Kids love Halloween and their parents do, too. For many of us, Halloween was always the best holiday of the year. Even X-mas with all its presents doesn’t feature scary costumes and telling ghost stories with same-age friends and neighbors. Party after party, piles of candy, and showing off your costume are what Halloween is all about. So as a mom, you can hardly say “No” to your children’s excited pleading for a Halloween. This is How to Keep Masks and Gloves On This Halloween.
Of course, you’re worried about keeping their little masks and gloves on this year, but as a mom, you know it can be made to work. All you need is a little creativity and to work with the flow of your children’s own enthusiasm. How can you let your kids roam the neighborhood in costume, interact with neighbors, play with other children, or attend costumed gatherings this year without putting them or the family at risk? Let’s get creative together.
Everyone Pick Masked Characters This Year
Start with your costume selection. Agree as a family that this year’s theme is masked heroes, villains, monsters, etc. As long as the costume involves a mask and each kid (and parent) is willing to wear their chosen mask all night. Encourage your kids to either pick their favorite masked characters or reinvent a character’s look with a mask they can feel cool wearing.
In addition to monsters and super-heroes, don’t be afraid to let your kids be anime characters – More anime characters wear surgical-style masks or gas-masks than you might realize so these are safe-trendy choices this year. Do ask to see a few episodes of the anime, first.
Big-Scarf characters are also an option, as kids won’t mind their faces covered with a mask behind the decorative scarf.
Face-Painting and Mask Painting
When it comes time to get costumed and break out the face paints, paint those masks right along with the skin. For example, if your child wants to be a skeleton (or either parent for that matter), paint the skeleton nose and smile right onto the mask – or get a pre-decorated mask that fits. If your little girl wants a butterfly on her cheek, paint the lower half of the butterfly onto the mask.
What does this do? It makes kids want to keep their masks on to keep their costumes and face-paint complete. Be sure to show them the difference mask on/off so they get the visual motivation.
Mount a Filter Inside that Monster Mask
Have a child who wants to wear a plastic Darth Vader mask, a cool Batman’s Bane mask, or a rubber monster mask? Put their mask filter right into the mouthpiece. This is great to either layer with a cloth mask or let your child run around safely behind their costume mask all night long. Get clever and make yourself a pocket for the filter or just tape/staple it in for the night. Your kids will love the ability to wear a fake breathing apparatus that is actually a real breathing apparatus.
Use a Mask Spacer and Strap Extenders
Little kids, especially, will have trouble keeping their masks on. They may adjust the masks or pull them off for being less than optimally comfortable. Keep Masks and Gloves On This Halloween. The masks may even fall off their little faces. Here’s the solution: a pair of very simple plastic items. The first looks like a child-muzzle but does the exact opposite – a mask spacer shaped like a cup with gaps that holds the mask off the nose and mouth so your child’s face won’t feel smushed.
The second object is a mask strap extender – it’s a simple cinch that hold the ear pieces together behind the head of the mask wearer – with an adjustable amount of space. This will hold the mask around your child’s head without bothering or falling off their ears.
Secure Gloves with Tie-On Wrist Decorations
Want your kids to wear gloves out there while trick-or-treating? We completely understand, but surgical gloves are not exactly comfy. If possible, use the type of gloves with powder in them and plasti-vinyl costume gloves can be similarly useful. How to keep them on tiny hands during the active holiday? Tie them on with something cute.
For example, slip gloves on your middle schooler’s hands and then add fingerless motorcycle gloves that Velcro tight around the wrists. Have your little ballerina wind a ribbon around each hand and fasten with a double-tied bow around the wrist. They are much less likely to remove the gloves when costuming holds them in place.
Tell a Story With the Mask & Gloves Rule
When you gear your kids up with their PPE costumes, tell a story. A child being Bane, for example, might enjoy being reminded that Bane never ever takes off his mask, so they shouldn’t either. A girl dressed as Rogue from the X-men can have fun remembering that Rogue never takes off her gloves or she’ll hurt others by absorbing their life/powers. If the character doesn’t have a specific story-reason to stay covered, make one up. Tell a story about a fairy in a toxic forest or how a ninja maintains their secret identity or a monster with a human-allergy.
Going Home to Eat Candy is the Mask-Off Reward
Last but not least, make going home a reward in itself. Kids trick-or-treating or touring neighborhood parties or just frolicking costumed in the street eventually get tired. Instead of making going-home a sad end-of-day, pitch it as the thing to look forward to. When you all get home, you can take off any itchy or tight PPE, kick off your shoes, and dive still half-costumed into candy to finish the evening with monster movies and family time.
Moms can master this Halloween better than anyone else because you have the most appreciative audience. Make this Halloween a memorable one by staying safe the fun way. Contact us today for more fun mom insights for every cool season. And remember, Keep Masks and Gloves On This Halloween.
