It is great to be a kid during Halloween. You get to have lots of candies from your neighbors that you will enjoy throughout the rest of the week. As a parent, you should know and teach your children some safety tips.

First, the costume you make or purchase must be flame resistant. Make sure that this is not too long because they could trip and fall. To check, make them walk around the house and ask if the length is okay.

When they are going out, make sure they have their loot bag in hand and labeled so no one will get it by mistake.

Never let your kids go trick or treating alone. They should be accompanied by an adult. If the parents can’t do it, assign someone older to go with them. You can also check if the neighborhood committee has plans to do this in groups so your child is able to go with them.

When your children go around the neighborhood, tell them never to knock or enter the house of someone they don’t know. They should only visit houses of people you or they know personally. If the house they are visiting has a lighted jack lantern, tell them not to go near it because their costume could catch fire if they get too close.

If the house they are going to does not have the porch light on, it means that no one is home so they should just move on.

They must also never accept candies from strangers since they may bump into a few of them while they are walking down the street.

So it is not too late, make sure that they go trick or treating only in the later afternoon or evening. If the sun has already gone down, tell them to only walk in streets that are well lit. Before they cross, make sure that they look both ways and walk. Never run.

As an added precaution, let your kids wear reflective tape or carry a flashlight so drivers will be able to see them when they are crossing the street.

With all the excitement going on, your kids might want to take some shortcuts to get to the next house. Since it is dark, tell them not to do it and just stick to the main road.

Your kids should also be given a few quarters or maybe a cellular phone. Who knows, they may need you to pick them up.

You should give specific instructions as to what time your children must return home. Once they arrive, welcome them and then examine all their goodies. You are not doing this to get your share of the loot but to check if these are safe to eat. There have been instances in the past where candies handed out were tainted and some kids ended up in the hospital. If you don’t want your child to be a victim, examine each one carefully. If everything checks out, give it back and let them enjoy it.

Halloween is supposed to be fun especially for the kids since it is not everyday that they can go out, wear a costume and bring home a lot of goodies. As a parent, make sure that you have done everything possible to make them understand the dangers of going out at night so they will be able to come home safely.

Halloween happens once a year and this is the only time that you can get away with a few snacks that may sound gross but are great to fill anyone’s stomach. Here are a few examples.

1. The first is the Bat Sandwich. You will need some sharp cheddar cheese, soft chive and onion flavored cream cheese, drained diced pimiento, chopped toasted pecans and bread slices. After you mix the ingredients mentioned, put the spread onto one side of the bread and then put another one on top. Cut this to shape like a bat and then serve.

2. Something light you can also serve is Goblin’s Taco Chicken salad. You will need skinless chicken breasts, tomato based salsa, salad greens, cheddar cheese, ranch dressing, green olives and sour cream.

Cut the chicken breasts into small strips. When you are finished, cook this with salsa at medium high for ten minutes until the chicken is cooked. Mix this with greens and cheese in a large bowl then add any remaining salsa together with the dressing. You can also put in tortilla chips and sour cream which helps make it crunchy.

3. Next is Brain Cell Delight. For this, you will need some jello, cottage cheese and blueberry soup. One you mix the jello with water, put this in a bowl and then let if chill in the refrigerator. Mix blueberry syrup with cottage cheese until it is well blended. To give it a graying color, add some food coloring. Now take out the jello, cut a slice so you can put this on the place then add the blended mixture.

4. Ever eaten a hotdog that was also a pizza? Well you can when you make the Halloween Mummy Dog. For this snack, you will need some pizza dough rolls, mozzarella cheese, non-stick spray, pizza sauce, assorted vegetables and hotdogs.

5. Halloween is not the same without the pumpkin. If you carved one, you can use the contents to make Pumpkin Pie. Aside from the pumpkin, you will also need sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves, ground allspice, ground ginger, slat, eggs and evaporated milk.

Cook the contents of the pumpkin pie and then let it cool. Then get the rest of the ingredients and mix this all together before putting this into the pie bowl as this will form the pie’s crust. After heating this in the oven, it will harden. Now pour in the pumpkin filling and cover it up with the remainder of the crust on top and leave put into the oven for 45 minutes. When it’s finished, cool the pie in a rack and refrigerate.

6. One game that people get to play during Halloween is apple bobbing. Instead of playing with food, you can enjoy it by making Apples on Stick. After you rinse the apples and pat it dry, you remove the apple stem and insert a popsicle stick. Roll this in peanut butter then raisins, dried cranberries and shredded coconut then serve.

Guests who come over will enjoy the different Halloween snacks you prepared. What is even better is that these are all easy to make so the kitchen will not be that messy. So people will know what these snacks are, don’t forget to write the names of each one on a small card so if they really like it, you can give them the recipe.

Hanging fake spider webs and creating your own lanterns is one way to decorate your house during Halloween. If you want to make something bigger or more life like, why not add a mummy?

To make one, you don’t have to buy a mannequin or an inflatable. You will need though a lot of newspaper since this will help make up the entire body.

When all the parts are ready, hold everything together using some tape then begin wrapping the mummy using bandages. The best ones to use are those used in the hospital. Since this is too expensive, you will have to substitute this with toilet paper instead. It is best to use the plain kind since people will probably laugh if they noticed that it has a flowery design.

Now that your mummy is ready, put this where there is a lot of traffic like beside the front door to your house or in the dining room.

If you want to scare people, put this in places where they don’t expect like the bathtub or the closet. If people ask where the toilet is, just give them the directions. The same goes if people come in and want to hang their coat then just wait until you hear a loud scream.

Another way of making a mummy will require adult size clothes for a large mummy and child size clothes for a small one. When you have it, lay these on the floor and start stuffing it using newspaper. If you notice, the end result will make your mummy look like a scarecrow.

For the hands of the mummy, get a pair of gloves then attach this to the arm then wrap this up using toilet paper or gauze. If you can spare an old white bed sheet which you can cut into strips, even better.

As for the head, try inflating a balloon or a gallon sized milk jug then put this near the collar of the shirt. Continue wrapping until you are also able to cover the mummy’s face. If you want to put some eyes, use black construction paper then glue this on the face.

While most mummies lie still, you can make your mummy different by letting it sit upright on a chair. One suggestion will be put the chair beside the table where the candies are.

Your life sized mummy will look great wherever you decide to put it. If the tissue, gauze or strips should come off just patch it up as fast as you can.

Although most mummies are color white, you can give it an aged appearance by using some spray paint. The two ideal colors to use for this are translucent beige and brown which you can easily buy from the craft store.

When Halloween is all over, take one last look at the mummy and then take it apart. Some of the stuff you use can be recycled for next year while the rest has to be thrown in the trash.

Now that you know how to make a life sized mummy, you can also use the toilet paper and gauze to create your own Halloween costume. If the two are identical, some people will think that they are talking to you when actually they are talking to a dummy.