Halloween Safety – Trick or Treating tips

Halloween Safety – Trick or Treating tips

As you and your children begin to plan your Halloween Trick or Treating, it is important to consider the dangers lurking in costumes, candies, your neighborhood, and even your own home.  Keeping an eye on safety while you enjoy Trick or Treating can help keep your children safe.

We are looking for some clever Halloween Safety Slogans

Let’s look at some safety tips:

Costumes

Considering costumes in your Halloween plans can help you keep your children safe.  Some costumes can impair vision, can cause tripping hazards, and can increase the chance of illness.  Examining your child’s costume for the following can help make a healthy, happy Halloween:

• Check the mask for vision impairment.  Children should be able to see naturally in both side views to identify cars, tripping hazards and other dangers.  If your child insists on wearing a mask which impairs vision, hold his/her hand the entire night and guide him/her through tripping hazards.
• Check that the length of the costume, scarves, skirts, or cloaks will not become tripping hazards.  Shoes should also fit properly.
• Check the warmth of the costume.  Costumes that make children too hot or too cold can decrease your child’s ability to fight off flus, colds, and other illnesses.  Also, a correctly layered costume will make your child’s Halloween experience more pleasant.
• Choose reflective costumes or add reflective materials like tape.  Glow in the dark candy bags and buckets also help drivers spot children as it gets dark.

Candies

Candy has unfortunately been targeted by criminals in recent Halloweens.  Criminals have stuffed candy with dangerous needles, poisons, and razor blades.  To keep your child safe:

• Attend a community Trick or Treat at a local mall, nursing home, or other venue
• Trick or Treat at only neighbors’ houses who you know and trust
• Examine your child’s candy for tampering, including opened packages and small punctures in which a needle filled with poison could have been inserted into the candy

Your Neighborhood

Another way to protect your children during Halloween Trick or Treating is to search your community’s sex offender list for any sex offenders living in your area.  Some areas require sex offenders post their status on their doors during Halloween, but if your community does not require this, search your local site and make sure your children stay away.  Also, make sure they know not to get in cars with strangers or go in stranger’s homes.

Your Home

You are also in charge of Halloween safety for children Trick or Treating at your home.  Making a safety assessment a few days before Halloween can help you light up walkways, identify and fix tripping hazards, and check for any dangerously attached decorations which could become falling hazards.

A few simple, free tasks can help you assess your Trick or Treating safety.  Making sure

costumes, candies, and your neighborhood are safe for your little monsters and protecting your neighbors little ghouls will go a long way in making Halloween Trick or Treating a special, happy occasion for all.