Trick or Treating Tips for Kids

Halloween is a fun time for children and adults alike, but it can also be a stressful day if you don’t have the right advice. Here are some tips to make Halloween easier!

If your child is going trick-or-treating, teach them how to stay safe by having them go door-to-door with a list of requests. Teach them to say “hi” and “thank you.

If your child is going as a character, prepare them by letting them know what to expect. If they are going as a princess, for example, let them know that they will be treated like royalty!

Set some guidelines for trick-or-treating. You can come up with a contract that includes guidelines of how long trick-or-treating will last, what types of candy are okay to eat, and any other house rules you want to follow.

Take a moment to remember all the wonderful memories you’ll have together. You’ll be so glad you did!

Halloween is a great opportunity for your family to spend time together as a group.

And finally, have fun with it! Your child is going to have a fantastic time going from house-to-house, and you will too.

Halloween Tip – Flashlights, Tape, Keeping Your Child Safe

Halloween! October is nearly ending which signals another special trick-or-treat date. The evening is the time your child waits for when thinking about this magical night. It is important that your child, no matter what age, be prepared to go out into the night and be safe.

You have prepared a great meal for your child before the evening begins. Next, prepare your child by applying insect repellent prior to him/her leaving the house. Make certain you are walking with your child or s/he is with a babysitter, relative, friend, or with a group of friends.

The costume should be fire retardant. It shouldn’t be too long which may cause your child to trip. Your child’s shoes should have a good fit. Your child should have a flashlight, glow stick, and reflective tape on the costume.

Hopefully your child will not eat candy along the trick-or-treat route; once home you should sit down with your child and examine the treats for tricks. This will also be the time you put your “plan” into gear, whatever you have decided with your child (s/he may select five pieces of candy, and so forth).

We wish you a great Halloween!

What a great evening! You have created a successfully, exciting evening for your child. Halloween has ended for another year! Don’t be disappointed though as you have just 365 days until it starts all over again. Thank you for visiting our site, CarvingForKids. We hope you will visit us again so we can share some free ideas with you. Happy Halloween!

Halloween Tip – Safety in Numbers

We have discussed your child going out on Halloween night in other Tips. Tips have included the parent following along walking with the child, and, as your child grows older, staying at a distance. We have also discussed your child going out trick-or-treating with a baby-sitter, brother or sister, or other friend or family member. However, your child will eventually reach the age where this situation changes – when they reach the age of independence.

No one can give us a magic number when a child reaches the age of independence. When Halloween comes around it’s kind of like magic – you will know and s/he will know. What to do, what to do?

Take a deep breathe. The night has come where your son or daughter wants to go out and meet the ghosts and the witches without you tagging along, without the babysitter, or with any adult you have in mind. It is important that your child have at least one friend s/he can go to the different houses with – if several friends are available it is even better. We all remember being told, “There is safety in numbers.” This is true. If your child trick-or-treats alone, although s/he may be perfectly fine there is always the fear your child may be hurt with no one to assist; an unknown stranger may attempt to get your child into a car; some older children may try to bully your child. Although all of these things can happen even if there is a group of children – odds are less likely your child will be bothered.

Set the rules for your child. Open the door. Let him meet up with his friends. Close the door and take a deep breathe. Independence can be a difficult lesson for everyone concerned. However, when your child returns home you will know you have done a great job raising your child! It was a successful evening!

We invite you to visit us at CarvingForKids. We have an October filled with ideas for each day of the week.

Halloween Tip – Insect Repellants – To Spray or Not to Spray

We’re all aware of the West Nile Virus, particularly if we live in an area where there have been documented cases. There is no reason to take a chance of your child being exposed to such let alone to mosquito bites, in general, or other insect bites.

Before your child goes trick-or-treating you should have a repellant ready to apply to his/her skin. The questions: what is the best brand, the best ingredients, the best protection? We cannot recommend any certain brand. Instead, we suggest you visit your local pharmacy and discuss the matter with a competent pharmacist. Give him/her the needed information such as the age of your child, any known allergies, and so forth.

Once you have determined the repellant you want to buy make certain you follow all of the directions when applying it to your child. There are a number of common rules to follow for everyone. You should apply the repellent to your own hands and then rub your hands on the child. Do not apply any repellent around the child’s eyes and mouth. Do not use too much around the ear area. Do not use repellent on any broken or irritated skin. Once your child returns for the evening you should wash the repellent with soap and water.

