Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. I love planning Halloween parties like my Mad Scientist Ice Cream Lab, or our spooky Murder Mystery dinner party and I love creating one of a kind costumes for my kids, like my famous DIY Octopus costume. Halloween is an exciting night full of fun and candy, who doesn’t love that! But, it can also be a scary night if you aren’t prepared. I’ve teamed up with my friends at Verizon to share 5 simple Halloween Safety Tips for Tweens that will ensure you and your kids have a fun and safe evening.
Around here trick or treating is quite the affair. We typically plan a fun Halloween themed dinner and invite all of our friends over to start the festivities. After dinner we all head out into the neighborhood, in one big group, with all of our adorably dressed kids. Until recently I never really had to think too much, or worry about my kids safety when we were out trick-or-treating. They are always with us, we have lots of glow sticks, flashlights and parents keeping their eyes out on ALL of the kids. But, this year my oldest daughter and her friends, aka tweens, have asked to be able to go “ahead” of the group so they don’t have to wait on all the little kids.
Letting your kids trick or treat alone is a big, emotional step. On one hand, I want for my daughter to feel a sense of independence, but I also want to protect her and keep her safe. Luckily I have the perfect solution to help us both get what we want come Halloween night. With the new GizmoPal™ from Verizon, my daughter can safely venture off with her friends going door to door trick-or-treating. The GizmoPal™ is a wearable device designed for children that enable parents to have peace of mind with simple two-way calling and real-time location tracking. This device helps us stay connected and informed of our daughter’s whereabouts while giving her a sense of independence. We aren’t quite ready for our daughter to have a cellphone, so this device gives us all of the functions she needs to be able to communicate with us.
With features like single-button calling, smartphone controls, security settings, real-time location services, and a kid-friendly design this is the perfect device for our tween. It gives her the responsibility and independence of a cell phone without the unwanted social media apps we are not quite ready to let her have access to. You can learn more about the device and all of its features by visiting the Verizon website.
In addition to the peace of mind we get from our daughter wearing the GizmoPal™, I have 5 Halloween Safety Tips for Tweens that will help make October 31 less of a fright night.
- Be Visible – The number one safety concern on Halloween night is pedestrian safety. To avoid unwanted accidents make sure your tween is extra visible. Use reflective tape, glow bracelets or necklaces to help your child stick out in the sea of trick-or-treat kids. Also, make sure they have a flashlight, this not only helps them be seen by others but it illuminates their path so they can avoid unnecessary accidents.
- Trick-or-Treat with Technology – Sometimes technology can be a trick or a treat, but on October 31st make sure your child doesn’t leave home without a fully charged device they can use to contact you in case of an emergency. As a parent, I encourage you to download a location tracking device, such as the one found in the GizmoPal™ app. These apps let you view your trick-or-treaters’ real-time whereabouts on a map, or alert you when they have left a specific area you set up.
- Check Your Costume – Before they get all dressed up make sure their costumes are bright and reflective, fit well, and don’t impede their peripheral vision, cover their eyes or pose a tripping hazard. If necessary make adjustments or add reflective tape to help ensure they will be safe while they are walking door to door.
- Trick-or-Treat in a Group – Always stay in a group and use the buddy system to make sure everyone is together before moving on. Have a discussion beforehand about what they should do if one person wants to leave, or if they get separated.
- Plan Your Route and Stick to It – Sit down beforehand and plan your route together. Make sure the route is on well-lit streets with plenty of sidewalks. Also, agree on a specific time that they will return home or meet back up with the group. With the GizmoPal™ you can set up place alerts and get notified when your child moves into or out of a specific area during a specific time period, that’s just one more way you can ensure peace of mind on Halloween night.
Like always I’m excited for all of the fun Halloween festivities to come. I am especially grateful that thanks to a tiny little wearable device I’ll have peace of mind while my daughter is out trick-or-treating with her friends!
We actually bought one of these for our preteen son in August when his teenager brother got a cell phone. We kind of got it so he wouldn’t feel left out…but we love the Gizmo so much! I love being able to text…the emojis are SO cute! So fun to see another Gizmo user.
We’ve been really happy with ours, and it is definitely teaching our daughter about responsibility and preparing her for when she is able to get a cell phone.