This article originally appeared in Today.
Trick-or-treating will be trickier than ever this Halloween due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic. But that doesn’t mean this year’s celebrations need to be any less fun. TODAY Parents rounded up seven alternatives to keep your little ghouls happy and safe.
Wendy Winter, a mom in Denver, Colorado, decorated her front lawn with wrapped candies secured to sticks with tape. Winter used bamboo skewers, but for safety reasons, she recommends popsicle sticks, plastic spoons, glow sticks, and plastic straws.
“Yes, I still want to hang out on the porch and see everyone’s cute costumes. But no, I don’t want a bunch of kids ringing my doorbell and fishing in my bowl for candy,” Winter wrote on Facebook. "So, I’ll be decorating my yard with candy — Willy Wonka style."
Just don’t put your treats out too early.
“Squirrels apparently love to trick or treat and will take advantage of any candy forest if left unattended for too long,” Winter warned in a follow-up post.
Ashlee Nicholas, a special education teacher in San Francisco, went viral on TikTok after creating a Halloween-themed scavenger hunt with ghost candy bags for her 2-year-old son.
Nicholas is a crafter, but don't worry if you're not. All you need to do is wrap individual pieces of candy or small toys in white tissue paper, tie them with a festive orange ribbon and then draw a ghost face on it.
“The best part of all of this has been people saying their Halloween is ‘saved’ now because of (my) video and random strangers sharing their own fun ideas with the world,” Nicholas previously told TODAY Parents. “I love it.”
To help ensure social distancing, Carson Daly has set up a candy chute on his front steps.
“The treats will drop from 6ft away from the little goblins who dare approach,” the TODAY show co-host wrote on Instagram.