October is Halloween Safety Month, so we’ve put together a commonsense guide to help you and your family enjoy a fun and happy yet safe Halloween.

While the vast majority of Halloween revelers enjoy the Trick or Treat tradition without incident, there’s no reason not to take a few precautionary steps in order to give your kids the best chance to stay safe.

Remember parents, when making it safe you can’t take away from the fun too much, or your kids just might find away around the precautions. Let them have their fun, but find creative ways to keep them safe. Use commonsense, and if something here doesn’t feel right for you, then do it your way. You are the parent and ultimately responsible.

Kids Halloween Safety Tips

• Trick or Treating Safety. If your kids will let you go with them, you should. It’s a lot of fun and great memories. If not, then give them a cell phone to take along. Make sure you know the route they are going to be traveling and who they are trick or treating with. Set time limits, and have them call in at the halfway mark.
• Safe Halloween Costumes. Safe costumes are climate appropriate. They are visible, either light in color or have reflective materials – or both! Masks allow the child a full range of vision (check peripheral vision before you buy it) and do not impair hearing either. And please, make sure their halloween costumes are flame retardant.
• Safe Halloween Props. If you kid is carrying prop, like sword, scythe or pitchfork, make sure the edges are rounded and bend easily, in case they fall on it. Think smooth and flexible.
• Halloween Candy. No one should eat any candy until an adult has checked it thoroughly. Some police departments will even arrange to have your candy x-rayed free of charge. To keep the kids from digging in right away, feed them a big meal before they head out for Trick-or-Treat. And have some homemade candy apples and hot chocolate ready for them when they get home.
• Mischief. Unfortunately, Halloween and the night before can sometimes get out of hand when it comes to vandalism. Egging a house can really do a lot of damage and get your kids in trouble. Make sure they know right from wrong.
• Basic Safety Tips. Talk to your kids about safety and commonsense on a regular basis. Teach them not to talk with strangers or get into cars with strangers or help strangers look for lost animals. Teach them to look both ways before crossing the street, to use the traffic lights, and to not jaywalk. Ask them to help you cross the street by looking both ways etc.

Adults Halloween Safety Tips

• Halloween Decoration Safety. If you’re putting a lit candle in a jack-o-lantern, make sure it’s nowhere near where any kids’ costumes might touch it. Bobbing for apples should only be done when adults are around, and if toddlers are going to be present, skip it. You don’t want a small child drowning when your not looking.
• Lighting and Walkways. Spooky lights are cool, but make sure there are no obstructions or loose pavers that people can trip over.
• Pumpkin Carving. Kids love to carve the Jack-o-Lantern. Who doesn’t? But small children shouldn’t be anywhere near a knife. (Even many adults don’t know proper knife handling skills.) The kids can still participate by drawing the face to be cut, and by scooping out the pumpkin’s “brains”.
• Driving. Too many times, we see people driving very fast on Halloween night. Maybe they are trying to get home from work to be with their kids. Maybe they are late to a party. SLOW DOWN! Stay out of leaf piles. Drive defensively, cautiously. NEVER, drink and drive.
• Spirits on All Hallows. Know your limits. When kids are around and especially when you are responsible for their safety, skip the booze. When the night is over and the kids are in bed, that might be a better time to celebrate Halloween.

Happy and Safe Halloween!

Halloween is one of the all time greatest outdoor activities. Let’s do our best to keep it that way so our kids and our grandchildren can enjoy this wonderful tradition.