How can I make sure my child is safe on Halloween? What are some candy alternatives to pass out to trick or treaters?

Halloween is almost here and I can barely contain my excitement! Holidays are getting more exciting as my kids get older. Here is my cute family in our costumes. (Oops, I forgot to get a picture of us at our Halloween party. Picture will be coming soon!)

Smiley Man is a dog, Little Bear is a bat, I am Nessarose from Wicked/the Wicked Witch of the East from The Wizard of Oz, and Mr. Remarkable is the house that fell on me.

We have had so much fun this October getting ready for Halloween. Check out our Halloween Crafts page to see all the fun activities we’ve done. Trick or treating is always a blast, but there are several things that could go wrong. I have compiled a list of safety tips that will keep my family and yours safe, happy, and full of chocolate! Here are some Halloween Safety Tips that will keep Halloween fun for you and your family.

*Update 11/26/12: I was given a link to an article about Halloween Safety and it is a fabulous resource! It is the only resource with Halloween safety tips that are backed by statistical data to underscore the importance of each tip. Many of the tips are included in the list below, but feel free to check out the original source.

Tips for Candy

• Only eat treats that are individually packaged, unopened, and in their original package
• Only eat candy once you are home and a parent has inspected the candy
• Parents, be sure to serve a big dinner so your kids are full and won’t snack on candy
• Kids, be willing to share a piece of candy or two with your amazing parents

Tips for Trick or Treaters

• Children should always go trick or treating with an adult
• Make sure the whole family knows the route that you will be taking
• Only accept treats on the doorstep; do not go inside
• Say thank you when you are given a treat
• Only visit houses with the lights on
• Don’t play near lit Jack-o-Lanterns
• Walk, do not run, and be aware of surroundings
• Walk on sidewalks and driveways; do not go in dark streets or back alleys
• Cross the street at the corner or a crosswalk
• Take a cell phone and/or have bracelet with parent’s phone number on it
• Wear a watch
• Carry a flashlight or a glow stick

Tips for Parents

• Drive slowly
• Report any suspicious or criminal activity to the police department
• Be careful where you leave a lit Jack-o-Lantern
• Keep lawn clear so trick or treaters do not trip on anything
• Don’t forget to “inspect” your kids’ candy. There may be a few pieces that are “unfit” for your kids because they need to be taste tested by a grown up. ;)

Tips for Costumes

• Make sure costumes are not too long so kids don’t trip
• Make sure costumes match the weather (wear a coat underneath the costume if necessary)
• Wear comfortable shoes
• Wear makeup instead of a mask so it doesn’t obstruct your view.

Even though these are heels, they are actually very comfortable!

Candy Alternatives

Personally, I’m all about letting my kids eat lots of candy on Halloween. I work really hard to provide healthy food for my kids throughout the year, so when holidays come around I don’t care if my kids eat a bit of sugar. However, I totally respect the fact that some families don’t want to pass out candy. They might have a child with food allergies or diabetes or maybe have kids that just don’t like sugar. I know there are plenty of people who are grateful for non-candy treats on Halloween. Whatever your reason, here is a list of a few candy alternatives.

• Mini Play-doh
• Sidewalk
• Rubber insects
• Glitter pencils
• Toothbrush/toothpaste (but only if you are a dentist J )
• Stickers
• Small puzzles
• Party favors
• Marbles
• Fun erasers
• Scented markers
• Crayons
• Small coloring book
• Mandarin Orange “Jack-o-Lanterns”
• String cheese “ghosts” (see picture below)
• Bubbles
• Granola bars
• Rice Cakes
• Vampire teeth (just make sure they are individually packaged)
• Bouncy balls
• Halloween rings or bracelets
• Small baby carrot packs
• Pencil toppers
• Coins
• Pretzels
• Packs of sugar free gum
• Hot chocolate packets
• Raisins
• Fruit Leather
• Chip bags
• Goldfish

Websites used as references:

http://www.halloween-safety.com/

http://www.halloweenmagazine.com/play.html

http://www.ncpc.org/topics/halloween-safety

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/halloween-safety/CC00072/NSECTIONGROUP=2

How do you make homemade matte mod podge?

Homemade mod podge is not only super fast and easy, but it is also very economical. All it takes is some Elmer’s glue and some water. I originally found the recipe for homemade mod podge on this website. I did change the recipe slightly, but I have used it for many crafts and it has been working great! So, I’ll get straight to it.

The original recipe says to mix 1 part water with 1 part Elmer’s glue. I found this mixture to be slightly runnier than I wanted it. I was worried that it wouldn’t hold quite as well as I needed it to. Here is the recipe that I used:

Homemade Matte Mod Podge

• 2/3 C Water
• 1 C Elmer’s glue

Pour ingredients into a container (I used a pint size mason jar, Cassidy used this black container shown) and stir until they are combined. Store with lid tightly closed.

As you can see, I used 2 parts water and 3 parts Elmer’s glue. This mixture has never been too thick for my purposes and it has always been strong enough. So far I have had my mod podge for about 3 months now and it is working as well as it did on day one. I have used it to make a flat marble alphabet and for many more projects. I always use a paint brush to apply the mod podge and it works very well. Little Bear even used the mod podge when we made paper candy corn.

Supposedly, you can add some clear varnish to the mixture and it will turn it from matte mod podge to shiny mod podge. I have not tried this so I don’t know exactly what kind of varnish to add or how shiny it makes the mod podge. I would love for anyone to share their experience if they have added varnish. The homemade matte mod podge still works great and it only cost me 50 cents! Now that is a price you can’t beat.

