When it comes to Trick or Treat Halloween night, it is important to sit down with your children ahead of time, and go over some safety tips. After you discuss the tips with your child, give them a mini quiz to make sure they fully understand the importance of following your guidelines.

Here are 10 safety tips you need set into motion for Trick or Treat Night.

1. Children should always be accompanied by a responsible adult, preferably the parent. Your child needs to listen to the adult that is accompanying them.

2. Give children flashlights and glow sticks so that others can see them coming. Instruct your child to use them while outside.

3. Instruct your children to never go inside another person’s home, they are to remain outside the front door.

4. Let them know that they can not eat any candy until they get home. This will allow you time to inspect the candy to make sure its sealed and hasn’t been tampered with.

5. When possible, children should walk in groups or in pairs. They should never be out alone.

6. Have a preplanned route and go over that route with your child. If you accidentally get separated, mark off a few spots where you can rejoin up.

7. Every year, children get hit by cars on Halloween night. It is better for your child to walk than to ride their bicycles when out Trick or Treating.

8. If your child is wearing a mask with their costume, make sure the mask properly fits and is not obstructing their view. Personally, I prefer face paint and hats, over full frontal face masks for safety reasons.

9. Go over stranger danger safety tips with your child before they go out. Instruct your child to never get in a stranger’s car.

10. Children need to remain on well lit streets and on the sidewalks. They should never be running through dark yards or playing on the street or intersections.

By being prepared ahead of time and talking with your child about Trick or Treat night safety tips, you can have a fun and safe Halloween evening.

Halloween is a time of year where children and adults get the chance to dress up in scary fancy dress costumes, have parties, and generally have a bit of fun around October the 31st of every year. It is mainly aimed at children who are treated to stay out a bit later than usual to explore the neighbourhood, have a bit of fun, and have permission to knock on houses that they would normally never call on and ask for sweets or money. The tradition has been around for centuries and to see kids being kids and enjoying the festivities what is their not to like about Halloween?

Halloween has origins from an ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain, a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. The connection with monsters and goblins is that the Gaels believed that on this day the gap between the living and the dead was dissolved and that the dead would bring sickness and damage the people’s crops.

As with some religious based celebrations there will be a proportion that finds some of the activities unnecessary or offensive, for sections of Christians Halloween is a danger, as it promotes ideas about evil, demon sprits and witchcraft. On the day as the spirits of the dead are meant to be closer to the living. Some people look at as a time for remembrance and reflection for individuals who have passed away. So as much as this is a fun seasonal event, a minority will view this day from a completely different perspective which should be respected, however it is still regarded as some harmless fun by the majority.

Halloween is now the third most popular festive event behind Christmas and Bonfire night, similar to these events Halloween has some intrinsic meaning to some and should not be overlooked when participating; it is also a fun festivity with Halloween costumes, party games, and a thrill for children and adults. With the popularity of the event increasing every year it has become big business for fancy dress internet sites and shop retailers who highlight the 31st of October as one of the most important times of year.

For your fancy dress costume there are two main ways in which you can get your outfit. Firstly you can visit your local fancy dress hire shop on your high street and browse through the many costumes and accessories. The majority a less reluctant to hire a costumes but will sell a costume permanently for a more reasonable price. The hire market is becoming smaller as the overall price between buying and hiring a costume is becoming thinner due to reduction in manufacturing costs.

The other alternative is to buy online, there are hundreds of online stores that offer secure money transaction online, and are more than reasonable with money back guarantees and returning items if for example they don’t fit. The majority of online systems are very easy to operate and tend to offer more choice and accessories then shops.

Today, candy is the central focus of the spookiest holiday of the year.  In fact, the average American consumes 24 pounds of candy in a year, most of which is eaten right after Halloween according to the U.S. Census Bureau.   But for diabetic children, it can be difficult to enjoy the festivities when all their fellow goblins are in a frenzy to get their hands on mounds of sweet treats.

Marc Wolf, registered pharmacist and CEO of Diabetic Care Services, provides the following tips to help parents of diabetic children shift the focus off Halloween candy so the kids can have more fun.

- Explain to diabetic children ahead of time that they should not snack on candy until you are home from trick-or-treating. (Parents, that goes for you too!)

- Lots of walking can affect blood glucose levels for anyone with diabetes, so pack a healthy snack that you can rely on to battle lows.  This way, you avoid the temptation of dipping into the Halloween treat bag for a quick solution if your child’s blood sugar levels begin to drop.

