Halloween Party Ideas for the Poolside

2020 has been a pretty scary year, and COVID-19 is likely to put a damper on trick or treating and other traditional Halloween events. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines urge parents not to let their kids trick or treat and urging others not to hand out candy to kids coming door to door. No indoor haunted houses or indoor costume parties either. So what’s a Halloween fiend to do? Hold an outdoor Halloween party poolside, of course!

Now, even with an outdoor party, you will have to limit the number of guests you invite and to be safe, they should be family members or close friends you know have been taking precautions against COVID-19. People should wear cloth masks and stay six feet apart. Maryland has seen a downward trend in new cases, and we all want to keep it that way.

But even with all those precautions, you can still have fun this Halloween. Where there’s a will, there’s away.

Halloween Pool Decorations

A low-risk activity is carving or painting pumpkins which you can place poolside, with LED candles in the jack-o-lanterns. There are a few options for integrating your inground pool into the decorations.

If you’ve closed it for the year and don’t want to remove the cover, think about using a projector to display creepy images on the pool cover. Motion-detector lights and creepy skeletons and witches are always a hit as well.

If your pool is still open, or you want to remove the cover for the party, you can place a skeleton in a raft or on a pool float. Get creative! Don’t use anything that might require you to clean your pool again, because why make work for yourself?

Explore Pinterest for some more inspiration.

Halloween Party Food

Keeping COVID-19 in mind, your Halloween party food can be the same as usual, only presented differently. Drinks should be provided individually – no punch bowls. Goodie bags are a great idea, filled with Halloween candy, and placed six feet apart, so your little ghouls and goblins can grab and go. You want to avoid a bunch of little hands in the same bowl.

Keep hand sanitizer available so people can use it as needed.

Popular Halloween Costumes for 2020

In addition to the typical costumes you see every year, with 2020 being an election year, you’re likely to see people dressing up as political figures. You may also see a lot of doctor and nurse costumes (scrubs are soooo comfy!) Just make sure everyone includes a mask as part of their costume. You may even want to have a few extra, unused, or freshly laundered masks to give to guests.

Don’t Forget the Music

Create a Halloween party playlist to die for. Classic songs include: “Monster Mash”, “Thriller”, and the Ghostbusters theme. But step it up a notch with some more modern music with the “Stranger Things” theme, and “Bury a Friend” by Billie Eilish. Check out this list from Good Housekeeping for more ideas.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!