Family-friendly activities for Halloween 2020
By After the Halloween go-ahead from Alberta’s chief medical officer, residents across the province are preparing to celebrate traditional activities this year.
“I have no plans to suggest that Alberta cancel Halloween this year,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw said during the October 1 press conference. “My own children would never forgive me.”
Following the announcement, the Alberta Government released a series of guidelines on its website on how both trick-or-treaters and candy handers can enjoy the night safely with COVID-19 precautions.
Find the Halloween during COVID-19 guidelines here: https://www.alberta.ca/halloween-during-covid19.aspx
One of the main guidelines recommended is don’t go trick-or-treating or hand out candy if feeling ill, even if symptoms are minor. The guidelines also ask those handing out candy to find creative ways to maintain distance from trick-or-treaters.
And whether or not parents decide they want to take part in trick-or-treating, there are many alternatives and Halloween classics to enjoy the festivities.
YMM Parent put together a list of family-friendly activities for Halloween 2020:
Decorate Your House to the Max
Spook the neighbourhood with store-bought or DIY decorations to transform your entire home like never before – inside and out! Need inspiration, check out Pinterest’s lists of DIY Halloween Decorations.
Halloween Movie Night at Landmark
Landmark Cinemas is featuring Halloween-themed movies this month for $5. Learn more at www.landmarkcinemas.com. Want free tickets? We have a Tickets & Treats contest on YMM Parent’s Facebook page happening now! Just post your Halloween-decorated home to ENTER. Want to stay in? Netflix has a great list of family-friendly Halloween movies featured this month. Click here for movie listings.
Boo Your Neighbours
Remember the Wine Ninjas? It’s basically the same thing. Gather up goodies and leave the Halloween surprises on doorsteps. You can create and deliver packages or reach out to local home-based business Blow Up Your Birthday Fort McMurray. They currently have a Boo O Grams promotion and you can have them Boo your family and friends.
Create a Candy Graveyard
Place candy bags across your front yard beside fake tombstones and kids can practice social distancing while grabbing up the goods. This is super cool and could work well – pending no rain or snow (fingers crossed that we won’t see the white fluff until late November but we do live in Northern Alberta). Check out some great DIY graveyards online.
Play Halloween Bingo
Pick up fun prizes and play Halloween Bingo using candies as markers. Eat up the goodies and invite others to join virtually. You can make your own play cards or find a variety of free print downloads online.
Halloween Candy Hunt
Copycat the Easter Bunny and hide candy throughout your home. We know this activity is already a hit with kids. The object of the activity is simple and you can decide if the kids share the collection or keep what they find. This could also be altered to have more competitive gameplay and whoever finds the most gets an additional special prize!
Bake Halloween Treats
Cookies, cupcakes, cakes… there are so many Halloween-themed recipes to choose from online. Pick your favs and bake it up. Check out some of our favourites from AllRecipes.com.
Carve & Decorate Pumpkins
Pumpkin carving is a classic, unchanged Halloween favourite. Pick up your pumpkins and get creative – add glue and glitter. Looking for Jack-o-Lantern inspiration? Click here.
Pumpkin Scavenger Hunt
Explore your neighbourhood looking for different kinds of jack-o-lanterns. You can find scavenger hunt cards online. Check out this one from PlayPartyPlan.com. The instructions are listed on its website.
Make a Halloween piñata
Head to the party store or break our the paper mâché to make a piñata. It’s a fun way to distribute a lot of goodies. Martha Stewart has an easy DIY bat piñata instructional video online but you can find ones that look like pumpkins, too.
Halloween House Hunting
Walk around the block with your favourite treats to snack on while checking out all the decorated homes in your hood. Better yet, get your neighbours together and host a “Best Decorated Home Halloween Contest!” We already see this happening on some of the local neighbourhood forum pages.
Host a Truck or Treat
Get together with friends in a parting lot and trick-or-treat between your decked out Halloween decorated trunks. This idea replicates tailgate parties, but guests can go all out on decorating the back of their vehicles with their families and friends.
Share your activities with us on social media using the hashtag: #HalloweenYMMParent & have a safe and happy Halloween!
