Alternatives for a healthy Halloween

by Nichole Burnett MS, RD/LD, County Extension Agent, Famil & Consumer Sciences

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Halloween will soon be here, kicking off the official holiday season. For many, Halloween can be the start of months of unhealthy eating. It’s hard to be disciplined with all that candy around.

This year, why not help kids stay on track by offering healthy alternatives to the traditional candy smorgasbord? Here are a few tips to keep Halloween happy and healthy instead of hauntingly horrendous.

Healthier food treats:
  • Cheese and cracker packages
  • Cereal boxes
  • Sugar-free gum
  • Small bags of sunflower seeds, pretzels, trail mix, animal crackers or fish-shaped crackers
  • Small packages of raisins – chocolate or yogurt covered
  • Peanuts in the shell
  • 100% juice fruit snacks
  • Cereal or Granola bars
  • Sugar-free hot chocolate mixes or other drink mixes
  • Applesauce or other fruit cups
  • Juice boxes (100% juice of course)
  • Microwave popcorn
  • Pudding cups
Unless you are in a neighborhood with close friends, we don't suggest you make homemade treats. Most parents are trained to go through the Halloween candy and throw out opened, unwrapped or homemade treats.

Non-food treats:  (check out any place that sells to teachers or party supplies for party favors) — have a variety so kids can pick their favorite:
  • Cool stickers (younger kids) or temporary tattoos
  • Halloween balloons, you can even rent a helium tank and fill them on the spot
  • Crayons — buy extra in August when they are less than a quarter a box
  • Regular or colored pencils
  • Indoor or outdoor colored chalk
  • Fun-shaped erasers
  • Whistles or noise makers
  • Rubber spiders, worms, or other equally creepy figure
  • Finger puppets
  • Plastic Teeth/Fangs
  • Costume jewelry (plastic rings, bracelets, necklaces)
  • Hacky sacks
  • Jump ropes
  • Frisbees
  • Silly bands
  • Character or travel toothbrushes
  • Tokens to local arcades
  • Coins
  • Nail polish, lip gloss and other play make up
  • Balls
  • Balloon racers
  • Yo-yos
  • Collectible cards — this goes way beyond baseball nowadays
  • Shoelaces
  • Adhesive "bandages" with pirate, black cat and other fun themes
  • Barrettes, pony tail holders or other hair items
  • Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars
  • Flower seed packets
  • Play dough
  • Charms, beads & thread packets (friendship bracelets)
  • Gently used books (http://booksfortreats.org/)
  • Bookmarks
  • Glow sticks or necklaces
  • Coloring or other small books (check out the dollar store)
  • Plastic Halloween cups or water bottles
  • Slime
  • Miniature magnifying glasses
  • Bubbles
  • Fake money
  • Small decks of card or other magic tricks
  • Collect for others: Halloween can be a great opportunity to teach your child charity and benevolence.
  • Trick or Treat So Others Can Eat — collect non-perishable food items for local food banks
  • Trick-or-Treating for UNICEF - http://youth.unicefusa.org/

Contributing writer: Adele L. Wilcoxen, public information coordinator

 

Tips for parents:

  • Make sure your child eats a healthy dinner and drinks plenty of water before going out. Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, veggies and dip, fruit, vegetable soup — basically anything your child really likes that is healthy and filling.
  • Have a party and invite your child’s class. You can serve healthy party treats as well as sweet treats. Even if they still overindulge, it is only for one night. The key is they won’t be consuming their bag of candy for days and weeks like they usually would.
  • Have the "Switch Witch" visit on Halloween to check out the bag of sweets. After the child has had a chance to go through the candy bag and save a few favorite treats, the Switch Witch switches the remaining bag of sweets for a gift, usually a toy. This tradition allows younger children to participate in the fun of traditional trick or treating without ending up with all of the candy treats. 
  • Trade candy bars or a certain amount of candy for small trinkets, Halloween toys and novelties, barrettes, hair bows, ribbons, jewelry, action figures, or for a movie or video. 
  • Encourage healthy eating, but don’t battle over it. Instead, try to work something out, like allowing your children to eat what they want on Halloween night and then save five treats to eat over the next five days. Dispose of or put the rest out of sight.
  • If you don’t want your own kids trick-or-treating, here are a few alternatives:
  • Rent scary movies or dress up in your fabulous costumes and go out to the movies!
  • Throw a party complete with pumpkin carving, a costume contest, pin-the-bone-on-the-skeleton, and, of course, bobbing for apples!
  • Many churches, community centers and even shopping malls have Halloween festivals that provide a safe alternative to trick-or-treating. There is likely to be some candy at these events, but much less than with traditional trick-or-treating. Check your local paper for announcements of these events.
  • Spend the evening baking some spooky Halloween treats together.
  • If you’ve got some artistic energy and live in a safe neighborhood, turn your home into a haunted house and invite trick-or-treaters in for a tour!