Although Halloween this year will be under very different circumstances, it should still be possible to give everyone an experience that suits the current HSE guidelines, and at the same time retains a sense of excitement and earning treats. Here are a few suggestions: 

On the day, family units could go on a “ghost walk” and look at the Halloween decorations around town and could turn this into a “trick-or-treat” type thing in one of the following ideas:

• Make a “ghost walk bingo card” with things for the kids to spot (e.g. a mummy, a spider, a bloody axe, etc) and reward each first spot of something on the card with a treat.
• Or just go to the houses in your area. Put a treat in the Trick or Treat bag for every properly decorated house!

 If you prefer staying in our own home or garden for activities, how about making a candy graveyard (cereal boxes work especially well for being made into tombstones) or other settings for a “Treat Scavenger Hunt” where the kids have to search for the treats?! We also found this in the super Skerries against Covid-19 Facebook group, thank you for sharing, Sally Anne Lalor, and for encouraging others to share your post…

Some tricks for your treats! 

So now that you, if you are parents, seem to be in charge of your children’s Halloween loot this year, you might be able to get some really nice things for them!

Why not consider something with less wrapping than you normally find in Halloween bags, or even locally made seasonal fare, such as the Halloween-themed Macaron selection by Monsieur Macaron, available at Olive’s, or treats from the weekly Skerries’ Farmer’s Market?!?