Halloween Safety Tips for You and Your Charlotte Home
First of all, Happy Halloween! Halloween is a fun and exciting time, especially for the children. To better ensure that youngsters and your Charlotte home make it safely through the festivities this year, enjoy the holiday keeping safety in mind at all times.
Here are Ten Halloween safety tips for you and your children:
- Eliminate trip hazards. Remove bikes, toys and garden hoses from your Charlotte home’s front yard and porch. Sweep and rake leaves.
- Replace burned out lights. Trick-or-treaters have a hard enough time seeing through their masks; don’t increase the danger by keeping them in the dark.
- Restrain pets. You don’t want your pet to jump on a trick-or-treater, or even worse, bite someone.
- Use a flashlight or glow stick to illuminate your carved pumpkin. Lit candles are dangerous, especially around small children or crowds of people.
- Practice candle safety in your Charlotte home. Keep indoor jack-o-lanterns with lit candles, and any decorations with open flames, away from curtains and other furnishings that can easily ignite.
- Apply makeup as a mask. A loose-fitting mask might restrict breathing or make it difficult to see. Instead, draw on a mask using makeup. If a mask is used, make sure it fits securely and has large eyeholes so the child can see.
- Choose flame-resistant costumes. Many Charlotte homes use lit candles as part of their exterior Halloween decorations. A child’s costume could accidentally brush against the flame. Purchase costumes that are labeled flame resistant. If a costume is homemade, spray it with a non-toxic fire retardant.
- Add a few strips of reflective tape to costumes and treat bags. This helps drivers see the children. It also helps to have trick-or-treaters carry flashlights – both to see and be seen.
- Limit where children go. They should only knock on the doors of homes with a porch light on. Instruct them to never enter a home or a car for a treat.
- Use the buddy system and enforce a curfew. Teach them to stick with their buddies, staying on well-lit streets and on sidewalks (never to cut across yards), use alleys or dash between parked cars. Be sure that they have a time-keeping device (watch or cell phone) to be able to adhere to their curfew.