Make Halloween safe, spooky

  • Published
  • By Mike Jett
  • 82nd Training Wing Safety Office
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Everyone wants to have a safe and happy Halloween for themselves, their guests and their children. Using safety tips and common sense can help you make the most of your Halloween season and make it as enjoyable for your children as it is for you.

Here are a few Halloween safety tips for to ensure a safe and spooky adventure:

· Help your child pick out or make a costume that will be safe. The eye holes should be large enough for good peripheral vision. 

· If you set jack-o-lanterns on your porch with candles in them, place them far enough out of the way to prevent accidental costume fire. 

· Ensure that props, such as a scythe, butcher knife or a pitchfork, have smooth and flexible enough to not cause injury if fallen on. 

· Treating your children to a spooky Halloween dinner will make them less likely to eat the candy they collect before you have a chance to check it for them. 

· Don't get into cars with or talk to strangers. 

· Watch both ways before crossing streets and cross when the lights tell you to. 

· Know the route your children will be taking if you aren't going with them. 

· If you can't take them, see if another parent or a teenage sibling can go along. 

· Know what other activities a child may be attending, such as parties, school or mall functions. 

· Set a time for them to be home. Make sure they know how important it is for them to be home on time. 

· Explain to children the difference between tricks and vandalism. Throwing eggs at a house may seem like fun, but they need to know clean up and damages can ruin Halloween. If they are caught vandalizing, make them clean up the mess they've made. 

· Explain to your kids that animal cruelty is not acceptable. Kids may know this on their own, but peer pressure can be a bad thing. Make sure that they know that harming animals is not only morally wrong, but punishable by law and will not be tolerated.

For more information to make Halloween a fun, safe and happy time visit http://www.halloween-safety.com.