Staff Reports
MUNCIE — If communities plan to follow new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for Halloween, families should consider creating new traditions that do not involve trick-or-treating, parties, and get-togethers, said Jill Walls, an associate professor of Early Childhood, Youth and Family Studies at Ball State University.
The CDC recently posted guidance for the holidays, including Halloween. The federal agency warns people to avoid higher risk activities, including door-to-door trick-or-treating; attending crowded, indoor costume parties; visiting indoor haunted houses; or going on hayrides or tractors rides with strangers.
Walls agrees that the most important part of any holiday is time spent together with family and friends and making new memories. With all the uncertainty that COVID-19 has created, she suggests that families create a Plan B: Watch an age-appropriate, Halloween-themed movie together; make a Halloween craft; play board games; bake holiday-themed food; or have story time where someone reads a Halloween or fall-themed book aloud.
Another suggestion is to “visit” friends in costume via Zoom, Google Meet or another online video platform.
For the little ones that just enjoy the costumes and treats, parents could set up candy bowls in various rooms of their home and have children trick-or-treat around the house or apartment.
If your community allows Halloween activities to go on in neighborhoods, Walls encourages residents to place wrapped candy outside their homes in open bowls, instead of handing it out.
To read the CDC’s holiday guidelines, visit cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/ holidays.html.
