As you gear up for a night of trick-or-treating fun, we've curated a small list of suggestions for keeping your yard safe - without ditching the spook(!) - for your visitors.
Tip: Keep Things Light! It's ok to keep things dark and spooky but add a little lighting, such as small solar lights alongside the pathway up to your front door. You can also string colorful lights in your trees and shrubs to help keep your yard fully visible to trick or treaters. We've seen purple and candy-corn colored lights!
Tip: Keep yard decorations to a minimum. Decorations no doubt add to the spirit of Halloween, but remember that many kids will cut across your yard when approaching your doorstep. Excessive yard decorations can be a hazard to younger trick-or-treaters especially. Consider hanging/front porch decorations as well. Also, double check your yard for hazards such as large sticks or kids and dogs toys.
Tip: Think about steps. If you have a porch or an elevated landing, consider that trick-or-treaters will have to walk up steps to get to your door. For kids in costumes with hands full of candy, simple steps can become an unexpected hazard. To minimize the risk, consider passing out candy from your bottom step or at the edge of your porch so that trick-or-treaters can stay on ground level.
Tip: Let pets stay inside. Even if your pet is rocking an amazing costume, given the general chaos of Halloween (incessant doorbell ringing, strangers coming and going) pets with typically friendly demeanors can become stressed and agitated, putting little visitors at risk. Instead of letting pets stay amid all the action, let them relax inside the home, away from the door.
Our team wishes you a spook-tacular - and safe - Halloween!