Holidays like Halloween are a time when we celebrate by eating too much chocolate, chips, candy and other unhealthy items. The sad truth is - our children are becoming increasingly overweight, and most eat too much junk food all year round. Allowing them to collect as much free candy as they can in a couple of hours is sending a message that it is alright to eat junk when it is free/when it is a holiday/ when it is tradition. How can you still let kids have fun but limit the junk? My solution is to replace the candy with fun trick or treat toys.
Halloween toys are no costlier than candy, but will last longer. They can be given out as individual items, or smaller ones can be combined in Halloween party favor bags. Kids will collect enough candy from other houses anyways, and most love the surprise of getting fun toys. There are useful toys like: Halloween pencils; erasers; stampers hair elastics; and bouncy balls. There are also craft items to decorate or assemble. Some are just goofy, gooey or spooky novelties that kids love - like plastic spiders; bats; rings; finger puppets; mini skateboards; stuffed toys; etc.
In addition to the obvious health benefits of no sugar, there is also no allergy (nut, milk, wheat) concerns with toys. Bringing toys to school poses no risk to other kids with allergies, and parents do not need to search through toys to find potentially harmful allergens.
Also, as I often tell my clients, if you don't bring junk in the house - you can't be tempted to eat it. I have had many distraught parents say that they bought candy early and ended up eating most of it before Halloween began. The other big benefit with Halloween toys is that you can store leftovers for next year.
Mary Roberts is a nutritionist specializing in natural foods. She writes articles and blogs about healthy nutrition for kids and families at http://kidsnutritionist.blogspot.com. Visit her blog for more information on healthy eating at Halloween and where to buy fun, inexpensive Halloween toys.
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