Halloween Safety Tips

Halloween is this week, and while there were many Halloween events held over the weekend, there will still be thousands of children out trick-or-treating throughout the Hudson Valley on Tuesday.

It’s a fun night, full of laughter, treats, and cool costumes, but it could also be a dangerous one if you’re not careful. To help keep that from happening, here’s a few tips to have a fun and safe Halloween.

1. Make sure your child can walk easily in his or her costume. Outfits that are too long, have an uneven hem, or have beads and fringe on the bottom can easily become tangled and make it difficult to walk. Simply use duct tape, or no-sew tape on the inside of the costume to shorten if need be, and use a hot glue gun to attach any beading or fringe securely to the bottom of the costume.

2. Double check that your child can see easily while wearing their costume.

3. Make sure your child can be seen while trick-or-treating. For easy visibility, light color costumes are always best, but what if your child insisted on getting a costume that has more black on it than any other color? Put some reflective tape on it and you’re good to go.

4. Speaking of cars, staying off of the road and on a sidewalk is your best bet. If there are no sidewalks and you have to walk on the road, walk on the side so that you are facing traffic. Although it should go without saying, we're still going to say it, don’t dart out between parked cars, the results could be disastrous, cross the road at the corners or at the crosswalks.

5.  As a parent or guardian, you have to trust your gut. If you think a neighborhood or street isn’t safe, there’s nothing wrong with saying no to your child. There’s plenty of candy in areas that are well-lit and well known.

6.  Finally, no matter what, double check your child’s candy before they eat any of it. It would be nice to think that everyone has our children’s best interest at heart, but we know that’s not always the case.

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