After everything that’s been going on this year with COVID-19, Halloween is a big question for families who are scared of the virus and want to stay safe during this holiday. There are many activities families can do together with themselves, or with close friends, to make things more fun. 

One activity you can do on Halloween night while social distancing is to create a candy graveyard where you gather with your family and close friends and decorate your front yard. After you have decorated your front yard, you can scatter candy around the yard and let the kids run around while they grab candy. It’s kind of like “Easter egg hunting”, but in October with costumes. 

Another fun activity to do with close friends or neighbors is doing a Trunk-or-Treat. It’s usually an organized event that takes place in a school or church parking lot. Trunk-or-Treating entails decorated vehicles and kids go trick-or-treating from car to car. This can be done in neighborhoods where neighbors set up their cars on their driveway and hand out candy to kids. To make sure you’re being safe, adults should give the candy to kids and apply hand sanitizer as they give out candy, then have a bunch of kids grab in the same basket.

Trick-or-treating might not be the same for families. One way kids can enjoy their Halloween night, and get lots of candy, is by a reverse trick-or-treat in the neighborhood. This is like how they did the birthday parades during quarantine, but instead, the neighbors toss candy at the kids while they are in their vehicle. 

For older teens or adults, that want to also celebrate Halloween, this idea might be a little more fun than the other ideas I have listed. You pick a friend of yours or a loved one and decorate a gift basket with a bunch of treats that your “boo” likes and leave it at their front door for them to receive when they open the door. 

Scary movies are always needed when Halloween comes around, so why not stay safe on Halloween by staying in and have a movie night with your family? Gather around the TV and pick your favorite scary movies, while you munch on your favorite snacks. You can also make this a little more fun by playing your movie on a projector in the backyard.

Not wanting to go anywhere on Halloween is no problem, especially with a global pandemic going around. Having a scavenger hunt with your family is a new exciting tradition you can start. Decorate rooms around the house, and set up by hiding candy, toys, prizes, and gift cards. 

A fun idea a lot of the citizens in Houston have been doing is going through a drive-thru haunted house. These haunted houses are contact-free where you go in your vehicle with the windows down and drive through the property where people come up randomly and scare you. 

Speaking of drive-thrus, during the global pandemic, drive-thru theaters have made a major comeback. You can go visit your nearest drive-thru theater and watch scary movies on Halloween to enjoy your night. This guarantees minimum contact and allows you to stay safe but also have fun throughout the night. 

Even with a global pandemic still going around, there are a lot of options on how to spend your Halloween night. Make sure to be safe this Halloween and practice social distancing as much as possible. You can try any of these activities on Halloween night on Oct.31, 2020.