Should I hand out candy this year on Halloween? Should I take my kids Trick Or Treating during the pandemic? What are my options for safely handing out candy? And what am I going to do for a Halloween costume???

If you’ve had any of these questions in the past few weeks you probably aren’t alone. This week I’ve pulled together some sources and ideas that will hopefully help answer your questions about how to celebrate Halloween during the pandemic, solve your dilemmas, and give you a little costume inspiration!

Should I Let My Kids Trick Or Treat This Year?

Rudri Patel’s article in The Washington Post is a fantastic place to start if you’re still trying to decide whether or not to take your kids Trick or Treating during the pandemic. The article discusses factors to consider such as the current activity of the virus in your community and household health risks. It also shares ideas for safety precautions and alternative Halloween activities that are pandemic friendly. 

Safe Trick Or Treating During the Pandemic

The CDC has also released a detailed page on Trick Or Treating Guidelines for this Halloween. Much of their advice focuses on things that are second nature to us now (social distancing, hand-washing, mask-wearing) but it was still helpful to have those steps spelled out in a Trick or Treating context because they clarified a couple details that could easily be confusing. For example, they encouraged Trick Or Treaters to incorporate masks into their costumes, but cautioned that a costume mask was not the equivalent of a protective mask. 

Idea  #1 A Safe, Eco-Friendly Way to Hand Out Candy

I thought the 6ft candy slide mentioned in Patel’s post was pure genius, but if you aren’t blessed with a slide-like slope outside your house I came up with another alternative. I was inspired by my pets and in a moment you’ll know why. You can put out a box of plastic gloves, but if you use pet bags then people can reuse them for their pets at home!

How to Bag Your Candy

If you’re a dog parent, there’s a good chance you’re already a pro at this method. It’s the same strategy that many pet parents use to clean up after their pet’s…um…”daily doings.”

You basically slip your hand inside a bag and use it like a plastic mitten to grab a handful of candy. Once you’ve got the candy, just use your other hand to flip the bag inside out so your candy is inside of the bag. Your skin will never come in contact with the candy or the bowl! You could leave these out for guests to take, purchasing a dispenser is super cheap. Or you could bring your own roll along with you as you scour the streets, that way you are the only person touching the bags as well!

Alternative Halloween Activities in 2020

A night at home on Halloween with family is never wasted. Whether or not you choose to celebrate Halloween, there are plenty of ways to spend a fun Friday night indoors.

Stay Up Late

If your children typically have a bedtime, let them stay up until midnight playing board, card games or a monster mash dance party! (If they can’t make it until midnight you can do what my parents used to do on New Years and set a fake timer for midnight). 

Watch a Movie

Whether you celebrate Halloween or not, it’s a great night to watch a movie. Pick a movie that your whole family will love or a “scary” one that will get you in the Halloween spirit! 

Eat Delicious Treats!

What is a night in without all your favorite snacks! A chip and dip buffet to go with your game night? A popcorn bar to complete your movie marathon? And don’t forget the candy! My favorite thing about Halloween is getting to eat the leftover Halloween candy. Now I don’t even have to worry about some kids dumping the whole bowl in their bags and running away because all the Halloween candy will be left over Halloween candy.

Design a Haunted House With Your Kids

Drape blankets of chairs and tables to create tunnels, put wet towels in the bathtub or shower and have your kids walk barefoot through “the spooky swamp.” Have them stick their hands in a bowl of zombie brains when they walk through the evil scientist’s lab (don’t worry, it’s just a bowl of cooked spaghetti noodles.)

Tips For an Eco-Friendly Halloween

We love anything and everything eco-friendly. That’s why our bars are biodegradable, our soap mats are recycled, and our packaging system is always being reevaluated to make it as environmentally friendly as possible. We want you to be super safe this halloween, and we also want to help keep the earth safe. Here’s a couple things you can do to make the most of your halloween and cut down on waste

Save and Cook Your Pumpkin Seeds

My mom’s pumpkin seeds are legendary to me. I could honestly eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner if my stomach would let me. Our recipe is savory, but some people make them sweet, too.

DIY Your Candy Container

No need to go out and buy a candy bucket when you have a good old fashioned pillowcase! You can always get crafty and decorate a commemorative pillowcase as well!

DIY Your Costume

Use what you already have to make the coolest costume ever. You’ll definitely get extra points for creativity. And if you incorporate an AVNS bar of soap into your costume or that of a family member, or even better, if you or a member of your family dress up as a bar of AVNS Soap you’ll get extra points from us! That’s right! You can get rewards points! If you email us or tag us in your story on SM we’ll give 25 points if the bar is incorporated into a costume, and 100 points if the soap is the costume! You must have a rewards account to participate.

Better get designing!

Much Love,

Nora