Safe Trick-Or-Treating
October 1, 2008
Halloween is a famously loved holiday by kids everywhere. It’s a fun time to dress up like silly or scary characters and go trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. Be sure your kids are safe while trick-or-treating with these quick tips:
Wear bright colors
Both parents and kids should wear brightly colored clothing. If you are wearing a costume that is dark in color, apply reflective tape to parts of your clothes or shoes. (Many communities now enforce a trick-or-treating curfew to prevent children from roaming after dark. Be sure to check for any curfew rules that may apply to your community.)
Be sure your child can see
Smaller children love store-bought costumes that come complete with a facemask. Before you leave the house, double-check to make sure your child can see through the eyeholes of the mask. This will help to prevent them from tripping, falling or running into something while they trick-or-treat.
Obey the rules
If you are trick-or-treating in a city, remember to follow traffic safety rules. Always look both ways before crossing the street. Stay on the sidewalks and walk at a normal pace.
Visit familiar places only
Take your children to trick-or-treat at places where you know people. Try not to take them to strange houses or places that look unsafe. Remember the “never talk to strangers,” rule!
Inspect all candy
This is a commonly known rule of trick-or-treating, and yet so many parents don’t follow it. Parents should remove all unwrapped candy from buckets (cupcakes, homemade candy, etc.). There are just too many dangers to eating unwrapped candy or treats to take a chance with your child. Look for holes in plastic wrappers as well.
Additional Resource:
Homemade Halloween Costumes
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How To Remove Fingerpaint from Carpet
October 1, 2008
If you have a budding Leonardo da Vinci, but they’ve been budding where there is carpet, and some of their fingerpaint is now on the floor, don’t panic. A piece of priceless artwork is well worth the little work it will take to clean up the mess.
First, use white paper towels to blot up the excess. Do not rub. Depending on whether you suspect a strong dye or not, you can add an extra ingredient to your removal tools. Remember that they are water-based paints, and if there was a guarantee of staining, they’d never be made for children.
If you wish, you can start out with dry cleaning fluid, available at your local hardware store. However, in most cases it won’t be needed, and you’re just as well off to wait and see if there is any residual staining and treat it afterwards. So it’s either the fluid, or a mixture of 1/2 liquid dish detergent (without lanolin or additives) and 1/2 water. Use a clean white cloth soaked in this solution, and blot it into the stain. Alternatively, you can put the solution in a spray bottle, and apply generously.
Blot with a white cloth, continuously folding the cloth over with each blot, to ensure you don’t deposit it back on the stain. Do not rub. If you choose to use a toothbrush to loosen the pigment, brush in towards the center, and never outwards.
Use a spray bottle of plain warm water and soak the spot, blotting as above. Repeat the soap/blot and water/blot once more. Replace cloth with fresh one as needed. If there is still a bit of coloring left, but it is being removed, repeat the soap and water blots a third time.
If, at the end of this, you still have color, you can try a hand or regular carpet cleaner to deep clean the rest of the color out, or a formula such as Goo Gone or Goof Off.
Visit http://www.LearnHowToRemove.com for a growing library of tips to
remove those annoying messes in your life.
Recipes For Easy Picnic Foods
October 1, 2008
By Susanne Myers & Christine Steendahl
Let’s Eat Outside – Great Kid-Friendly Picnic Ideas
Summer is finally here and with the kids home all day this is the perfect time for a picnic. Pack up some food, cool drinks and a blanket and head for the park, playground or even just the backyard. You can even entertain your little ones with a picnic on the kitchen or living room floor on a rainy day.
Of course you could just fix some PB&J sandwiches, pack a couple of juice boxes and call it a picnic, but there are so many other fun and delicious things you could prepare. Here are a few suggestions to get your creative juices flowing.
A New Twist for PB&J
Pack a few rice cakes, a small jar of peanut butter, some raisins and other dried fruit as well as some apples. When it’s time to eat, spread peanut butter on the rice cake and let your child decorate it with the dried and fresh fruit. Raisins become eyes, a slice of apple the mouth and a berry makes a great nose.
Crackers and Cheese
Buy some hard cheese, such as cheddar, slice it (or buy it pre-sliced from the deli), and cut shapes out with small cookie cutters. You can also use cookie cutters on thicker slices of ham, salami or bologna. Serve with an assortment of crackers, and fresh fruit, such as grapes or berries.
Deli Style Sandwiches
Get some sub rolls, a little mayo and mustard (the small packs you get at fast food places work great for a picnic), and a variety of deli style sandwich meat and cheeses. Top it all off with a few leaves of lettuce that you washed at home and brought in a plastic baggie. Let each family member create their own sub with their favorite meats and cheeses. A bag of chips completes the meal.
“Fried Chicken Strips” With Veggies n’ Dip
Use some crushed cornflakes to bread chicken breast strips and bake them in the oven until done. You can do this the night before the picnic and refrigerate the chicken strips – they are delicious cold. Cut up some veggies like peppers, celery, cucumber, broccoli and cauliflower and add some baby carrots. Bring a little ranch dressing to use as a dip and your picnic is complete.
Desserts
Fresh fruit of course always makes for a great portable dessert on a picnic. Some homemade or store-bought cookies are another great option. Bake a batch of brownies, cut them and bag them after they have cooled completely for a chocolaty treat.
Grab a cooler, fix some sandwiches and head out to the park, playground or even the backyard for a picnic. Don’t forget lots of water on warm days!
Want more family friendly recipes and crafts ideas? Visit dinewithoutwhine.com for a sample weekly menu plan your entire family will love and kinderinfo for tons of craft and activity ideas that are sure to keep your little ones entertained.
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