Have a Fun Halloween for Your Foster Children

Halloween can be a time of horror and misery for young foster children. Creating the right atmosphere for your foster kids may be harder during the Halloween season than any of the other holidays. Remember that a foster child may have been abused, abandoned, or traumatized in ways you cannot really understand. A sense of maintaining control and being in a loving safe atmosphere is important....Halloween by definition throws these two important things right out the window. You can re-establish that sense of safety and being in control by doing some relatively simple things. You will know the ages and personalities of your children and these ideas can be adapted to fit your situation.

First consider a costume that says "I am tough, invincible, and in control", popular costumes like Spiderman, Superman, or Wonder Woman are probably better choices than costumes with death themes such as skeletons, mummies or faces with bloody scars. Your youngster will feel more in control if they can assume the superhero identity for the night. You can find super hero costumes online at here. If your young foster children will be trick or treating be sure they are within your sight at all times and be ready to comfort and soothe them if the costumes of other children or the adults who answer the door scares them.

Quick Costumes for unexpected additions to your foster family can be whipped up in an hour with themed pajamas (Spiderman, or Wonder Woman for instance) and face paint. An oversize T-shirt with glow in the dark acrylic paint designs can be customized to your child's favorite look. A glow in the dark dimensional paint pen works well to outline shapes and establish the superhero's identity. Traditional Halloween icons can resemble a horror show, but you can find more benign, iron on transfers, in the Halloween theme section at Ducancrafts by following this link here.

Face paint must always be cosmetic makeup only. Never use acrylic or tempera paint. Put the lightest colors on first and add the darker colors to build up the lines and accents. Black goes on last and should be used sparingly for greatest effect. Most face paint kits come with excellent instructions for very clever faces and can be found during October in most large grocery stores, and pharmacies. Try Wal-Mart, Wal-Greens, Rite Aid, Safeway; also look for affordable face paint kits at the Dollar store.

Consider some basic changes to the scary Halloween decorations. Instead of scowling or scary jack-o-lanterns make yours smiling and friendly. Pumpkins can be carved to illuminate any scene that you choose so instead of witches and haunted houses do a picture from your child's favorite coloring book. You can get three free downloadable patterns from Pumpkin Masters. They also have tools and other patterns you can buy. I like the cat sitting in the moon with the stars around it. The witch and raven themes can be altered to be less threatening and more child friendly by altering the facial expressions from scowls to smiles.

You can find artificial carvable pumpkins at hobby stores and online. Check for the "Love Funkins" at Menards, A.C. Moore, Jo-Ann Fabric Stores, and Hobby Lobby. You can also find them online at funkins The artificial pumpkins and gourds are very realistic looking and a great alternative to the mess and fuss of real pumpkins.

There are a number of other comforting things you can do for your young foster children that will make this season one to remember and treasure. Keep sugar to a minimum and watch out for hidden caffeine. Make festive drinks out of cider and lemon lime diet soda. 1 gallon of cider, 1 -16 ounce bottle of cranberry juice, and one liter of lemon lime soda helps decrease the sugar and eliminates the caffeine that is in chocolate and many other soda products. Keep the night short for young children and be sure to have a warm nourishing meal before going out trick or treating and a warm snack when you come back. A full tummy will help your foster kid feel safe, warm, and loved. A full tummy also keeps the sugar cravings to a minimum.

Providing emotional safety and comfort for foster children is an important and challenging job. With a little planning and alteration of the traditional themes you can morph a night of fear and horror into one of fun and delight.