All the little ghosts and goblins have made it home safe and sound from a night on the town with their reusable bags filled with sugary sweets. Many parents don’t want to deprive their kids the experience of Halloween, but at the same time, don’t want them to fill their tummy’s with all that sugar.
My daughter just turned 2 and had some candy for the very first time this past week. However, I made sure it was a healthier version. We opted for Annie’s Homegrown organic vegan bunny fruits, and she loved them. I am sure this won’t work for long, and we will have to come up with a plan B.
So what to do with the all that candy sitting in your house? You could always just throw it away, but that seems too wasteful. Here are a few ideas to help you with your candy addiction:
5 Ideas for all that Halloween Candy
- Bring it to work. My husband left this morning with the small amount of candy that little E collected to share with his co-workers. Before you all get your Halloween costumes in a bunch, there are plenty of fruit bunnies waiting for her when she wants some. Don’t get me wrong, she wont be eating bags of them, but a little treat won’t hurt every once in a while.
- Donate it. Many parents don’t mind that their kids eat candy around Halloween, and see it as a right of passage while growing up. Perhaps donate your candy or some of it, to a food bank, church etc.
- Swap it. I have heard it called the switch witch or pumpkin fairy or great pumpkin before- they take the candy in exchange for some money or a small little prize like the tooth fairy. Neat idea. It could be a fun tradition.
- Give it to your dentist. I have read that more and more dentists are accepting Halloween candy in exchange for money. Your kids bring their candy to their dentist, and they get some money in return.
- Compost it. If you really don’t want your kids or any other kid for that matter to have candy, before tossing it in the trash, unwrap it and put it in your compost bin. After unwrapping it, send the wrapper to TerraCycle where they will recycle the wrappers into purses, pencil cases etc.
What will you be doing with all that candy? Eating it? Swapping it? Donating it? Composting it? Giving it?
I would love to hear if you let your little monsters eat the candy or if you preferred doing something creative.
photo credit: pengrin™ via photopin cc
candy, Halloween, organic, sugar. HFCS
I am the Good Girl Gone Green. Seeing garbage cans overflowing with recyclables breaks my heart.
Oh yes, what to do with all this candy. Thankfully we limited my kid’s trick-or-treating time to one hour, so they didn’t get too much stuff. Since my son suffers from multiple allergies, he can’t eat any of it. AND of course, then there is the health aspect. I’m not sure I’d let them eat any of it without allergies. So, we went with the switch witch option and my kids were happy to exchange their candy for a fun toy, which they found outside their bedroom doors this morning. Candy was long forgotten at that point
But, just what should the switch witch do with all that candy? I think her husband will have to take it to work, like we’ve done in previous years.
Next year I think we’ll just have a fun kids Halloween party the weekend before and on Halloween night, my kids will dress up and pass out candy. They love doing this anyway.
I love the halloween party idea and giving out candy, Jennifer!
I was asking myself that same question this am! We only had 10 kids come to our door so we have lots left over and our little “butterfly” collected a bag full. She had 3 pieces of chocolate last night and that’s pretty much all she needs. My office is pretty health conscious so I wouldn’t feel right bringing in all the chocolate or candy. Maybe I’ll find a place to give it away. Do you know if you can freeze chocolate? I was thinking of doing that and then bringing a bit out for Christmas, Valentines and Easter.
Jen, you can freeze the chocolate candies, so I have been told to use at a later date. Might be an option for you guys so little G doesn’t get a sugar high! lol
I never knew you could compost your candy!!! Thanks for the idea.
I WISH we knew of a dentist that was collecting it in our area – too bad there wasn’t a main website we could look at to find local dentists. I’ve been googling all morning!
I don’t see why you couldn’t compost candy. I like the dentist idea, too. Not sure there are many in my neck of the woods either.
You wrote my post for me! We let the kids eat all they want on Halloween (which amazingly is not much bc their little tummies are not used to that type of food) and then they keep 10 pieces. The rest goes to work with hubby! We also love to compost too.
LOL! I think you have to find a balance, and it seems like you and your girls found it!
The dentists I have heard of around here will pay you $1 per pound (along with a new toothbrush of course) and then they send it to the troops… there may be a way to donate it directly to the troops as well, if you don’t have a local dentist who does something like this.
Great suggestions! We do number 3 every year. Out kiddos don’t eat candy. And they are just fine with exchanging for mom’s homemade treats or healthier options.
Great ideas! There are also some collections to send candy to the troops overseas in our area.