6 Ways to Celebrate Halloween Without Trick-or-Treating

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This morning I woke up and it was only 62 degrees outside. After almost a month of 110+ weather with lows in the 90s, it was a distinct reminder that fall is on its way. Pumpkin spice and Halloween candy are already on the shelves.

I am lucky. My daughter is too young to remember Halloween, so the holiday can pass unmarked in my family. But many of you have older children who wait all year to dress up in costume and collect candy from everyone in the neighborhood.

What can we do to celebrate this year when social distancing makes trick-or-treating untenable? Below are some ideas to celebrate Halloween this year while social distancing.

Hold a Virtual Haloween Party

If your kids are older, you could have all their friends dress up and hold a virtual Halloween party. You could give prizes for costumes, and everyone could make a Halloween treat to show everyone else. You could even set it up so you are all streaming a movie together.

There is no trick or treating involved, unfortunately. But a virtual party makes for a fun reason to dress up.

Skip the candy and make special Halloween treats

Anyone with a Pinterest account has seen those cupcakes piped with spiderwebs and gummy spiders on the top. And soon recipes for mud with gummy worms will abound.

Gather around your favorite social media/ image searching platform with the kids and search for spooky recipes to make together. Then on Halloween make the recipes and set up a creepy Halloween feast.

Here are some great articles to get you started:

Have a homemade costume contest

Got multiple kids? Consider having a homemade costume contest.

Save some boxes, pull out some fabric and art supplies, and let the kids build their own costumes. Parents and pets can dress up too.

Then on Halloween night play in your costumes and give out prizes for elements of different costumes (most original concept, best-constructed costume, most interesting use of boxes, etc.). Make sure everyone gets some kind of praise for your costume and then all enjoy some kind of sweet treat together.

Let the Stuffed Animals Trick-or-Treat

Have the kids build a pretend village for their stuffed animals to trick-or-treat in. Create backstories for each of the houses, and stories for the animals that will be trick or treating.

Once the trick-or-treaters are in costume, you take over pretending to be the villagers and the kids can walk around with their favorite animals trick or treating.

I recommend putting the village through a homemade obstacle course or including fun elements like a blanket or pillow fort.

Then, when your “kids” are trick-or-treating, give them candy and have short conversations at each “house” just like it would be if they were actually out trick or treating.

Make a Haunted House

This is a great idea for older children and teens. Each person could take a room to decorate and turn into a haunted house. Then the rest of the family can take turns going through the rooms of the haunted house. Finish it all off with some themed treats and you are in for a fun night.

Have a Spooky Movie Night

We all have our favorite scary movies. Have each member of the family pick their favorite Halloween movie. Then put it on with some popcorn and tasty treats.

To make it even more special, watch the movie from a blanket or pillow fort on the floor.

They don’t have to be Halloween movies either. My dad and I have a tradition of doing a Star Wars marathon on Halloween, and I have friends who watch Harry Potter.

Teach and Celebrate the History of Halloween

Older kids may be interested in learning about the history of Halloween. It originated as a Celtic rite to ward against ghosts. After Roman conquests, it was appropriated by the Romans and then later the Catholic Church.

The history is overall fascinating and definitely worth checking out. Read more about it on history.com or check out this documentary.

Wrapping it All Up

There are a lot of things we can do to make Halloween special without trick or treating. We can still enjoy candy and special treats, dress up, and create haunted houses. With a little imagination, we can all have a lot of fun without trick or treating.

What are your plans this year for Halloween? Let me know in the comments below. And don’t forget to like, comment, and share!