As Halloween approaches, we will be listing trick-or-treat opportunities in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, and other locations in the Triangle.

Typically, many festivals include trick-or-treating with vendors for kids. Churches and other organizations offer trunk-or-treat, where people decorate their cars and hand out candy. This year, obviously, the events are fewer, but we will be adding them when we learn of them.

So if you’d like to take your kids to an organized activity, rather than go door to door, check out this list. Or if your kids just want to maximize their candy take, this list will help.

Also, make sure to check out some of the freebies kids can get for going to restaurants in their costumes. Including Smashburger, Krispy Kreme, Steak ‘n Shake and many more.

And when Halloween is over and you think your kids have had enough sugar, take them to one of the dentists who buy back Halloween candy and your kids can get some cold, hard cash.

Please keep reading for some ideas for alternate Halloween ideas with additional safety in mind, followed by a list of Trick or Treat and Trunk or Treat events in the Triangle.

Safe Ways to Celebrate Halloween

Everything is different this year, and we’re all trying to figure out how to celebrate Halloween in a safer way.

North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has issued guidance about Halloween, in which they’ve categorized activities as “lower risk,” “moderate risk,” and “higher risk.” Follow the above link for all the advice, but the organization does indicate that traditional trick or treating and indoor costume parties are considered to be higher risk activities.

With that in mind, we’ll present some ideas for alternate or modified Halloween activities.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the safety of any activity, no matter how well planned, depends on the behavior of the people at the event. Will children be well supervised? Does your neighborhood generally adhere to masking and social distancing?

No matter how an event is planned, if a lot of the people attending tend to be careless or resistant to safe practices during everyday life, they’ll probably do the same during special events too. So, as you decide about the safety of an event or an activity, check out the plans, ask questions, and, maybe most importantly, read the crowd.

That said, here are some ideas!

Candy Hunt

Instead of trick-or-treat, hide candy in the yard like an Easter Egg hunt. You can buy Halloween-themed plastic eggs to put the candy in. Here’s one choice.

Scavenger Hunt

Alternatively, create a scavenger hunt, and give kids a sheet with items to look for. Then at the end, reward them with a bag of candy.

Socially Distant Costume Parade

Organize your neighborhood for this one. Spectators watch from their front yards, and participants parade in family groups down the street, leaving space between the groups.

Zombie Walk

Just like the costume parade, but all zombies!

Safer Trick or Treating

If your community is trick or treating, make it safer by walking in family groups, and finding ways to provide some distance between the trick-or-treaters and the people giving out candy. There are tons of examples of candy chutes, for example! Just google “candy chutes” and you’ll see many approaches, but the basic idea is a chute that you slide candy down.

Create a DIY Candy Hedge! This is a pretty clever idea. Follow the above link for instructions, but the idea is that you create a backdrop frame and then hang garland strips from the top, and connect candy to the garland with clothespins.

Set up spooky driveway tables with treats for kids to take.

Use a grabber hand to give kids the candy!

Go All Out on Pumpkin Carving

Browse through hundreds of free pumpkin carving patterns. Just print them out, follow the instructions on the page, and you’ll have an impressive jack-o-lantern! Drop an LED light or tea light into the pumpkin for illumination. You can definitely carve a pumpkin with kitchen knives, but some of the small tools that come with pumpkin carving kits like this one will make detail work easier.

Double Duty Masks

Regular Halloween masks won’t necessarily provide protection, but there are many Halloween-themed protective masks available now. Shop around and see if you can incorporate one into your costume.