For kids, Halloween is such a big deal – they love to dress up, go trick or treating and, of course, eat all that candy! This year things will again be a bit different, but many families will still want to celebrate Halloween in some way. However keeping everyone as safe as possible is the most important thing, and these trick or treating safety tips will be essential this year!

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Like most seasonal events that have taken place since the pandemic began, Halloween will be different this year. Kids usually trick or treat outside making parents more inclined to let their children go door to door. However, given the nature of the virus, you might be wondering what safety measures you should take this Halloween.

If the prospect of trick or treating in the middle of a pandemic is making you nervous, then here are some trick or treating safety tips to help.

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Trick or Treating Safety Tips

#1. Decide What Your Family is Comfortable With

Firstly decide together what level of risk your family is OK with this Halloween.

• Are you OK with people you don’t know coming to your door?
• How do you usually hand out candy? Some people leave bowls on the doorstep, some people like to hand the sweets out personally.
• Would you prefer to help organise a neighbourhood event instead of doing trick or treating at home?

This will help you decide how you celebrate.

#2. Designate One Person to Hand Out Treats

Make sure it’s one person handing out candy instead of kids reaching into a candy bowl.

#3. No Loose Candy

Buy sealed packages of sweets or chocolates instead of offering them loose. Each candy piece should be either individually wrapped or in packages.

#4. Have Sanitizer Close to Hand

Set up a table that’s further away from your house with hand sanitizer beside any candy you are giving away.

Carry hand sanitizer with you if you are going round trick or treating with your child.

#5. Face Masks but not Gloves

If your child’s costume doesn’t come with a special mask then they should wear a mask when trick or treating. Why not have your child decorate one of their own masks as part of their costume?

There is no need for gloves, they only work best when you change them regularly. If you are not changing your gloves after each time you use them, you are simply moving germs around. Instead wash hands, practice good hand hygiene and use hand sanitizer before taking candy.

#6. What About Sanitizing Your Child’s Halloween Candy?

The good news is that transmission of the coronavirus on surfaces is low. But if you feel really inclined to sanitize your children’s Halloween candy, then by all means you can.

It is always a good idea to inspect your child’s trick or treat haul when you get home anyway to remove loose candy, opened packets, anything that could trigger allergies, teeth-cracking candy you’re not happy with, etc. You can use this opportunity to wipe down wrappers and so on.

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Some Alternative Halloween Ideas to Trick or Treating

Reverse Drive By Halloween

If your neighbourhood can organise it you could consider having a “reverse drive-by” Halloween where the kids stand at the front of the house in their costumes with an adult present. Other parents in the neighbourhood can then drive by and throw candy out to them.

Trunk or Treating

Trunk or Treating has become more popular in recent times. Originally started by church groups with the aim of providing a safer environment for trick or treaters on Halloween, Trunk or Treat is a community focused event.

It takes place in a parking lot at school or church; people decorate the trunks of their cars and then kids can Trick-or-treat out of the car. The advantage being it’s generally with people they are more likely to know and you’re not welcoming strangers to the house.

Virtual Halloween

Many families have used online tools such as Skype, Zoom or Whatsapp to socialise together over the last few months, so you could organise a Virtual Halloween event. There could be a virtual costume parade and then you could take it in turns to play Halloween games with each other.

Another online option is to visit a virtual Haunted House. When you visit these houses you can either roam around the haunted house with some tasks to complete, or view an interactive story e.g. clicking on graves, etc.

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