Photo Credit: Springfield Township
Halloween this year will be a new experience for children and their families due to the coronavirus pandemic, whether you choose to trick-or-treat or give out the candy. Here are some ways for you to celebrate Halloween while keeping safe, wearing masks, continue social distancing, and sanitizing or washing hands often.
Before heading out with your kids to trick-or-treat, consider speaking with your children about some rules to follow while outside. When you clearly explain the plan for them to follow, they will feel more prepared to go out, and so will you because you have successfully established guidelines for them. However, if you do not plan on trick-or-treating, keep the day fun by planning a Halloween scavenger hunt at the house, bake some spooky treats together, carve some scary pumpkins or perhaps a Halloween movie night, according to The Conversation.
Kids can get together safely by joining together online to have a virtual costume contest, spooky dance party, and other online fun. This the safest option for kids to be with their friends, instead of hosting in-person parties, and attending haunted houses. Also, after coming home from collecting candy, remind your children to wash their hands thoroughly before diving into their yummy treats, according to Hopkins Medicine.
If you feel uncomfortable having children arrive at your doorsteps this year, you may prefer to use a table. Dana Armstrong and her neighbors in Canonsburg, PA., have decided to put tables on their driveways or any place in the front of their homes. The tables are filled with candy for children to take as they pass by. However, if you are a trick-or-treater who sees tables out with other groups of children and parents, it would be best to wait your turn at a safe distance or skip the house and move on to the next, according to The New York Times.
It is understandable for parents to not celebrate Halloween out of concern for their kids safety, but “kids need something to look forward to, so don’t write off Halloween-be creative to keep kids safe and happy,” said Aaron Milstone, a pediatrician at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and contagious disease expert at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
