Halloween is a holiday deeply entrenched in sugary treat consumption. Easter is definitely right up there in the holiday sugar hall of fame, followed closely by Christmas. Now I’m not trying to be the Grinch that stole Halloween, but my eldest and sugar do.not.mix. Don’t get me wrong, I am by no means a zero sugar tolerance Halloween extremist. I promise I’m not handing out toothbrushes as Halloween treats on my doorstep. I just believe in trying to practice moderation.
My goal with any candy laden holiday tradition is to keep the fun and ditch the sugar when I can. For example, take Easter, I fill the girls’ baskets with fun toys, craft items and books rather than weighing down their baskets with chocolate eggs and Peeps (my husband’s favorite.) Same goes for Christmas stockings and for Halloween, I try my best to take the same exact approach…Keep the fun, ditch the sugar.
Keep the fun, ditch the sugar...
As you can see I added my pumpkin faces to the tangerines. Ghostly faces to the string cheese. So easy and my kids loved it. I’m a big fan of Pinterest as you’ve learned by now and I of course had to create a board on Healthy Halloween treats . Because it is do-able and it’s still fun. Take a look and tell me what you think!
Have you ever heard of the Switch Witch? She’s a witch that comes to visit the day after Halloween and takes all the collected Trick or Treat candy and switches it out for a gift for your child. We are definitely getting a visit from that candy-switching witch!!
How do you handle Halloween at your house? Do you limit candy? What are some of your sweet treat swaps?
Emma xx
halloweenhealthy optionsKidssnacks
This is the first I’ve heard of the Switch Witch…great idea! Is she Santa’s distant cousin and do the kids write her a letter with their Halloween gift “wish list”? What does she do with all the candy she collects? As an adult, my friend Karen went out for Trick or Treat carrying an empty wine glass. Hahahahaha.
By the way, what costumes have Mabel and Evelyn chosen? Maybe we could see a photo of them in costume. So, have a great time and stay safe! BOO, RK
PS – So excited to see “Misery” tomorrow night!!!!! (Whoops, your hubby would say “excessive punctuation”.) LOL
HAHAHA! My husband is not a fan of the excessive punctuation. I am though 🙂
I actually didnt have to do the switch witch! I gave them some candy while we were out and just hid their buckets when we got home. They didn’t ask about it!!!
Evelyn was a lion and Mabel was an octopus. Oh and I was a cat 🙂 My easy go to costume xx
Hi Emma! My husband and I are both dentists so we try to limit the candy our girls get as well. One of our girls’ favorite things to do is divide their candy in half on Halloween night and donate it to the soldiers. We have a program at our school that sends candy to the troops after Halloween. We also know of some dentists and orthodontists that pay kids or give them prizes if they bring in their Halloween candy. The kids usually pay attention to their candy for another day or two after Halloween before I put it out of sight and then I send it to work with my husband for his staff…it is funny to see how much can candy even dentists and their staffs eat! I, myself, am guilty of eating candy! I agree with Bruce, marshmallow peeps are awesome! Try melting them on a graham cracker with chocolate…it’s delicious!
As for healthy treats, we give out goody bags at the office for Halloween with a special Halloween toothbrush (I warned my husband that we might get egg on our windows for giving out toothbrushes on Halloween!), a timer to help the kids brush long enough, stickers and other little toys. Another idea we thought of was to give out certificates for frozen yogurt…not completely non-sugar, but better than a chocolate bar. I’m going to try the cheese sticks decorated as ghosts…my two littlest ones will love it! Thanks for the idea!
Hope you and your family have a Happy Halloween!