Tips for Dealing with Halloween Candy
With Halloween so quickly approaching many of us start to twitch at the thought of our kids eating so much candy. If you think about it, just a few treats can add up to a whole lot of sugar and calories, not to mention food additives and chemicals known to damage cellular DNA. Oh, and don’t forget all those food dyes linked to behavior issues like aggressiveness, hyperactivity, and attention disorders.
Consuming just 5 candies like M&Ms, Snickers, Raisinets, Smarties, and Skittles will put your kids at over 34 teaspoons of sugar. Yes, I said teaspoons not grams. Wow that’s a lot of sugar!
Consuming just 5 candies like M&Ms, Snickers, Raisinets, Smarties, and Skittles will put your kids at over 34 teaspoons of sugar. Yes, I said teaspoons not grams. Wow that’s a lot of sugar!
Top Halloween Tips
- Do NOT buy Halloween candy until the very last minute- it’s too tempting for both you and your kids to have it lying around.
- Eat a large dinner before you go out trick or treating. Preferably the kids favorite meal. This way the kids will be full and will have less room for the candy- You know, it's like going food shopping when you are hungry, never a good idea. I know what you're thinking, trick or treaters usually go out around 4ish, a bit early for dinner. Who cares, feed them anyway. Rather than an afterschool snack go straight for dinner. If you don’t have time to cook prior to going out, consider setting up the crock pot that morning, eating left overs from the night before, or even ordering a pizza (not the healthiest, but better than candy.)
- Purchase some “healthier candy” and inexpensive nonfood items, like erasers, tattoos, and stickers to throw into their bags as they walk around. Check out Yummy Earth or Annie’s for great healthier food options. Which by the way, taste awesome!
- Play with your candy- I know this sounds totally crazy, but it works. Have the older ones compete in building the tallest, strongest, or sturdiest structure using their candy. Use the candy to slide across the floor like a hockey puck with the hopes of scoring on your opponent. Have the little ones sort, count, and stack them. Just yesterday my daughter (9 yrs. old) said to another child, “What do you mean you don’t play with your candy! That’s the best part."
- The Halloween Fairy– After returning from a night of Halloween fun, have the kids pick a few of their favorite pieces of candy to keep. Place the rest in a special spot for the Halloween Fairy (check out this book Switch Witch). In the morning, the candy has been magically changed into a toy. This does not have to be expensive. Think dollar store.
- Buy their candy – Set up a price value you all agree with. Such as...
- Fun sized bars $0.05
- Full sized bars $0.10
- Chocolate $0.15
- Candy $0.25
- Get it out of the house- unless you feel like fighting with your kids until Thanksgiving GET THE CANDY OUT OF THE HOUSE. Bring it to work, donate it, feed it to the dog, throw it out. I don’t care just get it out. Don’t feed it to the dog that was just a joke ha, ha.
