Halloween: Healthy Trick-or-Treat Options

julidav

How about fruit snacks?

significance

Individual tubs of peaches and pears in juice. Fruit leather. Little bags of almonds, if you can find them. Bags of scroggin.

Better still, if you know the parents and have the time: frozen bananas (or half-bananas) on popsicle sticks, with the tips dipped in chocolate.

saraann752003

Pretzels, popcorn balls (walmart sells those), halloween garb (spider rings, bat rings, etc...), gummy type stuff....

I just buy candy and when my kids go trick or treating, whatever candy is leftover I donate to so our leftover candy can be sent overseas to our awesome troops stationed in Iraq/Afghanistan.

My hubby (USARMY) wanted me to post that this is cool and thank you!

summertime_girl

Just for one night, do the candy!

kristilovescake

Without reading all the comments - I say you should do toys! We're doing little goodie bags with a couple cheap toys (party favors) and a small piece of candy. They have little bubbles, jewelry, bouncy balls, little action figures, etc. Tons of the junk I used to love as a kid.

We just have a buttload of small toy favors left after our wedding (we did little kiddy favor bags, that barely any kids took) that I need to get rid of, so we're handing them out. I’m also adding the little piece of candy to make the older kids happy so they don’t just get little toys.

If you want to do candy, one way to make sure you stay out of them is to get the little baggies and stuff them all AS SOON as you buy the candy – so if you’re desperate enough to eat the candy, you’ll be taking it from a little kid (meanie! :P). After Halloween, you can always donate them (give them to a family friend, or at the end of the night dump them all off at the last kid!)

drvvork

And while we're on the subject, I stumbled across this site

http://notricktreats.com

You can register your house if you are going to be handing out any specialty treats - gluten-free, kosher, vegan, etc. That way parents can know to stop by your house if their child has dietary restrictions. Pretty awesome.

I checked out this site... rather cute. I would have (as a child) found all the houses handing out $$. As an old fart here - I remember when giving apples, oranges and homemade items was the thing - but no longer the case. So the little gift bags as someone suggested or change would do the treating.

stinastudios

You can buy glow bracelets/necklaces at most dollar stores around this time of year. Thats what we've given out in the past. Kids love them cuz they glow, parents love them cuz they make the kids more visible in the dark, and you'll love them because you can't eat what's left over! (You can however play with the leftovers, much fun to be had in turning all the light off and dancing around with leftover glow stuff all over you.)

chrissaucier

for the younger kids halloween pencils, erasers and joke items(spider rings, glow bracelets), the tweens only like candy though

lloydrt

one scarry night a year, go ahead , give em what they want..............rocks

Charlie Brown loved em, so why not your kids

just kidding......One night isnt going to destroy em, let em have fun............shheeseee..........theyre just kids...........BOOO...........

tameko2

I was JUST thinking about this same thing today because we're moving into a house in a neighborhood with kids. I think I'm just gonna get them candy though, I was thinking of doing fun things like halloween cupcakes but while we are a harmless looking young couple who is obviously NOT out to poison your kids, I still think people would feel uncomfortable with that. I think i would unless Iknew them -- plus cupcakes are messy.

Still thinking about it. I think the little toys/stickers/etc is fun -- temporary tattoos are awesome when you are a kid. I can't believe someone suggested PRUNES somewhere, what were they thinking? Totally delusional. I saw suggestions of trail mix and cereal bars too - I mean sure those are healthier but really? No kid is going to want the same healthy snacks that get pushed on them by their parents.

What do people think about packaging chocolate covered fruit into little bags? Not that its really HEALTHY but its a little more natural.... I love the stuff they sell at trader joes. would you think I was trying to poison your kid if I gave you a bag of those? Rice crispie treats in bags? Less messy than cupcakes.

Bah. I'll probably just end up getting candy.

mamijujuphat

I agree with giving away lil' trinkets & 100 calories packs might work...or funsize treats...as a mother I look out to what my kid has too...but she gets to indulge a lil' ...that's what every kid looks forward to

Kalrez

Totally ignoring the "Waaa waaaa you're ruining Halloween and are the worst person ever" posts. Hyperbole.

There are some pretty good ideas here that I hadn't thought about.

- Pre-packaged grapes. Who doesn't like grapes?!
- Glow bracelets.
- 100 calorie packs
- Juice boxes

Those are all things that my BF and I would eat if anything is left over. Not interested in fast food coupons, though that isn't a terrible idea. I'd like to give whole apples, but people don't let their kids eat non-factory packaged treats on Halloween anymore.

ladycomix

Totally ignoring the "Waaa waaaa you're ruining Halloween and are the worst person ever" posts. Hyperbole.

There are some pretty good ideas here that I hadn't thought about.

