Halloween doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Here are some ways to make Halloween free or very easy on the wallet:

Recipe to make free homemade fake blood and face paint – why go out and spend money on this stuff when you have the ingredients in your pantry?

Make Your Own Halloween Costumes – huge list of ideas and resources here, including no-sew costumes, animals, creatures, cardboard box costumes, costumes for couples and more.

Free Halloween Music – yikes, this was some creepy stuff. Would be great to play on your doorstep to scare the little trick or treaters. You can save the tracks to your computer by right-clicking on the file name and choose Save Link As or Save Target As.

Free Halloween Printables – some fun coloring pages and activity sheets

Kids have the freedom to learn, play, search and discover over 2 million games, websites, videos and photos on their own. KidZui has the largest number of games, websites, videos and photos reviewed by parents and teachers anywhere. Kids can customize their browsing experience and interact with the Kidzui community by tagging a commenting on pictures, videos and games and sharing them with friends.

Kidzui makes it easy for parents to stay updated on their kids’ activities by sending them a report each week. It also allows parents to view and block friends as needed, and you can add any web site to your child’s account that you’d like them to be able to access. There is also a paid membership upgrade that includes additional features, such as homework helps and other extra features.

I have not tried this yet, but am planning to install it. Has anyone tried it and want to report on how it works for your kids?

UPDATE: I have installed Kidzui- it rocks. My 4 year old son loves it. It makes it so easy for him to surf around and find fun games and videos to watch.

*via Dacotah.net

In case you haven’t seen the trailers, here’s one for you:

Once again Char at Casual Keystrokes comes through for parents as we look forward to the summer with kids at home, with a custom summer chore chart. It was very popular last year, and this year she’s made it available in two downloadable formats to make it even easier to organize the chores this summer.

For a little help in deciding what chores are appropriate for each age group, check out this list of age appropriate chores.

Do your kids argue about whose turn it is to use the computer? The Turn Nanny computer program is a nice little application for managing their time and helping them learn to take turns. A countdown timer and a visual meter countdown show kids how much time is left and who’s turn it is now, and the program is designed to be easy to parents to configure. Give it a try, and let me know if it works for you!

There are tons of other screensavers available for download that kids would enjoy. Here are just a few:

Dinosaur Screensaver – includes pictures and dinosaur facts

Disney Characters Screensaver – Features Mulan, Peter Pan, Winnie The Pooh, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and more. Has 16 full size wallpaper pictures, rotating automatically.

Pokemon Screensaver – pictures and movie soundtrack with animation

SpongeBob Screensaver – pictures with various animation and beautiful sound.

Lego Screensavers – 3 to choose from!

Games – the best part of the site, filled with ‘tons of supercharged games’ like 3D Horsepower Hazard, Micro Madnetics Turbo Tester, and Mystery Maze Mayhem.

Cars – gaze and drool over all the cars, the 2007 New Models,Treasure Hunt Vehicles, the new Code Cars, and lots more.

Downloads – free Hot Wheels themed wallpapers, screensavers, and more.