Winnipeg, MB - Let’s make Halloween all treats and no tricks this year! Here are some tips to ensure your Halloween is fun and safe.
Safety tips for trick-or-treaters:
- Try to trick-or-treat when it is still light outside.
- Wear a bright and reflective costume.
- Carry a flashlight, and use glow sticks or reflective tape as part of your costume.
- Encourage children to stay away from open flames.
- Ensure children know how to stop, drop and roll if clothing catches fire.
- Use make-up instead of a mask - masks can shift and obscure vision.
- To prevent falls, ensure costumes fit well, aren't too long, and don't have too much loose material.
- Have a responsible adult go trick-or-treating with youth.
- Ensure young people trick-or-treat in a group, especially if an adult is not present.
- Never enter a stranger’s home.
- Trick-or-treaters should only eat treats that have been examined a parent.
- When examining treats, parents should look for signs of tampering including unusual appearance or discolouration, tiny pinholes, or tears in wrappers. Avoid homemade treats. Throw away anything that looks suspicious.
- Choking occurs most frequently among children under two years of age, but can happen at any age. Eating while playing, running, jumping, or talking increases the likelihood of choking.
- Parents should discuss with children the route they will be travelling and what time they are required to return home.
- Do not take short cuts, especially through alleys.
- Plan trick-or-treat routes ahead of time and pick well-lit streets.
- If there is no sidewalk, walk facing traffic.
- Stay on sidewalks, and look left, right and left again to be sure no cars are approaching before crossing the street. Always cross the street at corners and crosswalks; never cross between parked cars or in the middle of the block.
- Attention Drivers: Children will be very excited and their actions may be sudden and unpredictable. Exercise caution and Just Slow Down.
Safety tips for homeowners:
- Give out only commercially-wrapped candy.
- Children should not use knives or other sharp instruments to carve pumpkins and should be accompanied with an adult during pumpkin-carving activities.
- It is safest to use a flashlight, glow stick or battery-operated candle in a jack-o-lantern. If you use a real candle, use extreme caution. Make sure children are supervised when candles are lit.
- Be sure to place lit pumpkins well away from anything that can burn and far enough out of the way of trick-or-treaters, doorsteps, walkways and yards.
- Remember to keep exits clear of decorations so nothing blocks escape routes.
- Make sure your home is well-lit, your yard clear and safe, and your pets are secured so no harm comes to them or trick-or-treaters.
- Dried flowers, cornstalks and crepe paper are highly flammable. Keep these and other decorations well away from all open flames and heat sources, including light bulbs and heaters.
- Police should be notified immediately of any suspicious or unlawful activity.
Have a happy and safe Halloween!