Halloween safety tips

When people think about Halloween, they think costumes, candy, ghosts, goblins. They think about trick-or-treating and carving pumpkins with their families; they do not generally think about Halloween safety. Amongst all the giggling children and happy families flooding the streets every October 31, it is important to remember how to keep everyone safe on nights like these. Here are some important tips to remember when you’re preparing for the big night with your family:

 

Careful Costumes

 

• Make sure your child’s costume is bright and has something reflective on it so that cars are able to see them clearly.
• Ensure the costume is fitted so that no loose clothing, dangling fabric or long strings can cause them to trip and fall.
• Leave enough room in the costume for warm clothes to be worn underneath in case of cool weather to keep your child warm.
• Choose face paint or decals over face masks so that they will not impair your child’s vision. However, test the face paint on your child’s skin before the big night to ensure there is no reaction.

 

Decorate Safely

 

• Keep open flames and fire hazards out of children’s reach. This includes candles, matches, lighters, etc. Any ignited decorations, such as jack-o-lanterns or spooky witches holding candles, should be kept in a safe place away from curtains, furniture and other flammable materials. Safe alternative? Use small electric tea light candles or orange and white coloured Christmas lights to get a similar effect.
• When it comes to carving a pumpkin, let your child draw the design on the pumpkin and then let them watch you bring their creation to life to avoid injury.

 

Cautious Trick-or-Treating

 

• Along with creating a bright, reflective costume, give your child glowsticks, light-up shoes, a flashlight – anything that emits light – to help make them more visible in the darkness.
• Encourage your child to stick to the sidewalk and look both ways before crossing the street, especially on nights like Halloween when people may be driving around excitedly.
• Accompany your child while trick-or-treating until you believe they are old enough to navigate the neighbourhood safely and follow your strict rules.
• Tell your child to not eat any candy until you’ve looked it over carefully. Teach your child to only take candy that is in a sealed wrapper and to never go into a stranger’s house to get more candy.

 

Halloween is a fun, exciting time of year that rolls around every fall, so it is often easy to forget the dangers of running around in the dark to stranger’s houses. Teaching your children the fundamentals of safe trick-or-treating will follow them into their later years and will resurface once again when they have children of their own. We want to ensure that everyone has a safe holiday and a fun Halloween season, so please remember to teach these neighbourhood safety rules to your children carefully.

 

For more Halloween safety tips, visit the Government of Canada website.

 

Happy Halloween Calgary!