Halloween 2020: A Tricky Treat
by Karen Kinnaird
October 31, 2020. Trick or treat! It’s a full moon Halloween and one of the best opportunities of the year to make your home a welcoming place to interact with neighbors. What other day of the year does your neighborhood come to your door? What a better time to reconnect with those you got to know during the beautiful weather in the April/May quarantine? As a bonus, this Halloween falls on a Saturday, and we gain an hour due to Daylight Saving. What a treat!
Here’s the tricky part. Lurking behind every mask is the reminder we live in a global pandemic. How we long for the days when we worried about razor blades in candy and apples! Fear of catching or unknowingly passing along COVID-19 is valid, and care should be taken out of respect for all. But fear does not have to rob us of Halloween. Our kids have sacrificed enough in 2020. Halloween may actually be bigger than ever this year. How can we embrace the opportunity safely and creatively?
Prepare Yourself and Your Home
Start by making your home festive and inviting. Go big and incorporate lots of lighting. I personally stay away from the scary, witchcraft side of Halloween and decorate for fall. Prepare for guests by placing a sign in your yard stating something like “COVID-safe treats.” Plan to distribute treats from well outside your home to ensure six feet of distancing. Set up a couple of lawn chairs and stand when people approach. Be creative and dress up! Perhaps as a germ, a doctor, a roll of toilet paper or canister of disinfectant wipes? At the very least, what a better time to decorate your mask!
Pandemic-friendly Candy Treats
If you choose to give individually wrapped candy, wear a mask and gloves. Keep little hands out of the candy bowl. Consider using tongs. Avoid cheap candy. Include an invitation card to an upcoming event at church, a simple Bible verse or a kid-friendly gospel tract. Some candy can be wrapped by a tract with a rubber band.
Pandemic-friendly Non-edible Treats
Shop from your local dollar store for items such as glow-in-the-dark sticks, a sheet of stickers, a fun-wrapped straw, a few rubber-banded crayons or fun-colored pencils. This is an added bonus for kids who cannot have sugar for health reasons. Be sure to have selections for different age groups. It doesn’t have to break the bank.
Other Gatherings and Options
Host a small gathering for games or a costume party in your backyard for family or friends, inviting a new neighbor or friend. Show a favorite children’s Halloween cartoon on the side of your house, distributing a treat and giving a simple gospel presentation. Or, simply choose a few close neighbors or someone new to the area, prepare a Halloween treat just for them and deliver it.
This Halloween, let’s choose the treat and not the trick. Let’s invest spiritually in our neighbors. Make your plan now while there’s still time. Let’s be a light in a dark and tricky 2020.
Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven” (Matt. 5:14-15).
Author Bio
Karen Kinnaird serves at the Spiritual Formation Team Coordinator for Council Road. She has been a minister’s wife for nearly 35 years and is a certified leadership coach. An award-winning blogger, Karen has a passion for encouraging women searching for hope. She and her husband, Jimmy, have three children, two grandsons and a new granddaughter.