We’re still a little over a month away but you definitely should start thinking of pandemic-safe Halloween activities to celebrate the popular holiday. The novel coronavirus has taken away so much from us already. It’s time to take the bull by its horns and get things back to normal or at least to the “new normal.” This will be quite difficult considering the coronavirus is still among us like an alien disguised as human beings. As long as we follow the rules and protect ourselves from the coronavirus, we should be good to go.
Pandemic-Safe Halloween Activities At Home
Decorate Your Home
As gloomy as the world is now, you can still have that fun Halloween atmosphere with some well-thought-out decorations. Make this one a family event. Gather everyone and plan what theme you’ll have this year and how you’re going to go about it.
One surefire way to get everyone involved is to make your own Halloween decorations. There are plenty of DIY projects you can do if you have the time. You might want to skip on those orange and black balloons, though. They only end up as trash and can endanger marine life.
DIY Halloween Ornaments
One Halloween décor that’s pretty easy to make is this DIY Tin Can Ghost Windsock courtesy of Chicken Scratch NY. The basic materials for this project are clean, rust-free tin cans, white spray paint or acrylic paint, black craft paint or black marker, white ribbon, and twine. The tools you’ll need are a hammer, awl or screwdriver, a pair of scissors, glue gun, paperclip, and paint brushes if you’re using acrylic paint.
All you have to do is to first punch a hole on the top of the cans using your hammer and awl. Cut the twine then tie it into a loop. Attach the paper clip on one end then slip the other end through the hole on the can. The paper clip will act as a stopper.
Paint the tin cans white and let them dry completely. Then draw a face using black paint or marker. Cut the ribbon into strands of about two feet each more or less. You don’t have to cut them in equal lengths to give the ghost a flowy effect. The end of the ribbons may unravel so seal them with a lighter or simply cut them at an angle. Glue one end of the ribbons to the interior of the cans. That’s it! Easy peasy.
Horrific Halloween Decors
Want your Halloween decorations to come with a little edge? How about some horrifying garden gnomes? The Horror Garden Gnome Collection by Napco Marketing will certainly put the fright in Fright Night.
The Bloody Beard Hand Painted Zombie Gnome comes with an evil pair of eyes and a bloody mouth and beard. This terrifying 8-inch high garden statue is made of durable cast-polyresin basically guaranteeing a scary Halloween outdoor décor for years to come.
The Zombie Gnombie Graveyard Garden Gnome Statue from Design Toscano also deserves a spot in your yard. Zombies are scary by themselves. But a zombified gnome coming out of the ground? Jeepers creepers! These undead garden gnomes are definitely not for the faint-hearted.
Simple Halloween Decorations
Some families may not want to go big with their decorations this year since the pandemic made it more difficult to earn a living. If you have old Halloween decors, go ahead and reuse them. There’s no law stating you can’t. Plus, no one will really see your decors that much this year.
One simple way to celebrate the popular holiday is to just have Halloween-inspired throw pillows displayed in your living room. The Fairy Trixie-Love The Trick Or Treat Fairy Throw Pillow, available on Redbubble, is just one of many exciting designs from Teelie Turner. This low key Halloween décor consists of 100% spun polyester cover with an optional polyester fill or insert.
Another option is to go small. Like fairy garden small. If one of your goals is to have an Instagram-worthy Halloween décor, then just get a tiny garden display courtesy of Teelie’s Fairy Garden. Their Etsy shop has plenty of Halloween-themed miniature garden decors to choose from. These are aside from their fairy-themed ones, which you should definitely check out, too.
Decorate Face Masks
Doing arts and craft projects at home are surely one of the most pandemic-safe Halloween activities you can think of. One such project is to make Halloween-themed face masks. Promote COVID-19 awareness while celebrating a holiday? I say why not?!
For your DIY face mask, you can start from scratch and sew your own mask. You’ll need cotton fabric and rope elastic or other elastic materials such as a string or rubber bands. If you wish, you can make lots of them to give away with the candies to trick-or-treaters. A sewing machine will definitely help with this Halloween activity. This is also a good opportunity to teach your children to use one.