Using a safe insect repellent will help your child to have a more enjoyable evening – s/he won’t be bothered with mosquitoes and other insects that might interfere with the fun. Speaking of enjoyable, we invite you to frequently visit our site, CarvingForKids. We have a number of creative ideas to make Halloween that great day it is intended to be.

Halloween Tip – How Much is Too Much Candy for My Child to Eat?

Think back to one of our other tips – we suggested you make sure your child enjoys a very nice meal shortly before going out trick-or-treating. This, alone, will help somewhat to calm your child’s appetite when s/he returns from the great event. That does not mean, however, that your child will just hand you the bag of goodies, when returning home. You can be certain your child will want to dig into that bag just like every other child wants to do.

As parents, we know that most candy tastes great. Other than this, however, candy is not a very good choice in food. Dentists will tell you it contributes to tooth decay. We can be assured, by reading the wrapper, each piece of candy is full of calories. It offers very little nutritional value. And, some parents will argue that it causes hyperactivity. So, what to do, what to do, what to do?

We suggest you have a plan, set guidelines – and stick to it. Discuss it with your child before s/he goes out the door. Remind your child of the plan when s/he returns with the goodies bag.

One plan many parents adopt, because it is easy to follow, is to sit with your child before s/he leaves the house, and discuss and agree upon the number of candies your child can have when returning. When your child returns you should first empty the bag, spread out the goodies, and check each item for tampering (if a wrapper is torn or loose or if there is a small pinhole, go no further, dispose of this particular piece of candy).

After you and your child have checked the goodies s/he may choose the number of candies that was decided earlier. If you agreed on five pieces then your child will select that number. If you agreed on ten, whatever the number, your child will select that number of candies. Once selected the bag of candies will be put away.

You can, of course, revise this plan to meet your needs. You might plan for your child to have candy for three days and then the remaining candy is donated to some organization. Or, you might have some gifts your child really wants, such as a book, and you charge your child x pieces of candy in order to buy the book. Whatever you choose make certain you stick to your plan. We ask you to choose CarvingForKids as a place you regularly visit for your Halloween ideas.

Halloween Tip – Should I Drive My Child to A Wealthier Neighborhood to Trick-or-Treat?

This is another Halloween decision that only you, the parent, can answer. It doesn’t seem necessary to take your child elsewhere because your child will be rewarded in his/her own neighborhood by families who know your child and maybe your family. It will give your child a false sense of Halloween – that s/he can’t have a good time in his/her own neighborhood. It will cost you gasoline money. No one can say for certain that a wealthier neighborhood will be anymore generous than your own neighborhood.

I imagine all of the adults reading this faced the same issue as a child. You might want to reflect back to that special night and recall the details. Did you have a better time being outside of your own neighborhood? Did you collect a great deal more expensive candy? Were the people nice to you? Did you feel comfortable in this unknown environment?

No scientific data has ever been collected, that we are aware of, that suggests going to a more expensive neighborhood will bring in a bigger haul of candy. Your child knows his/her neighborhood. Most likely your child feels more comfortable in his/her own environment. If your child faces some kind of a crisis chances are that someone will know his/her identity that is from your neighborhood. This is another choice for you to make at Halloween – another choice we invite you to make right now is to visit our site: CarvingForKids. We have some fun ideas that you and your children will enjoy.

Halloween Tip – Helping the Less Fortunate Enjoy the Evening

If your child has a disability this is not a reason why s/he cannot go to a party, visit a spook house, or go trick or treating. We can put up all kinds of roadblocks, “But my son can only walk with crutches;” or, “My daughter is in a wheelchair and she can’t move around on the pavement very well,” and “My son has autism and he throws tantrums.” If we just look at the disability we can certainly see difficulties. However, working with a less fortunate child often causes us to react and behave in a different way than we might with another child so Halloween should not pose a major problem.

If your child wants to go trick-or-treating then why stand in his/her way? If your child can get along with crutches then let him try walking door to door. If your child is in a wheelchair and can’t get around then push him/her the same as you would for any other event. If your child has autism or some type of behavior problem then let your child attempt to go door to door. We all know that children act and react differently outside the home. Your child needs this experience just like s/he needs all other experiences.

Another thing that is important to remember is that your child’s outfit may cause him/her discomfort. This may be due to the texture, the cloth against the skin, the unfamiliarity with the outfit, and so forth. If that’s the case then try to make changes to the costume so s/he will be comfortable but still have something to wear or to hold.

