During the pandemic, trick-or-treating and in-person Halloween parties just aren’t an option for celebrating Halloween anymore. However, that doesn’t mean the holiday is canceled! There are many alternative ways to celebrate without even having to leave your house. 

Costume Contest

Just because you can’t show them off in person doesn’t mean you can’t dress up! Solon High School is still holding its annual costume contest online. Send a photo of your costume to [email protected] with one of the categories as the subject line (best female, best male, funniest costume, best duo or best group) by Oct. 30 for a chance to win a gift basket prize. Voting for the costume contest will be open from Nov. 2 until Nov. 6  and posted on the school website and sent in an email to all students.

Watch Party

Watching Halloween movies is a great way to spend time with friends virtually. There are several different, easy methods to watch movies and chat with people on the same stream on a number of streaming services, including Teleparty (formerly known as Netflix Party) and Kast. Netflix has a lot of Halloween and horror movies up, including “Hubie Halloween,” “The Addams Family,” “Scream” and “Silence of the Lambs.” Disney+ also has more family-friendly movies.

Halloween Crafts

Decorating your house with Halloween crafts can get you and your family in the Halloween spirit at home, especially if you have younger siblings. Most crafts only require things you can find around the house, like colored paper and glue, and you can find a variety of Halloween crafts of different skill levels here. Other fall craft ideas can also be found here.

Carving Pumpkins

This classic Halloween tradition is thankfully still an option this year. If you haven’t carved a pumpkin before, you can find an easy guide here. If you’re not partial to cleaning up messes, an alternative to carving pumpkins is painting pumpkins. You don’t have to be artistically talented – using stencils and simple designs creates pumpkins that are just as festive!

This year, celebrating holidays may be different, but don’t let that stop you from getting into the spooky spirit. Happy Halloween!