DIY Life

Halloween's a scream for older kids and adults. Youngsters, however, need protection from scary sights and frights lest they end up afraid to sleep ... and terrified of this fun holiday. The Internet is bursting at the seams with Halloween content right now, but only some of it's appropriate for little ones. Here's my roundup of safe, kid-friendly Halloween links:

Ben & Jerry's Halloween. Totally ghoulish fun that's only a tiny bit scary. A virtual haunted mansion is packed with spooky games. Adults will appreciate the graveyard of discontinued B&J flavors complete with amusing epitaphs.

Halloween with Boowa & Kwala. Colorful graphics, great games, fun songs and nice sound effects. Suitable for very young children.

Hershey's Trick or Treats. Fun sound effects, crafts, games, recipes (of course!) and decorating ideas. Suitable for very young children.

Halloween Fun Pages for Children. Tons of activities to keep kids of all ages entertained. There is some scary content here, though, so supervise your littlest ones.

Kidoons Network Animated Halloween. Colorful and fun games and sound effects. Check out the Smash-O-Lantern game.

Nick Jr. Halloween. Recipes, costume ideas and lots of printables. Suitable for very young children.

Meddybemps Halloween. Safe, light-hearted fun with lots for little fingers to click on. Try the ghost ship tour. Suitable for very young children.

PBS Parents Happy Halloween. I don't know why this stuff is buried on the parents' page, but there are lots of activities here for kids to try out. Suitable for very young children.

Cat Bowling. A not-very-spooky Halloween time-waster: bowl the witch's cats while the witch herself keeps score. A fun and easy game to play. Not scary, but aimed at older kids or adults.

Billy Bear 4 Kids Tic Tac Toe. Another fun time-waster that parents will enjoy, too. Fine for all ages.

Bloom Petals Virtual Pumpkin Carving. Nothing too scary here, but this site will be appreciated more by older kids and parents as a little dexterity with the mouse is required. Another fun way to spend a little down time.

Wanda's Halloween Cookbook. Wanda the friendly witch serves up lots of kid-friendly Halloween recipes. Great for older kids who love to experiment in the kitchen.

Kaboose Halloween 2009. Tons of fun in the form of crafts, quizzes and party ideas. Great for all ages, although parents may want to steer little ones away from the scarier games (like Transylmania) and towards fun stuff (like the Creepy Coloring activity).

Discovery Kids. Play the Zap-a-Ghost game. It looks scary when the page first loads, but it's a very easy, fun game.