We are so excited to be guest posting today over at Blue Skies Ahead. We are showing you how to do this cute popsicle stick craft to make Jack-o-Lanterns and bats. Hop on over there for the full tutorial!

What is a Halloween activity that will help teach my child one-to-one correspondence?

Little Bear has been loving dot markers lately so I thought it would be nice to have a seasonal learning activity that used them. My amazing co-blogger, Cassidy, made up this cute little Halloween do-a-dot counting activity and Little Bear got right to work completing it.

First, Little Bear asked me if he could use an orange dot marker. We don’t have one so I told him that we don’t have one. He was a little disappointed since the circles aren’t just circles, but are Jack-o-Lanterns. So, I told him we could try dotting the circle with a yellow dot marker first and then dot it again with a red dot marker. I did not think this would work because our red dot marker lets out a lot more paint than our yellow dot marker. Unfortunately, I was right. The color mixing of the dot markers did not work. We used the Walmart Paint Dab Markers. If any of you have tried different dot markers and have successfully color mixed, I would love to hear about it.

Once we got past the whole no orange dot marker thing, Little Bear was ready to start counting. He dotted the first group of pumpkins and counted each one out loud as he dotted them. Once he knew how many pumpkins were in that first group, he wrote the correct number in the little box next to them.

Little Bear’s preschool table has the numbers written on the side, so if he ever needed help remembering what a number looked like, I just told him to look at his table. This turned out to be very helpful.

This Halloween dot marker counting activity was really awesome because it gave Little Bear practice writing numbers and it helped solidify the concept of one-to-one correspondence. It was much easier for Little Bear to count each object once and only once because he could see if he had counted it or not. Little Bear has been pretty good at counting for several months now, but this dot marker activity helped him to understand why each number should be counted once and only once. Plus, since the dot markers were involved, it was extra fun!

How do I use an ABC Chart in preschool?

Do you have an ABC Chart with pictures that you are really excited about? Not yet? Earlier this week I had a post about how to make an ABC Chart. You can also download the ABC Chart I use. Are you confused about how exactly to use an ABC Chart? Read on, my friend, read on.

I knew that ABC Charts were important and that they helped with a lot of important things, but I wasn’t sure exactly what to do with it. Do I show them to students? Do we take turns naming the pictures? Do we go in order or out of order? After some research I have a much more specific idea of what to do. This is a step-by-step, very detailed process. Maybe it’s a little too detailed, but I want to make sure the directions are clear.

First, you want two kinds of ABC Charts, a big one and a small one. The big one will be hung on a wall where everyone can see it. The teacher or a student will use a pointer to point to each of the parts. The small one will be on a single piece of paper. I suggest printing it in color and laminating it. Each student will look at it and point with the finger to the different parts.

I used the Confessions of a Homeschooler’s Letter of the Week cards to make my large ABC Chart. I made my large ABC Chart by going to her phonics page, and clicking on the A-Z Large Floor Mats. Next, I clicked the print button. When it got to the print screen, under Page Sizing and Handling, I clicked on the button that says “Multiple.” This prints four floor mats to a page. I bordered each letter card with construction paper, then I glued it onto poster board. It did not quite fit on one poster board, so I had to use a little piece of a second one.

There are three phases that you will go through with an ABC Chart. You will stay at each stage for a few days to several months depending on the needs of your class. Here are the different phases. (If you would like to see me demonstrate how to do this, I’ve included a video below)

1. Point to the uppercase and/or lowercase letter in the box and say the letter name. Then point to the picture and say what the picture is. Repeat for all letters. It will sound like this, “A (point to the upper and lowercase a) apple (point to the apple picture), B (point to upper and lowercase b) butterfly (point to butterfly), C caterpillar, D dinosaur, etc.”
2. Once your students are proficient at the first stage (this may take a day, a few weeks, or a few months) move on to stage two. Point to the uppercase letter and name it. Point to the lowercase letter and name it. Point to the picture and say what it is. Repeat for all letters. It will sound like this “A (point to the uppercase A) a (point to the lowercase a) apple (point to the apple picture), B (point to uppercase B) b (point to lowercase b) butterfly (point to butterfly), C c caterpillar, D d dinosaur, E e elephant, etc.”
3. Move onto the third stage once students are proficient at the second stage or once you start teaching the letter sounds. Point to the uppercase letter and say the sound. Point to the lowercase letter and say the sound. Point to the picture and say what it is. Repeat for all letters. When you see / / with a letter in between it means that you are saying the sound for that letter, not the name of that letter. It will sound like this “/a/ (point to uppercase a) /a/ (point to  owercase a) apple (point to apple), /b/ (uppercase b) /b/ (lowercase b) butterfly (point to butterfly), /c/ /c/ caterpillar, /d/ /d/ dinosaur, etc.” Be sure to use the short vowel sounds for the vowels.

Using an ABC Chart is great because it really helps solidify the sounds that each letter makes. It also really helps with alphabetical order. It also really helps students with tracking and learning to read left to right and top to bottom. It also really helps with letter recognition. It also really helps with cleaning your classroom (ok, not really, I just wanted you to realize how great ABC Charts are and I got a little carried away ;) ).

In my classroom we do our ABC Chart everyday with calendar time. You can incorporate it any way you want, but don’t be afraid of doing it too often. Even if you are meeting daily, I would suggest doing it every day.