It’s also important to remember that many sugars and other ingredients cause a special needs child to react differently than other children may. As you always do, just be aware of this when your child starts digging into his/her goodies bag.

No matter what, your special needs child should be allowed to participate, in some way, in this festive evening. While we are on the subject of festive, please stop by CarvingForKids and see some of our other ideas.

Halloween Tip – Teaming Your Child for Trick-or-Treating

Most children reach the age where they no longer want their parent to walk with them when they go out trick-or-treating. This can cause the parent considerable concern as their thoughts turn to “what if?” These concerns are common and certainly expected. The child wants his/her independence; the parent wants to protect.

You need to understand it is you. It may be hard to accept but the fact is that your child wants his independence because he doesn’t want his/her friends calling him/her names because the parent pops up at every house.

There are alternatives. First, if your child is at that age where s/he still has a babysitter then why not employ this person for the evening. Let this young adult go out and help your child to have an evening of fun.

If your babysitter isn’t available you might call on an older brother or sister. You might consider other family members – cousins, or even friends of the family. This will be a tough decision for some parents to make – but, the time will come and you will need to know and understand what you plan to do when that time arrives. You also need to understand that we have more ideas for you at CarvingForKids. Go take a peek!

Halloween Tip – Spook House or No Spook House?

Most children, young adults, even older adults enjoy going to a haunted house, walking through, and getting scared at every turn. Halloween is the time of year when the haunted houses make their debut for a few days and invite you in (for a fee, of course) to scare each of you as you’ve never been scared before.

You may give the decision considerable thought before deciding if you want your child to participate in such an activity. And, this is wise. Sometimes very young children might be frightened so badly it can scar him/her for life. We certainly don’t want this. You know your child best. You are the only one who can decide if your child should go; if your child is old enough to understand the events occurring inside the house; or if your child will enjoy what they will see.

If your previously brave child enters the house and immediately becomes upset then you may consider leaving the house. If your child is crying and asking to get out, once you’ve started the tour, then you should take your child out of the house at the nearest exit. Again, you know your child and you need to make that decision.

Of course, dad might get a kick out of his testosterone-filled 14 year-old-son who spends the time driving to the haunted house talking about how nothing scares him and how everything is so fake. He continues on and on until arriving at the house. Dad looks at his son and sees his assured look has changed to reveal a little concern. Should dad laugh, once inside, when the dead monster jumps out of nowhere causing his son to let out a little scream? Hmmm, as we said earlier, you know your child best!

Take a minute right now and visit us at CarvingForKids. We have more ideas to share with you.

Halloween Tip – The Most Popular Costumes

It’s countdown time to decide on costumes. We have divided some ideas into three categories – children, female and male. So, if you plan to dress your young one in a costume you may also join in the festivities and wear a costume of your own.

    If you are still pondering the idea of how to dress your child for this occasion, or, perhaps your child disagrees with all of your ideas, then you may wish to consider some of the most popular children’s outfits. These are not presented in any special order: Wonder Woman, T-Rex Child, Snow White, the Glitter Witch, Dorothy – the Wizard of Oz, Power Rangers, Spider-Man 3, Harry Potter, and the Shrek Princess Fiona are all possible ideas.

    According to HalloweenMart.com these kid’s costumes are the most requested costumes for Halloween:

    • # 1 Power Rangers
    • # 2 Candy Clown
    • # 3 Petite Pirate
    • # 4 Wayward Clown
    • # 5 Superman Returns
    • # 6 Headless Horseman
    • # 7 Regal Princess
    • # 8 GoGo Girl Yellow
    • # 9 Dr. Toxic
    • # 10 Sumo Inflatable Child

    Mom and Dad can have a great time dressing up – we’re never too old and this gives each of us a great reason to become our secret fantasy. Dad can prove that Elvis is still alive. If dad has gained a few pounds that’s o.k. because he is Elvis in his older years; the Boy Wonder Robin, a Pirate, Superman, a scary Jack the Ripper, Fred Flintstone can all be fun characters. Mom may choose to be the glamorous Elvira, Venus, or the interesting character, Betty Boop. A Wicked Witch, Supergirl, and Athena are all popular choices.

    Several of the costumes for men, women, or children can easily be made at home with little effort and few materials. Other characters include a clown, a hobo, and a ghost that require little preparation. Whatever your choices, make the evening a family affair and have fun! To make your evening even more fun visit us at CarvingForKids.