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Community Corner

Halloween: How to Make it Safe, Fun and Green

Tips on how to help keep your kids safe while they have fun this Halloween and save money with "green Halloween" ideas.

My husband and I love Halloween as much as our kids do. He can still recall which of his family’s neighbors gave out the best Halloween loot when he was a child trick or treating many years ago. Halloween remains a wonderful time to make great memories with your children. In addition to having fun and making memories, you also want to keep your kids safe. And if you want to save some money this year, and who doesn’t, consider going “green for Halloween."

Helping parents keep kids safe all year round is the mission of eastside mom Kim Estes of Savvy Parents, Safe Kids. Estes is a certified child safety educator and sexual abuse prevention specialist. She will be offering a free class on Keeping Kids Sane and Safe During the Holidays November 16 from 6 pm to 7:30 pm at the .

Estes suggests you can help keep your kid safe by starting with a safe costume.

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“Make sure their costumes are not too long and causing a tripping hazard and that swords or knifes are made of soft pliable plastic because they will have a sword or knife fight with the neighbor kids. I am a huge fan of reflective tape and glow in the dark spray paint. Both can be purchased on sites like Amazon.com. Use the tape on the costume and use the spray paint in the street to say SLOW! or BEWARE: TRICK OR TREATERS. It goes on clear when painted and does not last long in our wet weather,” Estes said.

When trick or treating, Estes says kids should “approach only well lit homes, not enter any house without a grown up with them, figure out their route ahead of time and stick to it, use the buddy system and young kids should always be accompanied by an adult.”

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Estes added, “Remind kids to be alert for vehicles and stay on the sidewalk whenever possible and look both ways before crossing.” 

Make sure, says Estes, that your tween or teen also goes out with a buddy or group and “practices safety as well.”

Also be careful that your Halloween decorations don’t become fire hazards, says Estes.

“Use battery operated 'candles' in pumpkins on Halloween night. Kids are not paying attention and crowd together at the front door and costumes can easily be brushed up against open flames,” Estes said.

Families often like to take the family dog with the kids trick or treating and Estes cautions, “Adults should also be careful when taking pets along when trick or treating or having pets at the door when trick or treaters arrive. Masks and other costumes can be frightening to pets and can cause them to act aggressively if frightened. If you are unsure, test your pet's comfort level by trying on a mask and see how they respond.”

Estes recommends WagNTrain’s website for more tips on Halloween, pets and safety.  

Once you have a safe costume put together and have reviewed the safety rules, it is time to have some Halloween fun in Sammamish and nearby!  

The Nightmare at Beaver Lake is one of the eastside’s biggest Halloween events, and it takes place right here in Sammamish starting this Thursday, October 20.

Saturday, October 29, the Issaquah Highlands celebrates its annual Green Halloween Festival. The Shops at the Issaquah Highlands will host the event from noon to 4:30 pm featuring a haunted house, 4D Mobile Theater, giveaways, carnival rides and games, inflatables, pony rides, food, music and more. Tickets can be purchased for $1 each or buy a $20 “unlimited activity “ bracelet.

Kids are encouraged to come in costume.  Bring three non-perishable food items and get one free activity ticket.

Also on October 29, your family can celebrate Halloween at Issaquah’s Cougar Mountain Zoo from noon to 2 pm. Watch the zoo's residents enjoy pumpkin treats and kids who arrive in costume will receive a free entry coupon for the next visit. Your child can trick or treat at Issaquah’s Gilman Village the afternoon of the 31 from 4 pm to 6 pm and at on Halloween night from 5 pm to 7 pm.  

And if you want to save some money this Halloween, consider going green by making your child’s costume, hosting a costume swap or buying a “recycled” costume from a local thrift stores. Our kids love homemade costumes and my husband takes pride in creating something amazing each year based on their creative imaginations. One year our son was a UFO with blinking lights and another a giant broccoli, complete with an “organic” sticker.  

Costume swaps are another great way to keep old costumes out of landfills. You can have them with a small group, like a mom and tots group or a preschool class. Or host a larger one for the public as a service project as Redmond teacher and Girl Scout troop leader and unit manager Kate Sorenson did last year with her Girl Scout troop at the Redmond library.

Sorenson's troop put on the swap as part of learning about recycling, saving energy and living green. If you host a swap for the public, Sorenson recommends partnering with a library or other public space, do a costume drive within your group first to get a base of costumes and provide a craft or other activity for your kid guests and volunteers to do during the slow times.

Plan ahead for next year and check out the website for National Costume Swap Day. This year’s was October 8, where you’ll find listings for local groups and organizations that are hosting swaps.

Thrift stores like  offer an amazing array of many inexpensive “recycled” costumes for babies to adults, as well as a large selection of new costumes, masks and hats and Halloween makeup. 

Keep your decorating green by using pumpkins, squash and dried corn stalks to decorate the outside of your home, which can all be composted when the holiday is over. The Issaquah and Redmond  stores are currently offering a “pumpkin palooza” of all sorts of pumpkins and other gourds in a huge variety of shapes, colors and sizes.

A great book to read to your kids about pumpkins and the “cycle of life” is Will Hubbell’s Pumpkin Jack, one of our family’s favorite “holiday books,” available at the  (go online and put a hold on one of the 12 copies) or you can buy it at the Issaquah Barnes and Noble or perhaps find it at Redmond's or Half Price Books. You can even grow a pumpkin next year from this year’s seeds, as the little boy does accidentally in the book. Or you can bake them for a fun snack. Now that is a healthy Halloween treat even your child’s dentist would approve of.

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