Help Halloween Happen logo
By Ed Avis
The NCA's Help Halloween Happen campaign, designed to help local communities celebrate a safe Halloween, will launch next week with the release of the NCA Guide to a Safe Halloween. This guide, which includes tips on 10 things a community can do to safely celebrate Halloween, will be sent digitally to all NCA members. In addition to the tips, the guide will include information on how to work with your local community to plan these events.
The campaign also includes two other elements: Poster creation and printing for NCA members who develop Halloween events; and stickers that shops can hand out to children buying costumes. These are being developed now and will be ready in a couple of weeks.
In the upcoming issue of The Costumer, which is at press now, five of the 10 ideas for safe Halloween events are spelled out. Here is one of the ideas, to whet your appetite for the rest of them:
Daniela Rojas Arias
Trick or Treating illustration
No-Touch Trick-or-Treating
Trick-or-treating is the heart of Halloween, and it can still be done safely this year! The key is to limit contact between costumed kids and the people handing out candy. Here are some ideas:
Have families that want to participate put a table at the end of their driveway or sidewalk and space the pieces of candy out on the table. The candy-giver can stand six feet behind the table (or on the porch or doorway) to greet trick-or-treaters, and the trick-or-treaters can take one piece of candy from the table without touching the others. People who are really into the idea can decorate their table in a Halloween theme!
Create a “trunk-or-treat” by parking cars in a parking lot, such as of a shopping mall or school, with trunks open and candy inside, safely spread out. Have trick-or-treaters line up at a safe distance at the entrance to the parking lot and let them in small groups. Kids can grab a piece as they pass by each truck, and families can watch from the cars or at a distance.
Create a confined trick-or-treating space, such as a park or playground. Mark out a path through the space and put candy on tables throughout. Have the trick-or-treaters line up six feet apart (or in family groups separated by six feet) at the entrance to the path and let them in when the trick-or-treater or group ahead is a few tables down the way. Families or businesses can donate the candy and decorate each table.
Encourage “reverse trick-or-treating,” or ghosting. This means that costumed kids go to their friends’ houses and drop off treats on their porches with little notes attached that say, “You’ve been ghosted!” This can be done any time in the week leading up to Halloween, so there’s less chance of contact.
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