When I was a kid, I loved getting tons of candy on Halloween. Now that I’m a Mom – I despise it. It’s so hard to tell a 2 year old that she doesn’t need to eat all that junk that she’s worked so hard to collect.
I know, I know. Maybe I shouldn’t let her collect it, huh? But I’m going to. It’s a past time that I enjoyed in my childhood and I’m going to let her enjoy.
But – I’m going to jump on the Healthy Halloween wagon this year and I encourage you to do it also! Stuck with no healthy ideas that are alternatives to the cheap candy found in the stores? Here’s a list to help get your creative juices flowing!
- Play Doh! I’m sure you’ve all seen those small, treat size canisters of Play Doh. I gave these out a couple of years ago and they were a true hit!
- Fun, decorative Mandarin Oranges. Super simple – it’s orange and with a fun Jack-o-Lantern style face, they’ll fit right in with the Holiday! {pictured above}
- Do the same thing straight onto Clementines – you’ll be surprised at how much more kids will love the fruit just because it has the silly face drawn on!
- Stuffed Animals – Yep. My parents have a neighbor who lets children pick stuffed animals that she’s collected – they’re all washed and are in great shape and you would be surprised at how many kids think this is the coolest hand-out ever!
- Healthy pre-packaged snacks, like Pop Snax and Organic Letter of the Day Cookies from Earth’s Best. These popular toddler – older kid snacks now come in an individual package and are the perfect size for handing out healthy Halloween treats instead of candy!
Earth's Best Healthy Halloween Sweepstakes
Tuesday 5th of February 2013
[...] shared with you my Five Healthy Halloween Ideas last week and I wanted to make sure you didn't miss out on the great opportunity to WIN one of [...]
Meme
Tuesday 30th of October 2012
great ideas! I like the ideas for drawing the faces directly on to the clementines :)
Victoria
Tuesday 30th of October 2012
I love Earth's Best :0) My daughter has food allergies so for Halloween when she receives something other than candy or food, her face just lights up :0) Thank you for sharing!
Jacquie
Tuesday 30th of October 2012
We've also done Halloween pretzels and stickers/tattoos for younger kids who like that option. Nice list!
Clarinda
Tuesday 30th of October 2012
Great post! I wrote a post with some healthy Halloween tips, and I wondered how kids would actually react to getting play-doh or some other non-candy treats. I've love for more families to do this, though.
If you're interested in reading my post, you can read it here: Healthy Halloween Tips