Halloween may come with a nasty trick this year: No old-fashioned trick or treating. That’s because door-to-door trick-or-treating is a “high risk” activity for spreading the COVID-19 virus, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.   So are large, indoor parties and haunted houses.

But that doesn’t mean Halloween is cancelled. You don’t need to miss out on the fun. Go big, the big outdoors that is. Or go small. Plan things you can do with those who live with you.

Safety First

You’ll need to take local health and safety rules into account. Look at the current COVID-19 levels in your community as you make plans for Halloween and other fall and winter gatherings, the CDC says. Remember the basics: mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing. And don’t join in festivities of any kind if you have COVID-19 or you may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19.

Great Outdoors

Here are some safer ways to celebrate Halloween outdoors:

• Decorate your yard
• Gather outside to carve or decorate your pumpkin. Friends and neighbors can do the same, at a safe distance.
• Try a Halloween scavenger hunt, giving children lists of seasonal items to look for while they are outdoors. They can enjoy seeing Halloween decorations, at a distance.

Indoor Choices:

• Carve or decorate a pumpkin with your family
• Plan an indoor scavenger hunt
• Host a virtual Halloween costume contest
• Plan a movie night screening spooky favorites

Middle Ground

Some activities fall into the CDC’s “moderate” risk grouping. That involves:

• Distanced trick-or-treating. That means outdoors and only gathering individually wrapped items, left out with no contact needed.
• Outdoor, open-air costume parades. But keep the group small and stay more than 6 feet apart.
• Outdoor costume parties, where people wear protective – not just costume – masks and stay more than 6 feet apart.
• Visiting an outdoor pumpkin patch, while keeping up social distancing.

Risky Options

In addition to indoor parties and traditional trick-or-treating, the CDC says best skip these high-risk activities:

• Trunk-or-treat, where treats are handed out from trunks of cars in big parking lots
• Indoor haunted houses, with crowds and screaming
• Going on hayrides with people who don’t live with you
• Using alcohol or other drugs, which can increase unsafe actions

Source: Holidays Celebrations,   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020.