Is Halloween canceled? One Brooklyn mom’s answer: a resounding NO. Amanda Sue Nichols was brainstorming ways to trick-or-treat for her three daughters when she remembered the Rainbow Map. For the unfamiliar, the Rainbow Map was a scavenger hunt in which children made drawings and paintings of rainbows and displayed them for people to see while walking — among few acceptable activities in the early days of lockdown. “One of the best things about Halloween is that you can put in minimal effort and your kids will still have fun,” Nichols told us. “With so many parents pulling double or even triple duty right now, asking them to plan extravagant haunted houses and scavenger hunts on top of everything else seemed excessive.” Thus the Halloween Pumpkin Hunt 2020 was born. Similar to the Rainbow Map, children are encouraged to create pumpkin artwork, hang it in a window and then submit their location to the map Nichols created. Then, on Halloween, parents can use the map to create a scavenger hunt for their children — in costume, of course. After realizing giving out candy might draw crowds and require too much coordination, Nichols decided to focus on costumes. But, the Cobble Hill mom said, “what’s the point of dressing up if no one is going to see?! I needed something that kids could do socially distanced, but which maintained the commonality of experience and sense of community that makes Halloween so much fun. ”That being said, Nichols recommended parents having a candy prize on hand. The Halloween Pumpkin Hunt 2020 website launched just a few days ago. More than 50 households in several Brooklyn neighborhoods, Queens, Philadelphia and Westport, Connecticut, have signed up. It can quite literally be done anywhere. If you are interested in participating, you can learn more here. For more stories like this, subscribe to our weekly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. |
A Brooklyn Mom Saves Halloween
