CANFIELD — To ensure remote elementary students in Canfield are able to celebrate Halloween, their teachers have planned various activities.

Kimberly Benson, teaching fourth- grade remote students, will have her students log into a Google Meet, but keep the video option off. Each student has to give three clues for what they are dressed as before viewing.

To keep the experience as “normal” as possible, Benson is having the viewing party at the same time Friday as the district’s parade.

“They are missing some of those regular things you would do” in a traditional classroom setting, Benson said.

Meaghan Manning, the remote kindegarten teacher, said she’s working to make the spooky season “as normal” as she can, too.

Parents picked up packets of activities for Halloween, including crafts. The activities will be done along with Manning during live time from their homes, serving as a party, she said.

Third-grade teacher Karen Pavlov is improvising a bit, she said, taking a version of bingo and adapting it to accomodate the online setting to play on Friday.

The educators each stressed they are trying to provide something that would be defined as normal, not just for remote learners, but also for kids still inside the classroom.

“One thing I think is very important to mention is nothing is normal about this Halloween,” said Kristin Hartshorn, third-grade teacher.

“As much as we’re trying to make remote learning somewhat normal, in-person is not normal as well,” she said, referring to the physical distance and lack of sharing supplies in the classroom.

It takes collaboration among the remote teachers and in-person teachers to keep lessons engaging for students.

In-person students come to school and have a parade without parents. “For us to try to do something similar … is not a thought process that’s unique. It’s trying to make some kind of connection to the day,” Hartshorn said.

She’s going to have students apply STEM-based activities to Halloween through a Google Meet, but have students get up and move around the house while parents submit photos of their kids working on the lesson.

Keeping in tune with having her students move around, first-grade teacher Beth Sich is leading a virtual scavenger hunt, but said she’s also incorporated her students’ creativity into remote lessons.

“My kids have been doing a lot of art, running with it,” she said.

This school year is vastly different than last year, the teachers agreed, largely due to parents having an option of their children remote learning, whereas that wasn’t the case in March.

“Parents have chosen this format. They are totally, completely in and they knew there would need to be some support from home” to make remote learning work, Hartshorn said.

Benson said one thing to keep in mind is regardless of whether students are in-person or remote, it’s important to remember they are younger kids who naturally get excited over special events and holidays.

“We’ll try our best, even though they aren’t in school, to make it special for them and to allow them to participate” in various activities, Benson said.