Celebrating Halloween is a cherished fall tradition that many look forward to each year. With the current health pandemic still relevant, Coloradans are looking for guidance on how to safely partake in this festive holiday and make lasting memories with their family and friends.
To help with you planning for this fun-filled day, we've compiled this guide containing some Halloween best practices that were provided by the state and alternative activities for trick-or-treating. We hope everyone has a safe and spooky Halloween!
General Guidelines
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To ensure that everyone remains safe, practice social distancing and follow the proper guidelines for wearing a mask.
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Outdoor gatherings are generally safer that indoor ones.
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Limit the number of individuals in your group.
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If you are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, or have recently tested positive, please refrain from participating in any Halloween activities.
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Halloween costume masks are not a substitute for a mask that protects against COVID. If wearing a costume mask over a cloth mask makes it hard to breathe, consider a Halloween-themed cloth mask that fits with your costume. While the state mask order applies to indoor settings only, specific counties may have outdoor mask orders. Kids age 10 years and younger are not required to wear a mask, but it is recommended that those who are 3 years and older wear one, unless they cannot medically tolerate it.
To view the state's guidelines regarding Halloween in more depth, please click here.
Trick-or-Treating
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment encourages alternatives to traditional, door-to-door trick-or-treating this year and for families to limit their festivities to their neighborhood. Communicate with your neighbors to plan how everyone would like to participate in passing out candy. Some examples include:
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Line up individually wrapped treats at the end of the driveway or yard’s edge. Watch the fun, and enjoy the costumes from a distance
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Use a plastic slide, cardboard tubes, or plastic pipes to deliver candy from a distance. Click here for steps on making a candy chute.
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Take kids on an outdoor, distanced treasure hunt to look for candy or Halloween-themed items.
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Tape candy to kebob sticks and stick them in the ground for kids to collect.
Remember to follow regular Halloween safety tips, such as decorating costumes and bags with reflective tape or stickers and carrying glow sticks or flashlights to help increase visibility among drivers. Click here to view more safety tips.
Alternatives to Trick-or-Treating
There are many fun alternatives to trick-or-treating if your family chooses not to participate!
Several local farms are open while following safety measures from the state and CDC guidelines. Participating in a corn maze adventure or picking pumpkins allows families to social distance with ease. Click here to view corn mazes and pumpkin patches open on the Front Range.
Take a trip to the Denver Zoo as it transforms itself with costumed characters and mythical creatures, animal experiences, seasonal themed food and drink, and more. Get dressed up and head over to the 84-acre zoo for this fun (and socially distant) event that's suitable for the whole family.
Create Halloween crafts at home
Bring your Halloween fun inside by creating some fun Halloween crafts with your family. Click here to view popular crafts.
Carve, or paint, pumpkins
Save your pumpkin carving for Halloween! If pumpkin guts aren't your thing, paint spooky patterns or cute animals on them- click here for some ideas on how to get creative with pumkins that doesn't involve carving them.
Halloween Themed Movie Night
Host a family movie night! Disney+ and other streaming services have multiple Halloween movies out to watch. Freeform (previously ABC Family) also hosts a 31 days of Halloween movie marathon leading up to October 31 and will be playing nine movies through out Halloween day.
Throw on your costume and join the party from home and in downtown Boulder as the annual Munchkin Masquerade goes virtual and self-led this year. Set up your own Halloween fun stations with downtown Boulder coloring sheets. Walk down Pearl Street to spot hidden “spooky munchkin” characters in stores and fill your BINGO card with your findings.
Organize a costume parade
Gather kids of all ages to partake in a neighborhood costume parade while keeping in mind social distancing protocols and mask regulations. Put buckets of candy on the sidewalk in-front of your driveway for a help-yourself approach to trick-or-treating.
Go Stargazing
Some of the best times to view the stars is around a new moon, which just so happens to fall on Halloween. Take your family or friends to open space like the Rocky Mountain National Park, or one of the many certified Dark Sky Parks and communities that Colorado has to offer. Click here to view some of the best spots around Colorado to go stargazing