Every October 31st, boys and ghouls across Canada dress up in their scariest best for Halloween. Most kids will dress up during the day to play with their friends at school, but the highlight of the night for most youngsters is going trick or treating at night. Trick or treating can actually come in many forms, but often involves children walking down the streets to collect candy from neighbours. Here are some Halloween tips to keep your children safe every Halloween.

See and Be Seen

With the night comes darkness, which makes it difficult to be seen. This is often magnified on Halloween, where many costumes are designed to be dark. Think about it, if you are dressed up as Dracula, you likely don’t have on a neon, glow in the dark cape. That is why it’s essential you have accents on your clothes that can, in fact, be neon and glow in the dark. If you have on a dark cape, decorate it with reflective tape. If you have a shopping bag, basket or pumpkin in which to collect your candy, add reflective tape on that as well. The more reflective tape, the better! Even with street lights, it can be difficult to see younger children running across the road, as they may not even be at windshield height.

Seeing at night is also incredibly important, which is why it’s also necessary to have extra light when possible. Carrying a spooky glowing lamp or a flashlight can really help brighten up your child’s costume. Masks can be a lot of fun to wear on Halloween, and many costumes features amazing masks that your kids will remember for years to come. The problem is that masks can lead to poor vision, and can sometimes even completely restrict peripheral vision. If necessary, cut the eyeholes on masks larger than intended to help your child see better. And when possible, ditch the mask altogether. A non-masked look or a costumer using makeup can be just as scary, and can also help your child see better, and stay safer.

Stay Together, With an Adult Nearby

Kids love to trick or treat, and most children have their first experience doing so with their parents walking them right up to the door of every neighbour on the block. As kids get a bit older, they may feel a bit more brave and want their child a few steps behind. While giving your child freedom is important, keeping your child in your line of sight at all times is essential. It’s also important to try and plan a group outing for your kid if at all possible. Getting several children together to go up the street provides several advantages. First, it makes them much more visible, as drivers can more easily see large groups than one small child, and if each child is wearing reflective tape, a group would be very hard to miss. Second, going in a group also allows kids to avoid stranger danger. Being in a group helps protect your herd of ghosts from any monsters lurking that night.

While staying together on the street is important, it’s just as important to stay together, and outside of, every door. Most interactions at the door will start with the child saying, “Trick or treat” and holding open their candy receptacle. The person at the other side of the door will usually oblige. Your child needs to stay outside of the house at all times. If the person on the inside says, “Hey, I have my candy but you have to come get it in here” your child should respond with “happy Halloween” and quickly walk away. They should use similar lines if they are asked to have their picture taken or asked to step inside to see how cute their costume is.

Candy Safety

If your child has picked up candy, the odds are they will want to get home and stuff their faces full right away. The fact is that almost all candy they will get will be safe, but you still need to check it, just to be sure. Any candy that is already opened or looks tampered with should be immediately thrown out. If any candy looks like it could be dangerous, it could be something that needs to be dealt with by the local authorities. And if a candy is homemade, odds are it should also be thrown out.

Halloween should be a fun filled, great night for you and your children. While the night might be filled with fun scares, it should never be filled with real horrors. Make your child’s safety paramount, and build amazing memories at the same time!

If you need security for your home to keep you and your children safe, call Alarm Guard today at 855 979 9224!