Like every other parent in Toronto, you might be wondering how to celebrate Halloween with the COVID-19 pandemic still on the rampage. Your kids and the entire family are anxiously waiting to have their fair share of fun just like they’ve done in past years. But you know this is not the time to have your family in a crowded haunted house and scream their heads off. The same is true when it comes to famous big indoor parties.
However, all is not lost. You can still do many things to safely celebrate Halloween at home with your family. Yes, you don’t have to let your kids loose in out-of-home activities. The whole family can still have all the fun right from the safety of your home. Here are a few tips and suggestions.
Health Recommendations
It’s essential to follow all the authorities’ guidelines concerning how to celebrate Halloween safely with your family. Both the U.S. CDC and the Toronto Medical Officer of Health issued guidelines for safe holiday celebrations, with the later canceling all holiday festivals for the remainder of the year. These guidelines detail high-risk activities that your entire family must avoid for them to stay safe throughout the festivities.
Some of these high-risk activities to avoid include:
- Avoid the traditional trick-or-treating where treats are given to kids who go door to door.
- Shun the truck-or-treat where treats are given to people from trunks of cars in large parking lots.
- Attending crowded indoor costume parties
- Don’t go to indoor haunted houses where they get crowded and scream out.
- Going to tractor or hayrides with strangers
- Do not travel to any rural festival; if you live in a community where the spread of this dreaded disease is reported.
The agencies further underscore the importance of wearing face masks, frequent washing of hands with soap and water or using a hand sanitizer, and maintaining the recommended social distance.
Besides the high-risk activities, the agency provides a list of low-risk moves that can engage the entire family.
Things to do at Home for Halloween
There are many low-risk activities that your family in Toronto can engage in and remain safe. Think of the following:
- Decorating your living space or house can also be fun.
- Decorating or carving pumpkins outside with friends or neighbors but keeping a safe interpersonal distance.
- You can have a Halloween scavenger hunt where the kids are given lists of interesting Halloween-themed items to look for
- You can have your Halloween party at home and, if you so wish, invite a few neighbors for a night of decking out cupcakes or cookies – or both.
- Instead of the traditional trick-or-treating, you can try an alternative form of the same such as hanging packages of candy on a fence or tree to be picked or do a glow-in-the-dark egg hunt.
- Your family can also join an outdoor Halloween parade and show off their costumes.
These are just a few examples of activities you can have with your family and still have maximum fun this Halloween in Toronto.
In case you choose to attend a party or take the family to outdoor Halloween events in Toronto, remember to observe the safety guidelines issued by health authorities:
- Maintain physical distance from strangers,
- Family members should not substitute costume masks for cloth masks
- Everyone should wash their hands frequently with soap and water or use a hand sanitizer, among other safety measures.
As you prepare to celebrate Halloween this year, remember that outdoor celebrations will be safer than indoor ones, mostly if the room or house is enclosed and poorly ventilated. Please note that cleaning highly touched surfaces is an excellent way to prevent COVID-19.