WINNIPEG – Homes across Manitoba are getting creative as they press forward with plans to give out treats this weekend. With the province’s COVID-19 test positivity rate very high, more homes are building candy slides and chutes to get ready for Saturday, and it just might save trick-or-treating. One Winnipegger even made a map of houses all over the city that are decorated this year. With the ongoing pandemic, Halloween may look and feel a little different, but priority number one as the kids have fun is reducing risk.

If you’re giving out treats, you don’t want to leave them in a bowl for kids to grab. You could use tongs to hand them out – or, like many Manitoban households, you could send them down a stair railing through a tube. If you have the materials, you may want to put together a six-foot chute to slide candy down to trick-or-treaters, ideally atop a bannister. There are so many materials that could work for this, and people are sharing photos of their DIY slides with us made out of things like plumbing or PVC pipes, shipping tubes, and even old eavestroughs.

Or, if you’re really crafty, you could always make a candy zipline like this carpenter in Michigan.

Just don’t use a slingshot or a t-shirt cannon. That could get dangerous.

Here are a few other ways to make your Halloween activities safe and fun:

Some medical experts have recommended that face coverings get incorporated into children’s costumes to add an element of fun to being safe.

Get the latest provincial guidelines here.

How are you celebrating this weekend? Let us know. From Manitoba Post, have a happy and safe Halloween!