The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended a few tips to ensure good health and safety during this season of trick or treating. These health and safety Halloween tips include:

• Planning safe costumes
• Encouraging healthy treats
• Being safe on the street
• Staying active

Image via Wikipedia

In choosing Halloween costumes for kids, go for those made of soft material and have a comfortable fit so kids can move around without difficulty. If masks are to be worn, make sure that they fit well allowing kids to see properly. And before applying any face paint or make-up, be sure to test the product on a small portion of the skin to see if it is safe.

For Halloween treats, offer safe non-food products or healthy snacks such as raisins or trail mix in lieu of candies, the CDC said. Ensure that you check all treats before letting your kids eat them. If you’re not sure about the safety of the treats, discard them.

To ensure safety on the street during Halloween parties and trick or treat activities, have each kid carry a flashlight so they can easily be seen by drivers; and attach luminescent tape on kids’ treat bags and costumes. Porches and walkways must be kept clear of candles, decorations, and other things that can possibly block the kids’ way. Instruct kids never to enter houses for treats. And make sure your kids have memorized your home phone number and know how to call 9-1-1 (or the local emergency number) in case of emergency or if they get lost.

Trick or treat time and other Halloween activities should be used to help your kids get their required daily physical exercise. According to the CDC, kids and teens need to engage in physical activity for at least an hour every day, while adults should be active for 2 ½ hours every week.

Now that you know how to help your family stay safe and healthy this Halloween, make sure that trick or treat activities are fun, safe and enjoyable by observing these tips.

To publish your articles and earn, click here.

You might also be interested in:

Seven Philippine Traditions Pertaining to Halloween

D-I-Y Landscaping Tips: Using Landscaping Rocks in Your Garden

Three Productive Hobbies for Smart People

My First Compilation of 10-Word Compilations

Five Ways to Keep Those Ideas Flowing

11 Ways to Keep You Inspired to Write

Paper Mache Presents

Blow a small balloon half full of air, then tie it off. Layer crepe paper and glue heavily over the surface (until it’s no longer transparent), leaving an opening at the top. Pop and remove the balloon, then fill with a few pieces of candy before sealing off the top with a few layers of paper.

Choose paper colors like orange, white, or black for your hollow shells; add details like jack o’ lantern faces, pointed ears and whiskers for black cats, or the ghoulish grin of a skull.

Mini Painted Pumpkins

Mini pumpkins like white Baby Boos or orange Jack Be Littles are great choices for pumpkin painting. Paint a creative face or spooky Halloween scene on the side and hand out to trick or treaters or to guests as a party favor.

Ghoulish Cookies

Use sugar cookie dough and cookie cutters to cut your favorite shapes. Press each cookie onto a small wooden skewer or wooden popsicle stick and bake. Frost each creation and add extra details with squeeze-tube icing, turning them into grinning Jack o’ Lanterns, fiendish ghosts, or scary black cats. Slide a sandwich bag over each finished cookie and tie, then hand out your “Halloween popsicles” to guests who drop by.

Creepy Party Favors

Serve party guests a ghoulish “eye-catching” treat by scooping a ball from melon, removing its center and inserting a grape sliced through the center as the “iris”. Drop one or two apiece in clear plastic serving cups filled with newly-cooked red Jell-o, chill, then serve.

Make your Halloween party a perfect occasion with the right party favors and Halloween treats. Kids won’t be able to resist your cool choices and grown-ups will find themselves looking forward to the surprises yet to come.

What are the worst Halloween treats? While everyone has different tastes and probably no two people can totally agree on the best and worse Halloween goodies, these typically “bad” Halloween treats deserve mention:

1. Apples

This is usually given out by some well meaning neighbor who doesn’t want to contribute to tooth decay and thinks that kids should be eating healthier. With all the good intentions in the world, she plops an apple into each child’s bag and sincerely wishes each witch and goblin a happy and safe Halloween. Unfortunately, those apples can really weigh down a Halloween bag and if you happen to have one of those flimsy paper ones, you run the risk of a disaster. Plus, you’re not going to eat that apple anyway. You have plenty more like it at home. It’s even worse if the apple happens to be rotten.

2. Boxes of Raisins

These aren’t quite as bad as the apple. At least they don’t weigh down your Halloween bag and potentially tear a hole in the bottom of it. Yes, they’re a healthy alternative to candy, but this happens to be Halloween and it’s not a time to worry about tooth decay and childhood obesity. This holiday is all about stuffing your face full of decadent candy. Probably the best solution is to give that box of raisins to mom to use when she next bakes a batch of oatmeal cookies.

3. Candy Corn

If there is ever a Halloween candy that’s been completely overdone, it’s candy corn. You see it displayed and given out so many places before Halloween that you can hardly stomach it when the big day finally arrives. Are you really going to snack on that candy corn when you have a full-sized Snicker’s bar in your bag?

4. Dum Dum Suckers

This is another completely overdone candy treat. You can find them ad nauseum in doctor’s offices, restaurants, and stores where they’re being given away as something sweet for kids and adults alike. They’re almost as ubiquitous as those very uninspiring peppermint hard candies. The only advantage to these overexposed candies is that occasionally you’ll end up with the crème soda flavor which happens to be the best of the bunch.

5. Old, Stale Candy

Some folks decide that Halloween’s the time to get rid of all that candy laying around the house that they can no longer eat because they’re on a diet, just got dentures, or just found out they have a sky high cholesterol. The only problem is that the candy’s been lying around a very long time. While it may not poison you, it certainly isn’t going to tantalize your taste buds.

6. Baked Goods

Some well meaning people spend hours over a hot oven preparing fresh baked cookies for the trick-or-treaters. While these cookies may taste perfectly fine, do you really want to eat a cookie from someone’s house you don’t know? Who knows what ants and roaches lurk in their pots and pans? Plus, if you put one in your Halloween bag, it’s going to crumble in the bottom and create quite a Halloween mess. It’s best to leave the fresh cookies for the next bake sale.