Keeping Halloween a Treat for Everyone!

Halloween is an exciting night for kids and adults alike, whether you are dressing up and gathering treats or staying home and passing out candy to all the trick-or-treaters.    However, on Halloween it is important to remember, there are guidelines to follow to ensure you have a safe and festive night!

Prepare

• Plan the trick-or-treating route with your children ahead of time.  If they are young, ensure that a responsible grown-up will be traveling with them.
• Ensure that each child can be seen by other trick-or-treaters and traffic by putting reflective tape on their costumes and equipping them with flashlights.
• Ensure the leader of the group has a watch and set a time that your children should return home.
• Teach children their home phone number and how to dial 911 in an emergency.
• Review “stop, drop and roll” should a child’s costume catch fire.
• Practice basic everyday safety such as:
  • Don’t talk to strangers.
  • Don’t get into strange cars.
  • Look both ways before crossing the street.
  • Always utilize a crosswalk and cross with traffic lights.

Costume Safety

• Ensure that eye and mouth holes are large enough so that vision and breathing are not obstructed.
• Keep costumes short enough so that children are not tripping over them.  According to the National Safety Council, falls are the leading cause of accidental injury on Halloween.
• Place emergency information and identification inside the costume.  Never place a child’s name or address on a costume where a stranger might see it.
• If utilizing toy knives, guns or swords with a costume, ensure they do not look authentic and that they are soft and flexible to avoid injury.

Trick-or-Treating

• Children should only go to well-known, well-lit homes.
• Never let a child enter someone’s home, unless accompanied by an adult.
• If you are expecting trick-or-treaters at your home, remove any obstacles that could cause injury, such as lawn ornaments. 
• Always keep lit pumpkins out of the trick-or-treating path so that children cannot brush up against the flame.
• Always use the sidewalk for trick-or-treating.

Candy and Treats

• When in doubt, throw it out.
• Ensure that any items that may cause choking are only given to age-appropriate children.