How Do I Do a Healthy Halloween?

By Mark Bishop, Deputy Director

Halloween is coming up, and this is the first time that I have a child who is old enough to really know what it's about. So I'm a bit stressed.

What do I give out for Halloween? I really don't want to give out candy -- it just doesn't seem right to me. But it's cheap, easy, and I don't want to be that guy on the block giving out health club certificates to five-year-olds... I mean, kids to need to have fun too.

So I asked my good friend Google what to do and the best info I found was this:

Many people want to be able to have some healthy Halloween treats for kids. ...Here are a few suggestions that you may want to consider using. Check out your online vendors or discount stores to get the best prices on large bags of healthy goodies such as these: 

• Colorful pencils and notepads 
• Stickers 
• Small inexpensive games, puzzles or whistles 
• Packages of sugar-free chewing gum 
• Individual packs of dried fruit 
• Small boxes of raisins 
• Individual packages of trail mix 
• Juice boxes 
• Individual packs of pretzels 
• Small boxes of crayons or colored chalk 

So I'm not giving out juice boxes (I couldn't imagine carrying 200 or more juice boxes home), and I don't think little foam games... I'm now leaning toward pencils, stickers or raisin boxes. 

On the other hand, when Henry turned 3, we had a great time with a piñata full of raisins, foam dice, notepads, fruit leather and organic lollipops. Maybe we should give out the same things for Halloween?

Please. Help me out. Any thoughts or experiences with successful and less-unhealthy Halloween give-aways?

Comments

[foodmomiac]

I'm a fan of candy, though we typically limit it. In my mind, though, holidays are about indulgence.

That said, my husband and I were joking last night that we were going to give out dental flossers.

(Disclosure: I'm on the board of HSC.)

[Mark]

Dental flossers... In my neighborhood you'd be at risk of getting your house egged. :)

What about something like this?
http://tiny.cc/scarystickers

[Ken West]

At Prevent Blindness America we've promoted safe and happy Halloweens for years. We have a list of Halloween Safety Tips Here:

http://www.preventblindness.org/news/releases/100109_1.html

If you're looking for an alternative to candy, one thing to watch out for is items that could cause eye injuries to small children or could pose choking hazards.

P.S. We love the Healthy Schools Campaign Twitter feed!

[Bess Celio]

I have given out a combination of dark chocolate (healthier sweet), granola bars, gold fish, raisin boxes, and small notepads, and the dried fruit things you can find at Wholefoods... I also throw some bad stuff like M&Ms in too..It's fun to watch what children pick. And I'm always surprised when they go for the healthier snack! Happy Halloween!!

[Mark]

I love this idea of giving choice and watching what kids do. I think I may give this a try. A little Halloween social experiment...

[Mark]

Someone just forwarded me this link. It looks very useful...
http://www.greenhalloween.org/

[John]

My wife has been giving out non-candy items for years. The first year she tried it, she didn't know what type of reaction she would get. It was a hit. The reaction on kids faces was priceless. Commnets like "cool" or "look what these guys are handing out". She handed out things like goofy glasses, rings, puzzles, scary spiders, pencils, etc. Check out Oriental Trading catalog for great selection and bulk purchases. (No - I don't work for them)

[Kate]

In addition to Halloween celebrations at home and in the neighborhood, there are also school parties. For ideas on creating new traditions for Halloween and other celebrations at school, check out this brief article with links for other resources http://www.healthiergeneration.org/schools.aspx?id=4082.

[Kari]

Last year I gave a choice between popcorn balls and packages of sugarless gum. Almost everyone went for the gum. They were VERY excited about it! You can get big packages of gum with Xylitol at Costco for a reasonable price.