Coronavirus pandemic-friendly ways to hand out candy this Halloween

Families are about to have to make a tough decision in regard to participating in traditional Halloween activities, especially trick-or-treating.

With the coronavirus pandemic still ongoing, some families are hesitant to take their children out to trick-or-treat and residents are debating whether or not they should hand out the candy this year.

We’re not saying there’s a right or wrong answer this year and families will make the decision that works best for their situations. However, if you’re on the fence about passing out Halloween candy this year, maybe you could give one of these pandemic-friendly ideas a try.

Long kitchen utensils - To help keep the distance, you could grab a long kitchen utensil like a soup ladle or a pair of tongs to grab candy and place in a child’s bucket.

Dixie cups - You can place candy pieces in a Dixie cup and place them on a table in your driveway. That way, children can easily walk up and grab their cup of candy.

Treat bags - Similar to the Dixie cups, you can place a handful of candy into a treat bag, decorated or plain, and distribute the sweet treats that way. News 6 meteorologist Candace Campos recently had her daughter Alessia helping her assemble their treat bags.

Place candy bags around your yard - You could group some candy into plastic bags and place them around your front yard. To take it up a notch, you could attach the bags to sticks or spoons to then push them down into the surface and hold them in place.

Bowl with hand sanitizer - Something requiring a little less effort would be to set out a big bowl of candy and a bottle of hand sanitizer.

Halloween candy shoot - If simple isn’t for you, then this decorated candy shoot is for you. Take a long tube or pipe, make a stand and decorate it for the spooky occasion. You will likely be the hit of the neighborhood when you’re launching candy down into children’s bags. Want more details? Take a look at the video at the top of the page.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends celebrating with as few people as possible this year as to limit the spread of coronavirus. The agency listed traditional trick-or-treating as a high-risk activity. However, if you use the bag or cup method listed above, the CDC ranked that as one way trick-or-treating and a moderate risk activity.

CDC officials also said if you are preparing goodie bags, wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before and after preparing the bags.

There are likely plenty more ideas on how to remain socially-distant and safe while taking part in handing out candy. So if we missed any ideas, share them with us in the comments.