How to keep the Halloween spirit going in 2020

(BPT) - Halloween has always been a favorite holiday for people of all ages, but this year it will undoubtedly look and feel different. In a year like no other, how can you create festive celebrations that you and your family will enjoy right at home?

Looking for inspiration on how to celebrate with your family while enjoying the magic of the Halloween season? Hershey has gathered an expert team — the Hershey Halloween Squad — to uncover the best ways to guarantee Halloween fun no matter how you choose to celebrate this year.

Food and Lifestyle Expert Justine Santaniello is part of the Squad. She has conjured up some of the season’s most delicious recipes — from no-bake treats to mocktails. This October, let’s kick-off the Halloween magic earlier than ever in new, exciting ways.

Think outside the trick-or-treat bag

Consider setting up a home and/or backyard scavenger hunt, where kids have to follow and solve strategically placed clues to find bags of treats or surprises.

You could celebrate with a Halloween-themed piñata or fill small plastic pumpkins with your favorite Hershey candies, like the new Kit Kat^® Witch’s Brew and classic Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins, to hang from tree branches or on your porch.

Sort through old closets and drawers to involve kids in repurposing outgrown outfits into a unique homemade costume this year. Encourage the kids to help you add Halloween touches around your house such as using stretched-out cotton balls or cheesecloth for cobwebs to enjoy throughout the month.

Halloween bark

Want to keep your little ones busy with an activity that’s not only fun, but tasty too? Try making some Halloween bark. It’s super easy, and the kids will love it.

"To make the bark extra special, I use Hershey’s Cookies ‘N’ Crème Fangs," says Santaniello. "They’re the snack-size sensation of the season — and brand new! Your little vampires will love the fierce fang prints."

To make the bark, melt white chocolate and add food coloring in festive Halloween colors, like orange and purple. Kids will love drizzling the colorful mixture all over the Hershey’s Cookies ‘N’ Crème Fangs. The result is a treat that’s not only tasty, but festive too!

Vampire mocktail

Whether you host a small gathering outdoors or celebrate with just your immediate family, make it extra special with a fun vampire mocktail.

Start with half a glass of a clear soda, serve with a plastic syringe filled with a red-colored juice, such as cranberry. Guests can have fun using the syringe to inject "blood" into each vampire drink, a tasty mocktail the whole family can enjoy, along with their favorite Halloween treats, like the tasty Hershey’s Kisses Vampire Chocolates — a brand new candy from Hershey.

Make your bat and eat it too!

All you need is a Reese’s Franken-Cup, a cookie and frosting — the rest is optional! Using the new half green crème and half milk chocolate Reese’s Cup as the base, cut a small cookie in half to create the bat wings. Frosting will be the “glue” to connect the cookie to the Reese’s Cup, to create wings, and then add small candy eyes. Put a little frosting under each eye to help it stick. Super easy!

"Joining the Hershey Halloween Squad was a perfect fit for me, because Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year," said Santeniello. "I love the costumes, decorations — and lots and lots of Hershey candy!" said Santaniello.

Check out all the other fun Halloween-themed tips throughout the month from the Hershey Halloween Squad on Hershey's Happiness Blog.