That is the question.  My mom and I were just talking about Halloween costumes.  When I was a kid, she always made my halloween costume.  One year I was an angel and my little brother was a devil.  We were very cute.  One year she made a mother goose costume for me that was very silly.  My favorite costume was dressing up as a BayCity Bomber - a roller derby queen.

This year my elementary age kids picked out store bought costumes and I bought them for them.  Something my mom never did.  It was a little bit of a combination of my kids knowing exactly what they wanted to be for halloween and the price of costumes being so incredibly low this year.

Even though we bought costumes, the kids are still adding their own twist to each costume.

Here are a couple of our recommendations for halloween do’s:

Make sure your little ghost or ghoul can be seen at night -

• Add a Glow in the dark necklace to the costume
• Add reflector tape to their  costume trim
• make sure they have a flashlight with new batteries

Make sure your little angel or devil can see at night -

• Kids love masks but sometimes they can’t see as well through them.  Consider face paint instead.

Make sure your little zombies can move in their costumes -

• Make sure the pants or dresses are not too long so that there is no tripping.
• Big costumes can be fun but make sure your kid can move around in them especially if they are going to a party where there are going to be games.  If there is a chance that they might be taking their  costumes off mid-party then consider having them in a cute Halloween theme t-shirt so that they will still feel festive among other kids still in costume.  We have been to several Halloween parties where the kids arrived in fabulous costumes that came off the second the games started.

Have fun! Be safe! Never go out alone!

• Make sure the costume is appropriate for the weather conditions.  Some kids don’t want to wear a coat over their costume that might hide their costume.  If that is the case and it is really cold outside then make sure the costume is big enough to layer warm clothes underneath it.
• Make sure to always have parent supervision for kids if they are going trick or treating door to door.  Some towns are making registered sex offenders post big signs on their front doors saying No Candy.  But this is a relatively new development and if you are going trick or treating beyond the street where you live you may or may not know the family that is handing out the candy.  One year my daughter and her friend both dressed up as Snow White.  We were at a house were we didn’t know the people and they asked the kids where they lived.  I didn’t know how to take that question but before I had a chance to process it my daughters friend jumped in “With the seven dwarfs, of course”.  It was beautiful.
• Always use the buddy system.  Even if an older child says they are just going to walk one block back to their house in a familiar neighborhood - don’t break up the buddy system.  This last fourth of July a young girl in Tacoma Washington walked across the alley of her neighborhood to go home after a fourth of july picnic and was kidnapped in that short time.  Do not break up the buddy system for any reason.

Playing dress up is super fun for kids.  Make the day fun and about dressing up not so much about the candy.