Village of Cary offers trick-or-treating ideas, sets hours

The Village of Cary is encouraging residents who are planning to celebrate Halloween this year to take extra precautions due to the ongoing health pandemic. Children may trick-or-treat on Saturday, Oct. 31, between 3 and 7 p.m.

The village offers the following suggestions to help promote a safe experience for all:

• Do not participate in trick-or-treating if you are feeling unwell, if someone in your house is unwell, if you are awaiting COVID-19 test results, if you have recently returned from travel to a hotspot state, or if you know that you have been exposed to COVID-19.

• Turn on your porch lamp or outdoor lights to show that your home is welcoming trick-or-treaters. Not all families may feel comfortable participating in trick-or-treating this year; teach children not to ring the doorbell if a light is not on.

• Consider using a motion activated noise maker to notify you when trick-or-treaters are at the door, such as a motion activated Halloween decoration, rather than having trick-or-treaters ring the doorbell, which can be a high touch-point.

• Face coverings should be worn by all participants over the age of two, including individuals passing out treats.

• Avoid close contact with others by leaving candy on your porch - or even socially-distanced on your lawn (see below for a list of ideas).

• If you would prefer to answer the door to greet children individually, pass out candy instead of inviting children to take a treat from a communal bowl. Ask children to tell you their choice of a treat, rather than taking it themselves.

• Individuals should use hand sanitizer regularly throughout the trick-or-treat hours.

• Do not trick-or-treat in groups with others; trick-or-treat as a household.

• Maintain a safe distance from other trick-or-treating groups, and do not approach a house until the previous group has left.

• Please refrain from distributing coins or cash.

• Please do not distribute homemade treats or fresh fruits.

They also offer some creative ways to distribute treats:

• Consider utilizing a "candy chute" or other creative ideas to provide social distance for trick-or-treaters. See this article in USA Today at www.usatoday.com.

• Host a "trunk-or-treat". Instead of inviting trick-or-treaters to come to your door, decorate your car and place candy in the open trunk for children to take.

• Create a grab-bag candy walk on your lawn. Place candy inside recyclable paper lunch bags so each child can simply pick up a bag of treats.

• Mark a safe distance from your door using chalk and ask children to stand behind the line before you open the door to pass out candy.

For a printable version of these guidelines, visit www.caryillinois.com.