Halloween Fun - So much better to SEE... :) 
by Nancy Bradford-Sisson
Q: Last Halloween my daughter didn’t enjoy herself as much because she couldn’t see what was going on around her. How do I help my child safely dress-up this year?
A: Halloween is always a fun time for kids. Keep it both safe and fun no matter what costume you help create. Make sure masks are secure and your child can see through them. A safer alternative would be for children to use makeup. A thin layer of cold cream applied first will aid in later makeup removal. There are special Halloween makeup kits available that you can buy, or your child can make his/her own.
Face paint is easy and inexpensive to make at home. Painting faces is fun and eliminates the vision obstructions that masks can cause. One recipe calls for mixing 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with ½ teaspoon of water until smooth. Stir in ½ teaspoon of cold cream and then add a few drops of food coloring to achieve desired color.
This makeup cleans off easily with soap and water: Put 2 teaspoons of cold cream into a small dish (one dish for each color). Add ½ drops of food coloring of desired color to each dish and mix with a spoon. Add more coloring for darker colors or mix colors to get the desired colors.
Here’s yet another recipe for a Halloween greasepaint that your child may have fun making and using: on a plate, blend 2 teaspoons of solid white vegetable shortening, 5 teaspoons of cornstarch and 1 teaspoon of white flour. Add a few drops of glycerin to give the mixture a creamy consistency so that it will spread easily. The mixture should be enough to turn one child’s face into a grisly ghost’s face. If you want a dark mask, add unsweetened, powdered cocoa. Or, add a few drops of food coloring for desired colors.
Fancy headbands can also add to the costume. Use a plastic headband as the base for many different kinds of antennae or ears. For example, cover the band with foil and attach foil balls to it with pipe cleaners for a space creature’s antennae. Or fold pipe cleaners into bunny ear shapes and cover them with felt before attaching them to the band. I made lobster antennae using red pipe cleaners for my daughter one year with claws made out of red felt mittens that I stitched after tracing her hands. A red sweatshirt and sweatpants completed the costume.
Happy Haunting! 
Nancy Bradford-Sisson is an extension educator at UNH Cooperative Extension, Cheshire County. For more information, contact her at nancy.bradford-sisson@unh.edu or contact your local county Cooperative Extension office.