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Fun and Safe Halloween Ideas

Halloween Ideas During Covid-19

Fall is in full swing (I mean it’s still hot but you get the idea…) and usually October is filled with pumpkins, costumes, decorations, haunted houses, ghosts and ghouls galore. Unfortunately, Halloween will look a little different this year. We can still celebrate the festive holiday; it just may have to be altered. Here are some ideas to keep the fun intact, get your creative juices flowing, and still have a safe, healthy and exciting holiday experience!

Decorating

  • Even taking the time to order some goodies online (see: Amazon, Target, Oriental Trading or even ask your local Buy Nothing Group) or doing a few easy DIY decorations (thanks, Pinterest!) helps get into the holiday spirit! The kids will love putting up a few decorations and doing some homemade projects. Your kids are too young to enjoy? No problem! I’m sure you’ll love putting up a few decorations just as much as they would have if they were older. And crafting can be good to keep anxiety at bay.
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Pumpkin Patch

  • Tapia Bros and Underwood Farms are both open for picking out pumpkins and both have social distancing protocols. Go during the week or early to avoid crowds, but you and your kiddos will have a blast running around the patch looking for pumpkins and is sure to get you into the Halloween spirit, plus what great photo ops of your pumpkins among the pumpkins! Which leads into…
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Pumpkin Carving

  • Bring home those pumpkins and carve away! Grocery stores, Halloween stores, Party City and Amazon all have elaborate books and tools that make carving easy, or you could do the traditional carve with triangles as eyes and nose. Not into carving? No problem – use stickers, paint, sharpies, spray paint, googly eyes, fabric, etc. the possibilities are endless and fun!
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Turn your pumpkin into a science experiment

  • Before you throw out the pumpkin insides, ask your kiddos what they think the inside of a pumpkin looks like. Engage in their answers and then put the insides into a bowl and have your littles explore. Ask them thoughtful questions about what they are exploring, how it feels and if they were right about what they thought the insides felt and looked like. Once there is nothing in the pumpkin, add vinegar and baking soda to explode the inside of your pumpkin (a volcano-like reaction), or add shaving cream with food coloring to the inside of the pumpkin for a different kind of sensory shaving cream experience. Save the seeds and roast them!
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Drive through Halloween experiences.

  • These experiences are a little on the costly side, but if you’re feeling up for it get a ticket to Nights of the Jack in Calabasas, Hauntoween in Woodland Hills, or the Haunted Hayride in San Dimas. A short google search will have numerous drive through experiences this October, all socially distanced, all guaranteed fun! But…
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Scope out your neighborhood.

  • Go on a walk and/or create a scavenger hunt around your neighborhood to see all the haunted décor, day or night. A scavenger hunt (on paper - find a pumpkin, ghost, witches hat, blinking lights, graveyards, cross out as you go and make it as hard or easy as you want) will have the kids engaged for awhile!
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Pinata

  • Fill the pinata with candy and goodies like erasers, pencils, cars, stickers and have children (and adults!) go to town to get their candy and treats!
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Scavenger Hunt

  • Much like an Easter egg hunt, but with candy. Drop candy (or put candy in eggs, why not?) around your backyard or a designated space in your home and have the kids run around filling their bag with candy they find. Older kids would even enjoy a treasure hunt situation where they go around the house and backyard searching for clues that will eventually lead to a box of treats!

Projects with your pod

  • If you have a pod or friends/family that you are seeing on a regular basis, have a backyard set up that will include different stations (number of stations is determined based on how many family/friends/kids there are). One station is a Halloween art project, another station is a sensory station (cooked pasta for brains, peeled grapes for eyeballs, etc), another station is decorating a tiny pumpkin…you get the idea. Kids go around to each station until they’ve done them all. Use your creativity on this one!
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Arts & Crafts, and Baking

  • I mentioned this earlier, but it’s worth mentioning again. Pinterest or google search easy Halloween arts and crafts for kids of all ages; display them around the house. Bake and cook dishes with pumpkin in them, decorate Halloween cookies, one year I had 2-year-olds over at my house and I made cute and easy Halloween treats like edible googly eyes on a half a banana (ghosts), mummified marshmallows, Halloween inspired rice krispy treats, I even used small Halloween cookie cutter cut-outs for cheese and crackers! All simple, all easy and was a big hit with the toddlers (and families)!
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Host a family fashion show

  • This could even be done virtually with family and friends from all over. Just because we can’t really trick-or-treat doesn’t mean we can’t wear costumes! Have a family costume contest and give prizes (if you do this on Zoom - online gift cards, or send something small via mail, ding dong drop if close by) for the most creative, funniest, timely, etc. Do it in conjunction with a fashion show or have a separate fashion show for your immediate household or with your extended family, pod, good friends or via Zoom!
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Costume Parade

  • If you are lucky enough to have awesome neighbors and awesome neighbors who have kids, have a costume parade outside in your neighborhood! You could even tack on the fashion show and costume contest here too!
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Books and Movies

  • If you don’t like scary movies, no problem! There are plenty of Halloween inspired movies that don’t make you scream. Have pizza and movie nights every weekend through October. Hulu and Netflix (as well as other platforms) have categories for Halloween movies, kid and not kid friendly. Be sure to set aside or grab some Halloween books for your kiddos and read away for the whole month!
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Whatever you decide to do, remember to live in the moment, enjoy the experience, and have a blast this Halloween season!