Halloween is meant to be a spooky time of year, but you want to make sure that all of your fear comes from imaginary things that go bump in the night and not the safety of your children. You can help your children stay safe this Halloween by keeping in mind these suggestions that other parents and professionals follow.
Costume Tips
- Choose costumes that are highly visible to drivers. Wearing all black might make your kids look like great vampires or grim reapers, but it will also make them nearly invisible to drivers out on Halloween night. Make sure costumes at the very least have bright, reflective elements. Neon colors, white fabric, reflectors, glow jewelry and glow sticks can all help cars see your trick-or-treaters and help them stay safe.
- Find properly fitting masks or opt for face paint instead. Poorly fitting masks can reduce your children’s vision, cause a trip hazard, make them unable to see oncoming traffic and cause difficulty breathing. Non-toxic face paint is a great alternative to a full face mask, so get creative when creating your spooky costume.
- Make sure costumes are not too long. Many Halloween injuries come from trips and falls from costumes that are simply too large.
- Avoid burns with flame-resistant fabrics. All costumes sold in retail are required to be flame-resistant by law. If you’re making a home-made costume, use fabrics like nylon and polyester, which are flame-resistant.
- Wear sensible shoes. Princess high heels might be cute, but they’re not safe for walking outside at night. Have your little princess skip the glass slippers and wear sturdy, rubber-soled shoes.
- Choose safe prop weapons. If your little ones’ costumes require a fake sword, make sure it’s made of flexible material to avoid real injuries while they’re out swashbuckling with friends.
Décor Tips
- Opt for glow sticks or LED candles instead of real candles. Your jack-o-lantern doesn’t have to go dark to stay safe. Light it up with alternatives to avoid a fire hazard.
- Don’t overload your extension cords. Orange might be a great color for Halloween lights, but chaining cords together or plugging in too many lights is a fire hazard.
- Check your lights for safety. Use only safety-tested strings of lights. Check each set for broken or cracked sockets, frayed wires or loose connections. Toss any damaged lights in the trash.
- Remove trip hazards from your trick-or-treaters’ path. Though your spooky graveyard may look great and keep the neighborhood kids off the grass, make sure nothing is in the way of children walking to and from your doorstep that may cause them to trip.
- Use caution when carving your jack-o-lantern. Children should always have adult supervision (or an adult doing all the cutting, depending on the child’s age) when carving pumpkins. Use specially designed pumpkin-carving tools, which are made to withstand carving through pumpkin without slicing your fingers.
Trick-or-Treat Tips
- Remind your children about proper procedure with strangers. Although going door to door may bring your children in contact with a few folks they don’t know, make sure they know not to enter anyone’s home. Always supervise your young children or leave them with a trusted adult.
- Go over pedestrian safety. Make sure your children know the rules of the road don’t go out the window with the holiday. It’s more important than ever to use sidewalks, look both ways, assume a car doesn’t see you when it’s time to cross and stay away from traffic as much as possible.
- Check all candy before anyone digs in. Make sure that all your children’s candy looks unopened and not tampered with before enjoying any of it.
- Look for choking hazards. If you have tiny trick-or-treaters, particularly under the age of 3, weed out all tiny toys and hard candies before they eat their goodies.
We at Sparkles! want you and your children to enjoy the Halloween season to the max! By considering safety first, you can make sure everyone has a frightfully good time.
