Halloween Safety Story Time Partnership

For the past few years, my library district has partnered with the county ambulance district to put on a series of Halloween safety programs for our customers. My branch's program this year, aimed at preschoolers and their caregivers, was a lot of fun. The program opened with an ambulance tour; two EMTs demonstrated the stretcher, heartbeat monitor, and lights on the ambulance, much to the delight of the kiddos.

Then we moved inside for a brief presentation about being safe on Halloween. Grownups, here are a few of the tips:

1. Make sure costumes are not too long; long capes, pants, skirts, etc., can cause children to trip and hurt themselves.

2. Always accompany children while trick-or-treating, regardless of their age.

3. Be visible. The ambulance district handed out reflective candy bags and glow stick bracelets for kids to use on Halloween, but additional reflective clothing is great.

After reviewing our safety tips, we moved into the story time portion of our program. I read one of my new favorites for the spooky season, Creepy Carrots. Have you read it yet? Illustrator extraordinaire Peter Brown made a great video about its creation, too.

Then it was time for crafts. I opted for one structured craft and one that was more open-ended. We made paper plate ghosts (thanks, Pinterest!), then I handed out blank sheets of paper for kids to draw themselves in their Halloween getups. I loved seeing the pictures they drew--they are so proud of their costumes!

Have a fun and safe Halloween, everyone!