Trick or Treat Safety Tips
Keeping Kids Safe on Halloween is Simple but Important
Aug 31, 2009 Bailey Shoemaker Richards
Costumes, decorations and the spooky feeling of Halloween and trick or treat make this holiday one of the most popular for kids and adults. Trick or treat safety is an important part of making sure Halloween is a relaxing holiday for everyone. Whether passing out candy or filling a plastic jack-o-lantern with treats from neighbors, it’s important to know how to keep safe when going out on All Hallows Eve.
Set Boundaries for Trick or Treat
Smaller children who are not quite old enough to walk around by themselves should be accompanied by a parent at all times. Slightly older children can be allowed to have a little more freedom, but still need supervision. If kids are going to walk around the neighborhood without parents, there are a few tactics to help keep them safe.
- Set limits. Explaining to kids exactly where they are and are not permitted to go will give them an area in which to roam, while still making sure they are within a defined space so that they can be found quickly. Planning a route ahead of time will help keep kids on track and make them easy to find.
- Check the neighborhood in which kids will be trick or treating to make sure it is safe. Walking through the trick or treat route a day ahead of time and pointing out places or houses to avoid will let kids know what is expected of them and where they cannot go.
Communicate With Kids Before and During Trick or Treat
Making sure little ghosts and ghouls know exactly where they are allowed to go will help keep them in a tighter area, but being able to contact children quickly is invaluable if they were to get lost or wander away from their group or supervising parent or sibling.
- Using walkie-talkies or cell phones can help locate a child more quickly if he or she wanders outside the area in which they are allowed to trick or treat.
- Children should travel in groups and use a buddy system. Getting a Halloween group together to go trick or treating is not only more fun for kids and parents, it’s also safer. Having a group of kids travel together from a certain point and returning to a specified location will give them a sense of responsibility and direction while still allowing them to have fun.
Make Sure Kids are Visible in Costumes
Trick or treating at night is an exciting time for kids. Costumes can make it difficult to spot a youngster who has gotten away from a group, however, so there are some ways to make sure parents and supervisors can visually keep track of kids at all times.
- Reflective tape stuck on the backs of shoes, around wrists or on treat buckets will help parents see their kids more easily.
- Carrying a flashlight will not only help navigate a dark part of a neighborhood, it will also aid parents or older siblings in maintaining visual contact with the kids under their supervision.
Set Rules About Trick or Treat
Letting kids know ahead of time what behavior is acceptable and what isn’t will not only help them avoid getting into trouble, it can keep them safe.
- Remind kids not to approach houses that do not have lights on. Some people choose to abstain from Halloween festivities, and they won’t appreciate kids showing up on their porch looking for treats.
- Kids should never enter a house, invited or not. This spooky night can become truly frightening if a child disappears into a stranger’s house. Kids should be reminded of this rule frequently.
- Unwrapped candy, candy that has a torn wrapper or strange looking candy should be thrown out immediately.
Halloween is a fun, spooky celebration, but care should be taken to make sure that all trick or treaters experience this holiday in the safest manner possible.
Source: Trick or Treat Safety
Trick or Treat Safety is Important
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