- Pre-packaged grapes. Who doesn't like grapes?!
- Glow bracelets.
- 100 calorie packs
- Juice boxes

Those are all things that my BF and I would eat if anything is left over. Not interested in fast food coupons, though that isn't a terrible idea. I'd like to give whole apples, but people don't let their kids eat non-factory packaged treats on Halloween anymore.

Who doesnt like grapes? My son. Well...he likes them as little tiny missles to shoot at toys and things. The green army men beg you to reconsider this one.

You wont ruin Halloween, but you'd best be prepared for the sad kid's faces when they see what you give em. I've heard a lil girl tell the people who's porch we were standing on "THAT's not for Halloween!" She was cute and about two...but the lady answering the door was not happy.

The glowsticks and bracelets are an awesome idea. My son would want to knock on your door and ask for another

PlunderBunneh

For the last couple of years, I've been buying little Teddy Grahams individual packs and giving those out with a single small piece of candy to the little ones. It's a bit more expensive, but as a parent of trick-or-treaters, I really appreciate treats that I don't have to take away as soon as they get home.

jncornet

Whatever you give has to be packaged for safety concerns. (so Apples and the like won't work). Personally I'm giving out candy and then bringing the rest to the office so it's not in the house to tempt me. It's not your responsibility to teach kids to eat healthy on Halloween of all times... all the kids want is to bag candy. And honestly it's one day of the year, let them have it.

YukonJoy

I have to agree with the OP here.... you never know..... your snack might get the kids to start eating healthier, especially if you find something that's not pure sugar that appeals to them!

*cough* delusional *cough*

kbrogan78

I have to side with the folks that say it's Halloween, it's supposed to be a candy-filled crazy night. I buy candy that I don't like (anything with coconut, Skittles, Sweetarts) so that I'm not even remotely tempted to eat it post-Halloween. Usually the last trick or treaters are the oldest kids (teenagers, sometimes without costumes, just out for the candy), so I've been known to simply dump all the remainders in their bags as well.

If you're adament about no candy, I think the temporary tattoos or glow bracelets would be awesome. Something without sugar that the kids would still be excited about.

mamamc03

Little boxes of raisins, Party favor toys, teddy grahams, baked lays. Some grocery stores sell 1oz Jello squirts. Those are pretty cool. String cheese is good.

mamamc03

Whatever you give has to be packaged for safety concerns. (so Apples and the like won't work). Personally I'm giving out candy and then bringing the rest to the office so it's not in the house to tempt me. It's not your responsibility to teach kids to eat healthy on Halloween of all times... all the kids want is to bag candy. And honestly it's one day of the year, let them have it.

There are indiviually packaged apple slices.

ASPhantom

We make little goodie bags. They usually have a mini bag of popcorn, tattoos, stretchy gooey sticky toys (shaped like a hand or something), sometimes bubbles, other little toys, and glow bracelets.

They kids love them and the parents are always thankful for them. They get enough candy at other houses and my husband is a dietitian, so candy from us is not a good thing. lol...

skinniewannabe

I shop at Costco and they sell little tubs of Play-Doh to give out to trick-or-treaters. This is what I'm getting this year to give out, my kids love Play-Doh, so if there is any left over it will be put to good use!

bug1114

I agree with two previous posters, toys or glow bracelets. Oriental Trading online has a ton of little toys that are reasonable and are designed for Halloween. If you have a craft store nearby, look for the glow bracelets. Kids LOVE them. Our local craft store (Michaels) sells them in tubes of 15 for a dollar. Cheap, fun, and healthy! We are giving those out this year. I'm not against giving out candy, but candy can get expensive depending on the amount of tricker treaters that you have. Heck, if I could, I'd give out money. That was always my favorite as a kid

Kalrez

Well, Halloween is here!

I ended up making treat bags that consisted of:
- Dum dum suckers (allergen free)
- Halloween pretzels
- Spider rings
- Pixie sticks
- Little Hug juices

The kids LOVED them! Every kid who grabbed a bag was like "AMG JUICE!!" I heard one kid say "I'm so thirsty, this is awesome."

It cost me around $17 to make 20 bags, which is less than $0.50 per kid. Pixie sticks and dum dum suckers are relatively low-cal. They're also super cheap! It was $15 for ONE BAG of chocolate candy. That would have given the kids a single piece of candy. Instead, I went healthier, cheaper, and the kids loved it.

So poopoo on all you naysayers :P

alwhit10

Little bags of pretzels or goldfish, any snack that is a different option

HMonsterX

I was expecting the "kids" this year to carry a PIN machine with them...

BUT! My faith was restored tonight! I saw LOADS of families out, with their 4-10 year old kids fully dressed up, y'know, doing it RIGHT! And ZERO chavs! Maybe our neighbourhood is changing for the better! I even doled out most of my own treats, the fun size choccy bars to them all!

HMonsterX

Little bags of pretzels or goldfish, any snack that is a different option

You eat goldfish?! :O