Parents have a powerful set of tools to choose from when it comes to keeping tabs on their kids’ whereabouts on Halloween night. There are plenty of excellent, free choices on iOS and Android for both knowing where your children are and entertaining them later once all of the festivities around the neighborhood have ended.
Find My Friends: If you have a family of iPhones, the best choice is Find My Friends. The app just received an update on Monday, which adds a section for temporary friends and moves the friends’ notifications regarding your location to the “me” section. (App Store)
Glympse: Outside of one nuance, I find this to be the best cross-platform tool for location sharing. That nuance? You are limited to sharing a location at four hours. This should work fine for Halloween night, where that should be plenty of time for keeping track of the kids during the trick-or-treat session. However, it is a little annoying if you want to seamlessly share a location with your spouse or significant other. (App Store) (Google Play)
Life360 Family Locater: This app is specifically designed for families, as it includes a number of extra tools for staying in touch. There is a group chat capability and a tool for sending an “I’m ok” instant message. Life360 also tracks location history and (App Store) (Google Play)
Google Latitude: If you have a family of little green robots, then Google Latitude is the best option. It is already built in to Google Maps, so all you need to do is enable sharing across the range of Google accounts connected to the phones. A helpful video can be found on the official Latitude site.
The Great Pumpkin Festival: So let’s say the trick-or-treating has ended, but the kids are still wired. This fun, free game for both platforms has all the familiar characters from the Charlie Brown series. You must compete in a pumpkin-carving contest. (App Store) (Google Play)
Shoot the Zombirds: Zombies are everywhere, so how about some Zombirds? This is another fun, screen-tapping game that could help the kids wind down when they still want to leap around on the couch. (App Store) (Google Play)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Not as creepy as it sounds. It is exactly a marble game that follows along the storyline of Ichabod Crane and his rivalry with Brom Bones for the love of Katrina VanTassel. If you haven’t read it, go find a free eBook of the classic from Washington Irving. (App Store) (Google Play)
