Mash” can be a great way to get some exercise and bring on endorphins.
5. Schedule a family game night: You might not have a Halloween-themed board game, but being away from the screens and focusing on a game together can be a fun way to bond with your family. Or if you want something more active, there’s always more active games like Twister.
6. Set up a scavenger hunt or a pumpkin hunt: Use your house to create a scavenger hunt, picking things people can locate but not too easily. Or, recreate the traditional Easter egg hunt with tiny pumpkins. Get creative, just be sure you get them all — you don’t want to find a rotting mini pumpkin under your porch next month.
7. Create a Halloween play: When we were kids, we would write elaborate plays that we would then act out for the grown-ups, complete with costumes. Ask your kids to create something that tells an original story, then sit back and enjoy the show. Bonus: you can livestream the play on zoom for the grandparents.