Have a Kids Halloween Party or Trick or Treat Safely

Its almost Halloween, and every kid is looking forward to have a ton of fun!  Who could resist?  All those free goodies and a chance to dress up like Spiderman or a beautiful ballerina!

But, unfortunately, Halloween isn't as innocent as it once was.  This is no reason to deny your children the pleasures of this holiday. You just need to exercise a few common sense tips.  Here are some things to consider:

If you MUST go Trick or Treating first, follow these guidelines:

1.  Go while it is still daylight, and in a group. Always make sure you go all the way up to the door with the kids and keep an eye on what's going on;

2.  Even though you are going out in the daylight, carry a flashlight and make sure everybody's costumes are light colored;

3.  If you come to a house that doesn't look welcoming - no porch light, for instance - pass it by;

4.  Better yet, take your kids trick or treating at the Mall. Before the date of Halloween, ask at the Mall if they allow Trick or Treaters.   Each year I see more parents doing this and the merchants are beginning to expect it and be prepared with goodies;

5.  If your town doesn't have a Mall, see if the local business area downtown is going to be open to trick or treaters;

6.  When you return home, inspect all of your children's goodies  very carefully.  Toss out anything homemade.  I know, someone might have gone to a lot of trouble to make a good, wholesome Halloween homemade treats for the kids, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

7.  This is terrible to say, but be careful of fresh fruits also.  It's  a sad commentary on the way things are that wrapped candy bars are the best thing for kids to get on Halloween.

8.  After you've sorted out all of your kids goodies, put half of them in the freezer for another time and ration the amount of candy they can eat each day.

Some Kids Halloween Party suggestions:

1.  If you go to the Mall, you can end up having a Kids Halloween Party there in one of the restaurants that provide this service.  This is always a lot of fun for the kids!

2. A lot of church groups have started having a Kids Halloween Party instead of trick or treating.  They have bags of treats for all the kids and play a lot of kids Halloween games. Some even have a Pinata that the kids can take turns swinging at and then, when it breaks, all the kids can scrabble for the goodies!

3.  Another party alternative is to let your kids invite their closest friends over for an all-night sleep-over and rent the scariest movies you can find!  Every Halloweein, creepy movies are everyone's favorites!  Bring out the popcorn and hot cocoa and the Halloween homemade party food and give each kid a healthy goody snack bag.  Let them all be dressed up in their favorite cool Halloween costume, of course, and put a carved pumpkin with a candle inside on the coffee table and make the room festive with other Halloween party decorations, such a spiders and webs, black cats, witches with brooms.  You can find these kinds of things at stores where you can also buy Halloween costumes.

These are just a few of the things you can do to ensure that your kids have a safe and sane Halloween and they don't even have to know about the precautions you've taken.  They can just be . . . kids!