Trick or Treating Safety – Kids
Trick or Treating Safety
Samantha Olea
Halloween is such a fun time of year for kids and adults alike, so its important that we take some precautions to keep it that way! Heres my list of trick or treating tips for your family.
Wear comfortable shoes!!
Carry a flashlight
Wear something with a reflector on it you can even find reflector tape and paint at your local home improvement store.
Go out before dark-especially for little ones. The big kids tend to flood the streets later at night making it hard for little ones to trick or treat.
Never go into a strangers house, even if they ask you to come in while they go and get some candy.
Throw away all homemade or unwrapped treats. I know some people work hard on making great home made treats, but in this day and age its not worth the risk!
When walking down the street, have the adult walk closest to the road, and the children closest to the houses.
Do not run ahead of the adults-its very easy for children to get carried away and accidentally run into the road.
Do not pet strange animals while trick or treating. Though you really shouldnt ever pet someones animal with out being invited to do so, you especially shouldnt during trick or treating where your costume or other costumes may be irritating or confusing to the animal.
Do not eat candy as you go.
Always be nice, even when people do not have any candy to give out.
Do not knock on doors where the lights are off.
Watch where you step!
Have a plan before you start. If you are walking in an unfamiliar neighborhood, it is easy to get lost.
When you approach a treat giving house, make sure to yell "Trick or Treat!" very loudly!
When you get home, check all of the candy before allowing children to eat any of it.
You are looking for:
old worn wrappers
torn wrappers even with the smallest hole
home made treats
unwrapped treats
toys with small parts that may be a chocking hazard
money change
fruit
any candy that looks like it may have been tampered with.
for small children, remove any hard candies. They tend to become slick once in the mouth and can quickly become a choking hazard.
lickable stamps
glass or sharp objects
If you find any of the above mentioned items, its best to discard them-trust me, there will still be plenty of treats to go around afterwards!!
Have a safe and Fun Halloween-and take lots of pictures!
About The Author
Samantha Olea is a designer, business woman, wife, and most of all Mother of 2! Samantha founded a free parenting resource at http://TheBestMoms.com hoping to help every mom be the very best mom they can be! Samantha is also the owner of her own web design, graphic design, and hosting firm at : http://getwrappedup.com and AWU Gifts: http://Gifts.GetWrappedUp.com , where she helps Moms work from their homes.
sam@thebestmoms.com
10 Wide Open Tips For Food Safety In The Great Outdoors – Food
10 Wide Open Tips For Food Safety In The Great Outdoors
Terry Nicholls
Hiking, camping, and boating are good activities for active people and families. However, if the food isnt handled correctly, food-borne illness can be an unwelcome souvenir.
1. Choose foods that are light enough to carry in a backpack and that can be transported safely. Keep foods either hot or cold. Since its difficult to keep foods hot without a heat source, its best to transport chilled foods. Refrigerate or freeze the food overnight. What foods to bring For a day hike, just about anything will do as long as you can fit it in your backpack and keep it cold -- sandwiches, fried chicken, bread and cheese, and even salads -- or choose non- perishable foods.
2. Keep everything clean. Remember to bring disposable wipes if youre taking a day trip. Water is too heavy to bring enough for cleaning dishes!
3. Its not a good idea to depend on fresh water from a lake or stream for drinking, no matter how clean it appears. Some pathogens thrive in remote mountain lakes or streams and theres no way to know what might have fallen into the water upstream. Bring bottled or tap water for drinking. Always start out with a full water bottle and replenish your supply from tested public systems when possible. On long trips you can find water in streams, lakes, and springs, but be sure to purify any water from the wild, no matter how clean it appears.
4. If youre backpacking for more than a day, the food situation gets a little more complicated. You can still bring cold foods for the first day, but youll have to pack shelf-stable items for the next day. Canned goods are safe, but heavy, so plan your menu carefully. Advances in food technology have produced relatively lightweight staples that dont need refrigeration or careful packaging. For example:
==> peanut butter in plastic jars;
==> concentrated juice boxes;
==> canned tuna, ham, chicken, and beef;
==> dried noodles and soups;
==> beef jerky and other dried meats;
==> dehydrated foods;
==> dried fruits and nuts; and
==> powdered milk and fruit drinks.
5. If youre cooking meat or poultry on a portable stove or over a fire, youll need a way to determine when its done and safe to eat. Color is not a reliable indicator of doneness, and it can be especially tricky to tell the color of a food if youre cooking in a wooded area in the evening. Its critical to use a food thermometer when cooking hamburgers. Ground beef may be contaminated with E. coli, a particularly dangerous strain of bacteria. Illnesses have occurred even when ground beef patties were cooked until there was no visible pink. The only way to insure that ground beef patties are safely cooked is to use a food thermometer, and cook the patty until it reaches 160
The Three Sure-Fire Ways to Learn About Safety – Kids
The Three Sure-Fire Ways to Learn About Safety
Michelle Annese
Hey kids, there are different levels of safety and those levels depend on the situation you are in and the decisions you make in those situations. You can even better train your brain to use instincts, intuition, and even fear as safety tools. Here is an easy way to know just how to trust these instincts. Read