By Sarah Messina, LMFT, Director of Montgomery County ATOD Program
Because of the uncertainty of Covid-19 and continued efforts to slow the spread of the virus, many families will not be trick or treating in the traditional way for Halloween this year. Despite some of us feeling disappointed about this, we can still make it a fun safe evening with the kids, make some great new memories, and maybe even start a new tradition! Below are some ideas for Halloween activities you can do with your children of all ages (or with your partner or roommate!):
Candy Hunt
This would be very similar to an Easter Egg Hunt! Round up the kids favorite candy or snacks and hide them around the house or yard. You can also add fun twists like using clues to find their favorites, or challenges they have to do to win extra prizes.
Halloween Scavenger Hunt
Find all of the clues on the board and win! This is a great way to still get out and take a walk around the neighborhood. Adults can bring candy along and fill up the kids treat bags as they find the items on their list! We created one for you that you can download here!
Halloween Bingo
Bingo is always a fun family game to play! Have some candy ready because the kids earn their treats each time they win a round. You can play over and over again, if you want! There are online Bingo sites that will pull different numbers for you to make it easy. https://letsplaybingo.io/
Halloween Stations
This could be adapted for young children, older kids, and teens! Set up different stations inside or outside of the house. Kids can move through the different stations and pick up their candy by completing a challenge at each one. Get creative with this one and use things that interest your kids and is age appropriate for their skillset! 10 jumping jacks, 2 cartwheels, complete a math problem, solve a riddle, spell a word, draw a duck, etc.
Halloween Guess the Candy Game
Use these game boards to figure out the names of the Halloween candy. First one to finish and get them all correct, wins!
Halloween Taste Test
Each participant is blindfolded and has to guess which candy they are tasting. You can make this extra challenging by using items like Skittles and Sour Patch Kids where they have to guess the color/flavor as well. Guess the candy right and win it for your treat bag!
Halloween Charades
Split into teams and put the names of Halloween things in a hat. Each time a team wins a round, they earn some candy for their treat bags. You can use all of the Halloween classics for this one- Frankenstein, Mummy, Witch, Skeleton, etc.
We know it is a strange and abnormal year, but there’s a lot of fun that can be had even though things are not typical. Sometimes moments like these allow us to get creative, interact with our children in new and different ways, and connect even more strongly! Some of these are great options if your child is overwhelmed by trick or treating and needs different sensory engagement. Whatever you do, we hope you have a safe and wonderful celebration.
About the author: Sarah Messina is the Director of the Montgomery County Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Prevention Program at Child Guidance. She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who is passionate about helping families and communities thrive. She received a post graduate certification from Capella in addictions. In her free time, you can find her walking her two bulldogs with her family!