Halloween Tips for Safety and Fun!

Halloween Tips for Safety and Fun!

Hype and Hysteria?

According to a university professor who researched it, no child has ever been killed or seriously harmed by poisoned candies or fruit. Nonetheless, many parents freak out every year. A little common sense and basic caution goes a long way.

Guide to Safe Trick or Treating

1. Costumes - Dark color costumes are hard to see at night; Give your kids various lights, glowsticks, reflectors, etc., front and back... and incorporated into the costume, so they don't look like a safety-dork. For example, our homemade IronMan has reflective strips and a light on his chest and on his palms... a stick-on LED light works for that! Ensure costumes are flame-resistant.
   Choose comfortable, non-restrictive costumes are best. Face makeup or face paint instead of masks is better visibility.

2. Where - Trick or treat in neighborhoods that you know. Decide on a safe and well-lit neighborhood or area to go trick-or-treating with your children.  Respect age restrictions: Some neighborhoods may have age limits for trick-or-treaters, so be aware of and follow these guidelines.

3. Who - Trick-or-treating in groups of friends or family can not only enhance safety, but also make it more enjoyable. No child should ever trick or treat alone. If you have teenage children, see this page of trick or treating tips specifically for teenagers.

4. Plan the route. Whether you child is old enough to go with a group of friends without you or not, you should discuss and agree in advance what the route will be.

5. Agree upon a time to be home - Determine a specific start and end time for trick-or-treating to ensure it doesn't go too late into the night.

6. Use a tracking app - Life360's FREE plan works great and shows you on a map, where your child is in real time, when you have downloaded the app to their phone and yours and set up the connecting account. If you don't have an app, agree a meeting point in case you get separated from your children.

7. Walking safety - Be careful crossing streets, take young children by the hand. On the sidewalk, walk between the child and the street.

8.   Don't enter homes - Instruct your kids never to enter anyone's home while trick-or-treating.

9. Check candies for anything odd. Never eat anything that isn't in a factory-sealed package. Again, it's never happened, but you don't need to be the first, in an age of rampant T-e-r-r-o-rism. If your child has any allergies, check for the allergens and swap out any allergen-containing candy with safe alternatives. Fentanyl is often made to look like candy, so, again, the most important tip is do not allow your children to eat any candy which is not in its original (and intact) wrapper! See this photo of fentanyl-->

10.  Never allow  open flames or spark sources near costumes.

11.   Emergency contact: Make sure your children know your phone number and address, and if they do not have their own phone with them, carry an emergency contact card. Review with children how to call 9-1-1 (or their local emergency number) if they ever have an emergency or become lost.

12.  Neighborhood safety - Be aware of your surroundings and report any suspicious activity to the authorities.

13.   Be respectful, polite and considerate - Remind your children not to damage or vandalize any property while trick-or-treating. Teach children to say "thank you" when receiving treats.

14.   Hydration - In hot weather, bring water.  Having an early dinner before going trick or treating will discourage the kids from stuffing themselves with candy!

Links to more website that have more detailed safety information:

• The Official Halloween Safety Game - Since 1996, we have provided this fun way for families and students to learn Halloween Safety while trick-or-treating. If you are going to go door to door trick-or-treating, you should play.
• Children's Safety Zone
  A non-commercial site dedicated to children's safety issues.
• Halloween Safety Tips for Companion Animals
  Halloween can be very spooky for the animals we live with! Follow these simple steps to make sure your cats or dogs are safe and secure at Halloween! Brought to you by Tree House Animal Foundation - a not-for-profit humane organization in Chicago, Illinois.
• LAFD - Halloween Safety Tips
  Safety Tips from the Los Angeles Fire Department.
• McGruff Safe Kids
  Has Halloween safety products for sale.

Halloween Safety Websites

• 20ish Parents
• A Scary Night
• Alphabet Soup
• Children's Hospital of Oakland
• Children's Safety Zone
• Cincinatti Police Department
• City of Austin Halloween Safety
• City Of Saint Joseph
• Family Corner Halloween Safety
• Golden Rules of Halloween
• Halloween Magazine
• Halloween from Aristotle
• Halloween: Fearful Facts
• Halloween Safety
  Halloween Safety Guide for drivers and trick or treating pedestrians
• Halloween Safety Tips
• It's Halloween on Channel 3000
• Last Minute Halloween Safety Tips
• Little Ones' Halloween Safety
• Los Angeles Fire Department
• McGruff and Scruff's Halloween Tips
• Mouse House Halloween Safety Tips
• Needham Online's Halloween Safety
• North Brunswick Township
• Paranoid Sisters Safety Tips
• Pixigirl's Halloween Safety
• There's No Page Like Home
• Welcome to 1313 Scary Hollow
• Woman's Day
• ZooMom's Trick-or-Treat Safety Tips

Paranoia and More

Some of the more paranoid precautions are below.