After a couple recent incidents involving children being offered candy by a stranger, parents are on high-alert. The police have a few tips for you on keeping your kids safe.

Last week, two seperate incidents occured where a suspicious person offered a child candy. When the child turned it down, both people followed the kids, with one getting away on a bike.

The first step in keeping your kid safe is teaching them what a stranger is, according to Jay Murray, a public information officer for the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS). "It's common that bad strangers might look like a villian in a cartoon," Murray said. "The reality is you don't know by looking at someone if you're good or bad."

Murray said that both kids did what they needed to do in the situation, which was walk aware when they were unsure and tell their parents about the incident.

"It's important to talk to [your] children about this and explain that they need to trust their instincts," he said.

There are good strangers too, Murray said, such as police officers or firefighters, teachers or principals.

If your kid notifies you of an incident like this, Murray stresses that you need to call the police. 911 if the threat is immediate, or the non-emergency number if it happened a while ago.

If you find yourself in a situation where you spot a suspicious person approaching a kid, Murray says to trust your gut. "If you feel something is wrong, maybe it's beneficial to approach and intervene.

"At the same time, you have to be careful approaching an individual like that. Sometimes it's not safe."

If something doesn't feel right, Murray says to give the WPS a call. "If you make these reports to us . . . it can definitely help with our investigation."

Murray also says to know where your children are all the time and point out safe places that they can go.