Halloween 4 Toddlers

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FromDebbiesKitchen

Lets face it, the tradition of Halloween has been around for ages and I think it's here to stay, so when introducing Halloween to our children I think it's important that we put a lot of thought behind it because we pretty much have just that first Halloween to set the life-long stage of fun or fear.

Things to Consider

Age

Weather

Costume

Length Of Time

Location

Another Idea

Let's start with Age...

Child experts suggest that the most common age that parents begin trick or treating with their child is approximately 3-5 years old, when children are most likely to understand the difference between what is real and what is not.

Even with that thought in mind we want to reassure our children by example what is real and what is not. Example; a glass of milk sitting on the table is real, but what looks like a great big glass of milk with legs, arms and a head walking down the street is not.

If you're not quite sure where your child stands with what's real and what's not, you can play a game with your child prior to Halloween with pictures. You can sit at the table with your child and show them pictures from a book or magazine and ask them to tell you if this is real or just pretend or make-believe.

At this point if you see that your child is having difficulty deciding what is real and what is not, then this would be the perfect opportunity to teach them.

This is also the perfect time to readjust your thinking and this particular Halloween start the tradition simple with either staying home and celebrating Halloween with homemade cookies and other fun Halloween Recipes, along with decorating the house, carving pumpkins into faces in front of your child or letting your child participate by painting or drawing faces on their own little pumpkin.

Also, you could let your child help you hand out the candy to the other costumed children that come to your door.

Be sure to monitor the children coming to the door so that your child only helps you when it's other small children, dressed in non-frightening costumes coming to the door.

Playing an age appropriate Halloween cartoon or DVD movie is also a nice idea, such as Peanuts or Charlie Brown or something similar that explains Halloween without the fear associated with some costumes.

Facts

Young children with experienced sibblings seem to do better the first time trick or treating.

Most young children do not do well with wearing a face mask.

It is best to start out trick or treating as early as the event allows and stop at dark.

With Toddlers in mind it is a good idea to bring the stroller or a wagon along for those tired little feet, otherwise you may be carrying your child more than you intended too.

It's a good idea to bring an extra bag so that your child's bag is always as light as possible.

Be prepared. Bring along tissue, baby wipes or hand sanitizer, bandades or any other medicine your child may need.

Bring drinking water.

Make sure your child's shoes are comfortable.

Weather

Make sure both you and your child are dressed comfortably and bring along necessary jackets as the weather usually gets colder the closer to dark it gets.

If it seems like it might rain Halloween night you may want to have another plan on the back burner so to speak, because it's just not worth getting sick over.

Costumes

Young children usually don't want to wear mask and if they do put them on they usually don't keep them on very long. Also, sometimes mask obstruct the childs vision. It is a better idea to choose a costume where the face is open or a costume that can be used with face makeup.

Length of Trick or Treating Time

With Toddlers 30-45 minutes seems sufficient enough.

3-5 years old approximately an hour if they don't have to walk very far.

Over 5 years maybe a little longer than an hour if you stop for breaks and drinks.

Location

Choose an area to trick or treat where there is a lot of activity, houses are closer together and the area is well lit.

It is a real plus if the area has security or is patroled by the police.

Another Idea

Sometimes weather conditions, illness or other circumstances just don't allow for outdoor activities. With this in mind a back-up plan is always a good idea.

Prior to Halloween have the house decorated just in case this is where you end up on Halloween night.

Plan fun Halloween Recipes for the day and early evening.

Allow the children to dress up in their costumes.

Children love games and you can actually make staying home fun by making a little maze type area that will give them the walking tricker-treating type feeling. Find a starting place and then simply set up chairs and throw a sheet over the chairs to make a tunnel for them to walk through.

At the end of the tunnel place 3 or 4 table place mats or something similar on the floor at different angles that they have to jump to and on one at a time. Place a rope or broom handle about a foot off the floor so that they have to step over it.

Let the kids repeat the walking trail 2 or 3 times. You can actually turn the lights down very low and let the kids carry flashlights as they walk the indoor trail.

Somewhere else in the area set up a little table and chair for you to sit in. Here you can play games on the table like placing a little toy black cat underneath one of three up-side-down paper cups and let your child guess which cup the little black cat is under. Everytime your child guesses right you can give them a piece of candy to put in their Halloween bag.

You can play several different kinds of games on this table such as games using cards and pictures, like matching the cards or pictures game. Keep the games related to Halloween by using pictures cut from magazines or newspapers with pictures of pumpkins, witches on brooms, black cats, ghost, candy and so on. Super market sale flyers are full of these kind of pictures prior to Halloween.

After the games have ended you can sit on a comfy quilt together and read a Halloween story or watch a fun Halloween movie.

These are just a few ideas but if you plan ahead you can make Halloween at home a day and night to remember.