Hey, Parents! Make Trick-or-Treating Fun with This Gear

Trying to make more parent friends? Show up on the sidewalk with a rolling cooler full of chilled refreshments, and we guarantee you a brand-new buddy or four. Along with Yeti’s legendary insulating abilities, the Tundra Haul has solid, single-piece wheels; locking, un-bustable rubber latches; and an aluminum arm that can’t break.

All of our favorite Bluetooth speakers are easy to use and transport. However, the JBL Clip 2 is as small as a hockey puck and comes with a carabiner to clip it onto a purse or backpack. It also has a built-in audio cable if your Bluetooth goes wonky in the middle of the Monster Mash. BUY NOW

You can fit two or three of these tiny, multi-use safety lights in the palm of your hand. Each weighs less than an ounce and comes with both a small spring clip and a stroller or handlebar mount, and weighs less than an ounce. When the day starts getting dim, slip one onto the back of your child’s pants for a steady or flashing light that is visible for up to 1,000 meters. And when they get tired and hop back into the stroller or wagon, clip it onto the back so that cars can see you on your way home.

Trick-or-treating can be stressful for dogs. All of a sudden, there are all these small, unpredictable creatures running around, hyped up on sugar, with outfits that billow, loom, and fall in strange ways. If you opt to leave your pets at home, the constant doorbell-ringing or knocking could frighten them too. Try a pet tracker like the Whistle 3. It mounts on your dogs collar and uses a combination of Wi-Fi, GPS, and cellular service to keep tabs of your pet at all times. You can check in on them via a simple app on your phone.

A walkie-talkie is a fun compromise for kids who are old enough to wander a little farther away, but not old enough for their own cell phone. The T10 radios aren’t a toy, but they’re lightweight, reliable, and easy for a child to use. It’s water-resistant, and you can lock the keypad. The range is up to 20 miles, but hopefully your child will be a little closer to you than that.

October weather is highly variable, and no one wants to ruin an amazing Halloween costume by putting a rain jacket on top. This mini travel umbrella weighs less than a pound and easily stows into a bag. It has one-handed open and closure and resin-reinforced fiberglass ribs, so it will last longer and in harsher conditions than most other travel umbrellas.

If you want to get into the spirit of Halloween, but don’t feel like prancing around in full Rocky Horror mode on a weekday afternoon, a temporary hair color is a great compromise. Manic Panic is the OG temporary hair color, and the hairspray shows up on both light and dark hair. It’s vegan, paraben-, phthalate-, and cruelty-free. Best of all, it washes out with shampoo—so you can look completely normal at work the next morning.

Don’t forget the grandparents! Since it’s highly unlikely that your extended family has flown out to help you escort your kids around the neighborhood, a few photo printouts of their creative costumes would be highly appreciated. The Instax Share SP-2 lets you print out photos from your smartphone via Wi-Fi, and the mini size is small enough to stick a couple in your Christmas cards. Just download the Instax Share app and get to printin’.

If you don’t have kids, you might have other plans for the night. Whether you’re going out, or staying home with all the lights out and watching Silence of the Lambs, you need a way to make sure the local youths aren’t toilet-papering your house. The Nest Cam Outdoor has spectacular 1080p HD resolution, a 130-degree wide-angle lens, motion sensors, and excellent night vision. If you do wake up as the victim of a pranking, a subscription to Nest Aware will let you see the past ten days’ worth of footage in your timeline.