The Singer 7363 Confidence Sewing Machine will make it easy for newbies. It comes with numerous features that will help you sew with, well, confidence. Some of its impressive features include a drop in bobbin, adjustable speed, start/stop button, built in needle threader, and a variety of built-in stitches.
Aside from making your own masks, you can also purchase plain ones and just add a design of your choice. This calls for a lot imagination and creativity. Use something like the Ultra Soft Layered Cotton Mask With Filter Slot by Frog & CO. They come in three plain colors particularly grey, tan and orange.
Use sublimation markers such as the Artesprix Permanent Thermal Transfer Markers to create your art. This pandemic-safe Halloween activity is pretty easy. Simply draw your Halloween design on paper using sublimation markers. Then place the front side of your face mask on top of your drawing. Tape it to the paper so it won’t budge.
Place a cloth on your working surface then flip the mask and paper over and on the cloth. Place a silicone sheet on top of the paper then press it with a hot iron for a full minute. If your children are on the young side, you should handle the iron. The iron should be on its highest setting. You also need to apply as much pressure as you can to ensure the full design sticks to the mask. Once one, safely set the iron aside, remove the silicone sheet, then peel the mask of the paper. Your drawing should now be on the mask.
Wear Costumes
Who said you can’t wear a Halloween costume this year. Even if there won’t be parties this time around, you can still get into the Halloween spirit by getting inside a costume.
Some people will likely dress up like the coronavirus or something inspired by the pandemic. While it’s nice to have that resiliency and face problems with a smile on your face, it may not sit well with everybody this time. Simply put, it’s too soon. A lot of families are still reeling from the loss of loved ones to COVID-19 while there are still millions trying to recover from the coronavirus. So just be a little more sensitive and skip that PPE costume unless you actually need to wear one.
Wear something cute to avoid scaring the kids even more. The T-rex costume seems to be a popular choice. Just ask the person in the video who took out the trash dressed as a dinosaur.
If your kids are into scary, go ahead and add a little gore to your costumes. Just skip the face paints you can buy from stores. Most of them contain lead. Go with this non-toxic Halloween face paint recipe from Green Kid Crafts instead. It uses ingredients that you probably have at home already. Turn your face into a bloody pulp, figuratively, of course with red face paint or look like the perpetually pissed of Hulk with a green one.
Not too thrilled wearing a costume to your office or school Zoom Halloween party? Go with something simple like these printed face shields from Zazzle. The Spooky Halloween Blood Handprint Face Shield is simple yet terrifying. It’s like telling your annoying workmates you want to give them a high five. A bloody one. On the face.
For the kids, they can wear something like the Pirate Eye Patch Hat Skull Crossbones Parrot Kids Face Shield. These customizable face shields are made of clear PET plastic, which will help protect you from COVID-19, especially when you go out.
Watch Scary Movies
The holiday wouldn’t be complete without watching a scary movie. No, not the one from the Wayans brothers. Well, unless you prefer something funny to watch on Halloween then Scary Movie fits the bill. But we’re talking about the ones that really send shivers to the spine like the works of George Romero, Wes Craven, John Carpenter, Stanley Kubrick, and Alfred Hitchcock.
Read Halloween-Themed Books
Thinking of nightcap after a day of pandemic-safe Halloween activities? Grab a book and read until you fall asleep. Of course, you’ll want something scary or Halloween-inspired to go with the day’s theme.
Teelie Turner’s The Halloween Adventures of the 5 Spooktacular Fairy Witches paperback book is a collection of five short stories featuring different fairy witches as they go on their own Halloween adventures. This is certainly something the kids will enjoy come Halloween. It is also available on Kindle for only $5.49 if you prefer going paperless.
Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories is a collection of 14 spine-tingling stories. The popular children’s book author is also a fan of the scary stuff. Fortunately for us, he took the time and effort to gather some of the best ghost stories there is.
Backyard Camping
Just because you trick or treating is a no go doesn’t mean you can’t go out and enjoy the night. You can still spend some time under the moon without having to leave your home. All you need is a tent and a lot of imagination.
Give the kids something to do other than scare each other in their tent. Get them this Deluxe Happy Halloween Activities Box from Art Town Gifts. This gift basket includes a teddy bear dressed as a witch, story book, sticker sheets, relaxable pumpkin ball, and bubbles. It also comes with a few munchies such as gummy candies, pretzels, popcorn, and chocolates.