- If your child has diabetes, choosing which type of candy to pass out is important because there is a good chance you will have leftovers.  If you select the correct type of candy, you can use leftovers to treat lows throughout the year.  According to the American Diabetes Association, chocolate and other higher-fat treats do not work well for treating lows.  Therefore, if you anticipate leftovers, choose hard candy, gumdrops or lollipops to pass out at Halloween so you can use the leftovers to treat lows.

- Do not feel you have to deprive your child of all Halloween candy because they have diabetes.  Instead, allow them to choose a fun size, smaller version of their favorite candy.  Just remember to adjust their meal plan based on the number of carbohydrates in the sweet treat. Visit the JDRF web site for a list of common Halloween candy carbohydrate values.

- After trick-or-treat hours are over, sit down with your child and help them choose a few of his or her favorite pieces of candy they can enjoy throughout the week.  To help diabetic children part with the leftover candy, allow them to exchange it for money, a toy or some other special treat (a special dinner, trip to the movies, etc).

- If you do not want to waste the extra candy by throwing it away, go with your child to donate the leftovers to a hospital or senior center.  Not only will your child learn healthy diabetes management habits, they will receive a lesson in sharing.

- Take the focus off Halloween candy by encouraging diabetic children to create an exciting Halloween costume.  You can even involve the entire family by designating a day to work on homemade costumes.

- Halloween costumes often require plenty of face paint, body paint and colored hair spray.  When the festivities are over, ensure you give proper attention to skin and scalp cleansing and care.

- No matter what the Halloween costume, ensure your child wears comfortable, closed toe shoes and invest in special diabetic socks that will keep feet clean and dry.  Whether trick-or-treating or at a costume party, it is important for children with diabetes to protect feet from potential cuts and scrapes and prevent blisters and soreness.

- Offer to host the Halloween party this year.  You will be able to ensure your child, and all the guests, enjoy healthy Halloween treats safe diabetic children rather than experience sugar shock.  Use food coloring to turn your favorite dip or sugar-free whipped topping orange, and pair with fruit and cheese or vegetables for a festive tray.  For dessert, dish out sugar-free chocolate pudding in individual cups and garnish with sugar-free whipped topping and sugar-free candy worms for a creepy surprise.

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Candy, though being associated with Halloween for centuries, has also long been associated with health issues such as spikes in sugar levels, weight gain and contributing to such things as diabetes and decay of our teeth. However, there are other Halloween treat ideas that you to hand out to your trick-or-treaters.  We can all make sure our kids enjoy this Halloween by giving them treats that won’t harm or affect their health.

After having numerous conversations with kids in my family, their friends and their classroom buddies I have come up with a list of treats the kids would enjoy just as much, if not more, than Halloween candy.

Healthy Snacks:

Raisins or other dried fruit packets

Bags of homemade trail mix

Mixed nuts that can also be mixed with raisins or dried cranberries

Apples can be decorated with small scary spiders that you can attach to the stem

Bananas and oranges can be decorated with painted Halloween faces

Other Great Treats:

Kids love stick-on stickers and temporary tattoos

Wax teeth and mustaches have been a hit on Halloween for as long as I can remember

Small wind-up toys that jump and move in many different ways – many adults have collected these since they were children

Boxes of Crayons

Spooky tops for their pencils and spooky shaped erasers

Sidewalk Chalk – great for Hop Scotch and for drawing pictures on the sidewalk or driveway

Freaky plastic rings shaped like spiders and other creatures will go nicely as accessories to their costumes.  A cat ring would be a great addition to the Pink Barbie Cat Costume for girls.

Many of your local party stores will have Halloween party favor bags. Some of them have miniature harmonicas and other fun toys in them.  I take these bags and use the contents individually for the trick-or-treaters. Kids love Halloween whether they get lots of candy or other fun and playful treats in their bag.

With the thousands of children that can’t eat candy due to health issues such as diabetes or food allergies, it’s important to have alternatives to Halloween candy so they can also enjoy the holiday.

I plan to give out candy, both regular and sugar-free, but I also plan to have many other treats for the children that prefer them or just can’t eat the candy.  Why should they be left out when there are so many easy ways to include them in the Halloween Spirit?

The Child Bratz Cat Costume is at the top of the list for Halloween 2009

Happy Halloween!