How to Make Your Front Porch Safe for Halloween Visitors
Make Repairs Where Needed. Loose floorboards, wobbly hand rails, broken screen doors, and exposed nails are all hazards that could cause injury to a child. Before opening up your porch to a night of trick-or-treating, take a good look at the floors, walls, and rails to make sure that everything is structurally sound and safe to navigate.
Remove Trip Hazards. Most of the kids who visit my home on Halloween wear homemade costumes that often cover the eyes. To prevent tripping, I always move any obstructions on the sidewalk and porch that could be fallen over while trick or treating. Additional things to watch out for:
Obstructed Stairs. Trick-or-treaters often climb stairs in groups which is why it’s best to keep the stairs clear.
Loose Cords. These should either be tucked away or taped to the sidewalk or floor with duct tape.
Dangerous Door Mats. If your door mat curls or shifts when walked on, remove it for the evening to prevent tripping.
Sidewalk Flower Beds. Check to make sure that edging isn’t loose and that yard decor is far enough away from the sidewalk so as not to get caught up in a flowing costume.
Light the Walkways. Older houses like mine do not have very well lit sidewalks which can be problematic for evening visitors. For Halloween, we line the walk up to our porch with illuminated Jack o’Lanterns. Some other easy ways to light up the walk to your front porch are with solar Halloween lights, orange twinkle lights, or novelty lights in the shapes of bones or orange pumpkins. A little bit of light in these areas will safely guide your Halloween visitors to the front porch for a bit of trick-or-treating fun.
More by this contributor:
Cheap Halloween decorations to make.
Where to find cheap Halloween candy for a crowd.
Cheap Halloween school lockers decorating ideas.