Want a little more adventure during your Halloween backyard camping adventure? How about digging out some bones? Okay, so there are no bones in Green Kid Crafts’ Dig It Out Gemstone Excavation Kit but I’m pretty sure the kids will be just as thrilled unearthing gemstones instead.
Tell Ghost Stories Over Backyard Campfire
Camping is not complete without someone telling scary stories over the campfire. If you live on a homestead or somewhere without neighbors, you can make a campfire for a more authentic outdoor feel. Otherwise, you can with a camping lantern. Complete the experiencing by serving roasted hotdogs and marshmallows while gathered for some storytelling.
Going back to the campfire, make sure it’s safe to have one. Have a fire extinguisher and a bucket of water nearby in case the fire gets out of control. If you’re going with a camping lantern, the Pocket Light Collapsible Solar Lantern and USB Charger by Frog & CO
If you have a headlamp, use it to create ambient light. Simply wrap your headlamp around a water bottle. Don’t forget to turn the headlamp on, of course.
Pandemic-Safe Halloween Activities with Other People
We must reiterate that the best and safest way to celebrate Halloween is stay at home. Skip the traditional trick-or-treat for now. Admittedly, it’s just not the same celebrating the holiday without people knocking on your door hoping to get some sweet treats. Luckily, there are safe ways to trick or treat during the pandemic.
Trunk-or-Treat
You can spearhead or join a trunk-or-treat event. Instead of the kids going door-to-door, a small group of participants can park their Halloween-decorated cars in a parking lot or any wide area that the organizers have agreed upon. There should be ample distance between vehicles while everyone must wear face masks and face shields. Everyone should practice social distancing and must be ready with their hand sanitizers.
The trick here is to fill your trunk with treats and let the trick-or-treaters come by and get their share. Ideally, you can fill paper cups with candies and arrange them nicely in your trunk. Every kid is allowed to touch only one cup so make sure each one has the same contents. If that’s not an option, disinfect the children’s hands before they reach into each bowl of goods.
Have the kids line up with at least a meter of space between them. Once ready the kids move from one car to another in an orderly fashion. The adults and guardians will make sure they follow the line and keep their distance. Finally, don’t let the children stay longer than necessary. After getting their candy haul, the parents or guardians should take them straight home where it’s a lot safer. Just make sure to remove clothes and take a bath immediately.
Reverse Trick-or-Treat
Since the pandemic began, people found ways to celebrate occasions without gathering in groups. When it comes to gift-giving, many people just drive by the celebrant’s home and drop off their gifts. That’s something we can use on Halloween.
Trick-or-treaters can stay at home and still get their fair share of sweets. All they have to do is dress up in their costumes and wait by their yard. You can probably leave a table and basket in front of your home so people driving or passing by can just leave the treats there.
The problem with this one is that you can’t exactly see what people are leaving in your baskets. We’ve had cases where trick-or-treaters came home with animal food, condoms, penis-shaped cookies, and other weird and inappropriate “treats”.
One question probably going through your mind is, “Are the candies safe to eat or even touch?” There’s no way to know for certain if the treats are coronavirus-free. However, an infectious disease specialist quoted by Good Housekeeping said that “getting candy from a house, bringing it home, and then eating it” is “less problematic” than going out to trick-or-treat. Dr. Sandra Kesh stressed that scientists “have found that most of the surface [bacteria], it’s thought to not be the main mode of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.”
To be on the safe side, only ask neighbors, relatives and people you trust to reverse trick-or-treat with you. That way you lessen the risk of getting inappropriate items. Inform them beforehand of your plans and ask them nicely to drop treats off only if they are not sick or have not been in contact with someone sick. I’m sure they’ll understand. Those who take offense don’t deserve to be on Santa’s list.
There you go. A few pandemic-safe Halloween activities you can do next month. It’s good that you’re researching about these things this early. You don’t want to be scrambling for ideas when it’s a little too late. Keep checking Gentleman Pirate Club for more tips on how you can safely celebrate Halloween during the coronavirus pandemic.
