Halloween is a fun time for all. Here are some tips to help parents during Halloween:
1. Feed your children before they go trick or treating; they will eat less candy if they are satiated.
2. Add glow-in-the-dark tape to your child’s costume, on the front and the back. Equipping them with a flashlight helps but some children will lose it along the way. You can also attach a glow stick to their candy bucket. The key is to attach it to the bucket; otherwise, they may lose it.
3. Only purchase flame retardant costumes and make sure that any material that you use to make or augment their costumes is flame retardant.
4. Supervise pumpkin carving, even for older children (over age 10).
5. For children under 10, make sure that they are with an adult at all times during trick or treating. Even if older siblings are with them, they may easily get separated from their sibling, especially if their sibling meets up with their friends along the way.
6. For children 10 and older: If they trick or treat without an adult, make sure that they are with a group. Equip them with a cell phone and make sure that they know how to call 9-1-1. Instruct your child to NEVER enter the homes of neighbors, even if they do not consider them strangers. Also, only allow your child to trick or treat in a neighborhood that is known to you and familiar to your child. Dropping your child off in a neighborhood away from your home to trick or treat, especially if unaccompanied by an adult, is dangerous.
7. Instead of giving out candy, perhaps give small items like pencils, pens, erasers, stickers, etc.
8. Check candy before you or your child eat it. Come up with a plan for how much candy you and your child will eat after the evening is over with. Also, determine how long you will keep the candy around.
9. Instead of masks, which may block your kids ability to see and can interfere with breathing if they do not fit right, use make-up instead. Make sure your child is not allergic to the make-up. Make sure the make-up or paint is nontoxic and hypoallergenic.
10. Consider having a party at your home or going to a mall instead of around a neighborhood you do not know well.
11. Make sure any props that your child uses will not hurt them or others. Props can be made of flexible material, etc. so that they don’t hurt the child if they fall as well as don’t hurt others if they begin to play with them (e.g., sword fight).
Provided by Cook Children's