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Halloween Safety for Small Children

How to protect and prepare your children for Halloween without making them afraid to have fun.

by: Paula Statman

alloween is a fun time for kids and adults alike–even toddlers can have a blast when it comes time to trick-or-treat. But, as with everything, "safety first." Here's how to keep your tiniest ghosts and goblins protected while having fun on Halloween.

1. Protect children from situations beyond their abilities.

For example, young children shouldn't be expected to navigate the streets without an adult supervising them. Ideally, children under nine should be with an adult while children over nine should be in a larger group accompanied either by older children or an adult.

2. Prepare your kids for situations before they are expected to deal with them.

Discuss Halloween safety tips with all of your children, no matter what age they are. Emphasize tips that are especially important in your neighborhood, or that were a challenge in past years (such as avoiding a street that isn't usually well-lit or the house with the vicious dog). Get your kids' agreement that they will follow the safety rules.

3. Observe and talk about any situations you encounter when you're out trick-or-treating.

If you're supervising your children on Halloween night, use the many teachable moments that come up. For example, point out safe and unsafe behavior when you see it, such as kids crossing the street without using a crosswalk.

4. Prepare, don't scare, your kids

If you were raised on warnings and scare tactics, you may believe that it's important to "scare some sense" into your kids, especially when it comes to keeping them safe on Halloween. But the opposite is actually true: fear disables kids. It prevents them from thinking on their feet, from judging a situation accurately and from acting self-protectively.

You empower children by teaching them exactly what to do, not by warning them about what could happen if they disobey you or use poor judgment. So, when it comes to trick-or-treating:

• Explain that Halloween is a special night when it's okay to accept candy from people they don't know, without getting into grim stories about why it isn't safe at other times.
• Make sure they understand that it's important for them to stay in well-lit areas and to only visit homes that have their outside lights turned on.
• Tell your children to bring their treats home before eating them so you can help them make sure they're safe. (Throw out any treats that are not wrapped, those in torn or open packages, or any that have small holes in the wrappers. And remember that small, hard candies are a choking hazard for children under three.)

5. When it comes to costumes:

• Make sure that drivers can see your child by using costumes with bright fabrics or decorate them with reflective tape. Give each child a flashlight to carry.
• To prevent falls and other injuries, make sure your child's costume fits properly and is no longer than her ankles.
• Make-up and face paint are safer than masks because they don't block your child's vision. If your child is wearing a hat, wig, or scarf, tie it securely so that it won't slip over her eyes.

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