"Candy Sticking" Is Even Safer (and Far Cuter) Than Leaving Out a Bowl on Halloween Night

While I have just been wallowing in self-pity over the fact that one of my all-time favorite holiday traditions – trick-or-treating – is canceled, other parents have been actually coming up with ingenious solutions to their community's socially distant, COVID-friendly Halloween recommendations. From clever contraptions to deliver candy to passersby with six feet of space to DIY glow-in-the-dark ghost hunts, families across the internet are sharing their treat-ready workarounds.

"I'll be decorating my yard with candy, Willy Wonka style. Kids can come by and get candy from a safe distance and I'll get to smile and wave from my front porch. Win-win."

The latest has been dubbed "candy sticking" by Wendy Reeves Winter, a Colorado-based mom who considers Halloween her favorite holiday. She plans to simply take individually wrapped candies to sticks and poke them into the ground throughout her front lawn.

"I still want to hang out on my porch and see everyone's cute costumes, but, no, I don't want a bunch of kids ringing my doorbell and fishing in my bowl for candy," she wrote in a Facebook post debuting her discovery. "So I'll be decorating my yard with candy, Willy Wonka style. Kids can come by and get candy from a safe distance and I'll get to smile and wave from my front porch. Win-win."

If you want to try this in your yard, she said "any kind of stick" works but noted that popsicle sticks are ideal if you are worried about impaling children ("yep, I got comments on that!" she said). She also suggested plastic spoons, glow sticks, or plastic straws. Her one warning: "Don't put your candy out too early," she noted. "Squirrels apparently love to trick or treat and will take advantage of any candy forest if left unattended for too long."

Keep scrolling for a closer look at this candy sticking idea.