Once you're armed with the facts, the best defense is to inspect, inspect, inspect. Anytime you or your kids enter possible habitats, make periodic inspections, plus a thorough exam at the end of the day. Ticks are one of the many reasons your kids should learn to stay on the trail. Remember, however, that you don't have to go into the woods to encounter ticks. They're right at home in your backyard, lurking in grass, shrubs, and woodpiles.
Kids love to roll in the grass, so they pick up ticks easily.
When removing a tick from a young child, it's helpful to have one adult hold the child steady while another does the actual removing. Despite your best efforts, you've found a little bloodsucker latched onto your kid. A pair of tweezers. Yup, that's what you need to remove a tick once it's got a grip. Forget any remedy you might have heard involving such things as nail polish and hot matches.