Are you going to be treating or tricking this year? Help the young people in your neighborhood make better choices by offering healthier snacks and fun treats instead of sugar and fat-laden sweets.
Julie Paul, registered dietitian with WakeMed Endocrinology & Diabetes, commented that no candy is really great for you. “You are not going to get nutritional value out of candy. For Halloween, focus on the experience instead of the candy. Seek out special Trunk or Treat events in your community, visit a pumpkin patch, decorate your house, dress up your pets, carve a spooktakular pumpkin, or create a really fun costume.
On Halloween night and the day after, do not allow children to go on a candy binge. Ask them to pick out a few treats and put the rest away for later. Better yet, have them trade the candy in for a special toy or privilege. Most children eventually forget about the candy, and parents, this is also not an open invitation to take care of the leftovers.”
Give-away ideas that probably won’t result in your house being toilet papered or egged this weekend include:
Glow sticks, bracelets, necklaces
Gel pens
LED finger lights
Fake blood
Silly Putty
Slime
Vampire teeth
Water guns
Squinkies
Bracelet or necklace beading kits
Coloring pages or coloring books
Wind-up Toys
Silly Straws
If food is your preference, these options are better choices than the traditional candy.
Animal crackers
Small packages of Goldfish or other crackers
Individually wrapped granola bars
Sugar-free hot chocolate packages
Microwave popcorn 100-calorie packs
Clementines or other small oranges
Pre-packaged apple slices
Scarrots – baby carrots repackaged for Halloween. (You may still get rolled, but at least you can take comfort in the fact that Scarrots are carrot marketing at its best.)
Great idea to give kids real healthy treats instead of promoting bad health habits. Thanks