Healthy Halloween Candy Habits?
A Trick or a Treat?
It’s October and it’s HALLOWEEN TIME! For many, Halloween brings thoughts of parties, costumes and lots of sugary treats. Enjoying all the festivities of Halloween can be fun without abandoning good eating habits completely!
Below are a number of little “trick and treat” fun alternatives that can be used to help manage your child’s candy desires. With just a little bit of planning, you and your kids can have loads of fun on Halloween while creating an opportunity to teach them how to make healthy choices while still enjoying treats once in awhile.
Candy, candy..it’s everywhere!!!
1. Don’t buy candy early when it’s tempting with Halloween promotions in the stores. Buy it a few days before Halloween.
2. Talk about how much fun trick or treating is the day before Halloween, but not fun for their body if they eat too much candy at once. Stress to your kids that candy is a treat and should be eaten in small doses. Share with them the benefit of spreading their candy over many days by dividing it up and making their treats last longer.
3. Decide on a reasonable number of days to enjoy the candy. (ie 5 days)
4. Agree with your children WHEN the candy will be eaten (ie after a healthy meal) and as a treat.
5. Set candy eating rules: they should NOT eat their candy until AFTER they come home from trick or treating as it needs to be inspected for a tight seal, etc.
6. Have dinner before going trick or treating which will decrease their temptation before they get home.
7. After going trick or treating, let them divide their candy into little treat bags that can be enjoyed one day at a time. Make it fun and into games…separate types of candy into groups, etc.
8. Use mini-sized bags and have them pick their favorite candy to place in each bag, thereby learning portion control.
9. After deciding on the number of days after Halloween for treats, store the rest in an “out of reach place.”
Healthy Halloween Treats
Be a role model by showing your children that you spend time thinking about healthier choices. Make it fun and a game to ‘hunt’ in the grocery store for healthier choices! Teach your children to read food labels looking for treats that are lower in sugar, and be aware of sugar rich Halloween foods that are strongly advertised.
Halloween does not have to be about candy. Be creative and find healthy alternatives to Halloween treats that are fun and inexpensive and can be handed out to trick-or-treaters.
Fun ‘Low Sugar’ Alternatives and Candy Free Treats for Halloween
•Stickers •Bouncy balls •Rubber spiders •Vampire teeth •Temporary tattoos •Snack size package of popcorn/pretzels •Individual packets of crayons •Halloween pencils/erasers •Sugar-Free gum •Pencil toppers •Coins (pennies, nickels, dimes) •Yo-yos •Small jar of play-do •Organic fruit snacks •Glow-sticks •Tiny decks of cards •Bubbles
What to do with the left over candy after it’s divided up?
•Take the leftover candy to your work to share in the break room. •Consider buying back some or all of the remaining candy which provides a treat in the form of spending money. •Put the remaining candy in a plastic bag and keep it in a cabinet in the kitchen for a later event. •Use the candy at Christmas time for a gingerbread house or art project. •Donate it to a local shelter. •Send it to the troops. •Donate it to the school for an arts and crafts project. •Throw it away.
ENJOY THIS VEGGIE SKELETON!!!
http://www.thekitchn.com/fresh-halloween-treat-a-colorful-vegetable-skeleton-177583
Make Halloween A Time To Be Active
•Halloween is not just about the treats! Halloween is a great time to enjoy being active and the outdoors as a family. • Collect orange, red and yellow leaves and use for an art project.
•During October visit a local pumpkin patch and pick your own pumpkins and gourds. •Join your kids and enjoy walking through the neighborhood or malls to look at Halloween decorations.
It is not hard to make Halloween a healthy and fun event with just a bit of planning. Candy is part of Halloween but it does not have to be the only part of Halloween.
Check out this website on 64 non-candy Halloween snack ideas:
http://www.listotic.com/64-non-candy-halloween-snack-ideas/
This Halloween plan for a healthy season that helps your child learn about healthy choices while forming a positive association with nutrition.
Have a Happy Halloween and watch out for all the witches, ghosts and goblins!
