A coronavirus-safe Halloween, Dia de los Muertos with these family activities

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- Halloween on Saturday and Dia de los Muertos on Sunday are going to look a lot different from last year, as health experts advise people to avoid parties and door-to-door trick-or-treating.

To people planning to pass out candy to trick-or-treaters, Dr. Steven Santangelo at Virtua Health advises, the best thing is leave prepackaged baggies at the edge of your lawn, driveway or stoop spaced out kids can keep their distance as they grab and go.

He also encourages parents to be a little more creative this year.

“Maybe having a costume parade around the neighborhood. Maybe getting together with some of their closer friends, with proper social distancing, and making Jack-o'-lanterns or things like that — sort of activities that can be Halloween centered.”

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Dr. Santangelo understands the frustration many parents are feeling. He is a father of twins and says he and some parents in his neighborhood are pitching in to hire a magician for a backyard show.

Here is a list of Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos activity ideas from Virtua Health.

·       Host a movie night. Options abound, from “Casper” to “Coraline,” “Goosebumps” to “Ghost Busters,” “Beetlejuice” to “Bewitched,” among many others.

·        Make crafts. For example, create monster puppets from paper bags decorated with colorful construction paper. Then put on a puppet show! Or make puffy ghosts by cutting white paper into ghost shapes and gluing on cotton balls.

·        Have a candy hunt. Place wrapped treats around the yard for kids to find. If you’re feeling crafty, fill clear gloves with candy, and tie the tops with orange and black ribbon. Or make “broomstick” candy bags using brown paper bags and wooden sticks. Tie the bags with string or twine, and make vertical cuts in the tops of the bags to look like bristles.

·       Virtually trick-or-treat. Check out the Treat Town app, which enables users to collect candy and connect with friends and family, among other online activities.

·        Play Halloween games. Try “Daylight and Darkness,” just like “Red Light, Green Light.” Play ring-toss using pumpkins with stems for the posts. Or create a bowling game with pins made from upside-down, white plastic cups made to look like ghosts. Use a black marker or construction paper to create eyes and mouths, and decorate an orange ball like a Jack-o'-lantern.

·        Have a scavenger hunt with Halloween-themed objects.

·        Create a mummy by wrapping someone in toilet paper. Make it a race between families to see who can wrap someone fastest.
(The paper breaks easily, so it’s harder than it sounds!)

·        Create a haunted story as a family.

·        Play “Guess What's in the Halloween Box” by having kids use touch to identify hidden objects.

·        Make Halloween care packages, and have a few close families send each other “goody boxes.”

·        Decorate your house or yard.

·        Have a family photo shoot with costumes, props, and decorations.

·        Paint or carve pumpkins. Hold a virtual judging session with other families, including categories like scariest, funniest, and most creative.

·       Play themed Bingo or do word-searches.

·       Play music, including your deceased loved ones’ favorite songs and/or music connected to your family’s heritage.

·       Make crafts. Create Q-tip skeletons by gluing cotton swabs and a simple paper skull to black construction paper. Place about six cotton swab “ribs” horizontally to form the body. Or decorate “sugar skulls” – made of paper, clay, or other materials – with bright markers, glitter, and the like.

·        Make traditional foods.

·       Create a temporary altar for the deceased, called an ofrenda, a common symbol of the holiday. Include pictures and items that remind you of these loved ones.

·        Share memories of loved ones.

·        Make a memory box.

·        Create a time capsule for your family to open in the future.

·        Watch “Coco,” an Oscar-winning, animated film in which a young musician enters the Land of the Dead to find his ancestor who was a legendary singer.

·       Cook or bake together.

·        Get artistic with holiday-themed coloring pages or “I Spy” pages.

·        Hold a family reading night.