8 Halloween Home Safety Measures to Welcome Trick-or-Treaters
When little ghouls and goblins come knocking demanding candy, you need to be armed. A big bowl of sweet treats and some festive decor is a start, but with more visitors in store at your front door, safety measures are a must to avoid potentially frightful accidents. Avoid the tricks of the holiday, and take these steps to make sure your home is nothing but a treat.
Halloween Home Safety Measures
- Repair walkways and sidewalks. “Step on a crack and you’ll break your mother’s back” may be a common childhood superstition, but walkway and sideways cracks are no joke. When increased foot traffic is coming to your home, avoid falls and trips by repairing spots that impede safe progress to your front door. If there’s not enough time or the weather is too cold for cement to appropriately cure, block off hazardous areas with a cone or work a barrier into your Halloween decor.
- Light up the night. If trick or treating takes place when the sun goes down, brighten up the front of your home with extra lighting. Line walkways with path lighting or lanterns and replace bulbs above your front door to make visibility easy for all.
- Blow out flames.Avoid a potential fire hazard by skipping open-flame candles and using battery-operated votives or glow sticks to illuminate your jack-o’-lanterns instead.
- Ditch debris. Autumn is prime time for falling leaves, acorns, sticks, and other outdoor waste to clutter up walkways. Before the costume-filled fun begins, clear away areas where kids might walk, and tend to any risky areas, such as wet leaves creating slick spots.
- Find a safe place for pets. Even if you have the calmest, nicest pet in the world, kids in costumes can be a sight that spooks furry companions. Not to mention, some children who aren’t around animals regularly may be scared to see pets at eye-level. Wait to celebrate Halloween with your animals once trick-or-treaters are happily home sorting through their loot.
- Suppress the scare factor. You may love your Halloween holiday filled with fright-filled haunts, but remember that some gorey decor maybe too much for tiny trick-or-treaters. Unless you want a lot of leftover candy at the end of the night, tone down the fear factor to make sure your home is inviting for candy seekers with thick and thin skin.
- Make it easy. Since you’re literally just giving candy away, make it easy for kids to fill their treat bags by staging an area that’s simple to access without too many obstacles, such as steps, hills, and small front porches. Consider a common area in your driveway or lawn, where costumed kids can step right up for the sweet stuff.
- Beef up security. Lots of strangers may be passing by your home or standing in front of your open door with a direct look at what your home holds. Try to keep valuables out of sight to ward off future theft, and openly advertise if your home is protected by a security system.
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