Halloween Home Safety Checklist: Preparing for Trick-or-Treaters
Making spooky season safe for everyone
Making spooky season safe for everyone
Trick or treating should be a fun experience for everyone, but it should also be safe. Luckily, you don’t have to sacrifice either one to have a great time. Just follow these Halloween safety tips and you’ll ensure everyone has a great night, whether you’re at home handing out candy or sending the kids out into the neighborhood to find some candy for themselves.
Preparing for Halloween shouldn’t give you a headache. Here are some Halloween safety tips for adults to use to keep trick-or-treaters safe while keeping your property secured.
If you plan on handing out candy to passing trick-or-treaters, it helps to make your participation in the festivities obvious. Turn on the porch light outside, put up some decorations, or play some spooky music. Keep an active watch over the front door, or even set up a chair and table outside so you can pass out candy and comment on everyone’s costumes. Doing so will help to make your presence known, helping to make your visitors feel safe while deterring would-be vandals.
If you don’t plan on participating, consider avoiding decorating your house altogether. Carved pumpkins or other Halloween decorations can signal to trick-or-treaters that your house is a valid stop on their quest for more candy. If you don’t set anything up outside, you can potentially deter visitors from ringing your doorbell altogether.
Some costumes can be bulky, billowy, or difficult to see through, and the last thing you want is for someone to trip and hurt themselves on your property. Take some time to ensure the walkway to your doorbell is obvious, cleared of any obstacles, decorations, or debris, and that the path is well-lit. A floodlight security camera can help with this, as it can automatically activate when trick-or-treaters approach, giving them plenty of visibility around your property, even after the sun has fully set.
Like your walkways, it helps to keep your driveway free of any vehicles or other obstructions, especially if it’s part of the main pathway toward your front door.
That’s because your car isn’t just a high value target for vandals to damage or thieves to steal. The increased foot traffic around your property on Halloween can lead to accidental damage to your vehicle should a trick-or-treater get a little too close for comfort. If you’re able, consider parking your car inside your garage to keep it out of the way for the evening.
Not able to stay right by the front door but still want to pass out candy? Installing a video doorbell, like one from Arlo, can help. When a trick-or-treater rings an Arlo Video Doorbell, it notifies you on your smartphone that someone is at your front door. If you have the Chime 2, you’ll receive audio and motion alerts in your house as well. You can then confirm that there’s a trick-or-treater at your door by checking your live feed, and let them know you’re on the way by using the built-in 2-Way Audio functionality.
Cameras and lights are a great way to keep main walkways safe and secure, but vandals and thieves may be on the look out for secondary entry points like windows to gain entry while you’re otherwise occupied.
To cover these spaces, consider adding motion detection sensors to these entry points, which will alert you if and when they get disturbed. The Arlo Home Security System comes with All-in-One Sensors that you can install anywhere in the home, and they’ll notify you if they detect any movement in off-limits areas of your property or whether any windows or side doors have been opened.
Instead of having trick-or-treaters walk up to every house in the neighborhood to ring their doorbell, consider putting together a mini block party with your neighbors. Everyone can hang out together and chat, keep an eye on the kids as they come and go, and drop off handfuls of candy in one stop, rather than forcing visitors to walk up and down multiple walkways. It can transform Halloween into a more fun, festive, and communal event, while keeping the area safe for everyone involved.
Open communication is one of the best halloween safety tips for kids as they spend their night away from the home, and will give everyone peace of mind during a hectic Halloween evening.
Set regular check-in times with your kids and text them to stay on top of how things are going. If any lines of communication end up getting crossed, your home security system can alert you when family members leave and arrive at the house. That way, you won’t have to wonder if your kids made it home safe and sound after their night out, even if they forget to text.
Need some gear to keep your home safe this Halloween? Consider picking up one or more of these cameras to help.
Outdoor camera: The Arlo Pro 6th Gen includes a ton of powerful features that make it a great fit for installing anywhere around the house. 2K video with High Dynamic Range provides impressive clarity, while the 160° Field of View ensures nothing gets missed. Plus, the camera includes an Integrated Spotlight, making it a great way to capture details in the dark and keep areas lit.
Floodlight: Need a dedicated night vision security camera for your walkways and driveways? Pick up either the Arlo Wired Floodlight or Arlo Pro 3 Wireless Floodlight depending on your setup and security needs. Get up to 3000 lumens of brightness with the Arlo Pro 3 Wireless Floodlight when connected to the Outdoor Magnetic Charging Cable. It’s a perfect choice for illuminating everything you need to keep trick-or-treaters safe on Halloween.
Doorbell: Stay on top of every ring of the doorbell with the Arlo Video Doorbell. Receive notifications on your smartphone whenever it rings, and stay connected with guests with built-in 2-Way Audio.
Detection and response is the best way to keep your guests safe and your property secure. Combine an Arlo Secure Smart Aware subscription with your Arlo security cameras, and you’ll receive a wealth of features that are purpose-built to make achieving peace of mind easier than ever.
You’ll get easy access to a full 60 days of your video history, customizable Smart Activity Zones for detecting the most important moments on your feed, and a powerful Early Warning System designed to detect people, objects, vehicles, sounds, and much more. And if you want that little bit extra of security, Arlo Smart Secure will keep watch for you with human-powered 24/7 Professional Monitoring and Emergency Response.
Arlo Secure was designed to keep tabs on everything going on around you so you can spend less time worrying and more time making sure every trick-or-treater has their best Halloween yet. Sign up for Arlo Secure today and find out for yourself.
