Subscribe
Follow Us
Become a fan
It’s about a week until Halloween, and kids around the country are rejoicing.
Parents, on the other hand, are dreading the next week.
Between school parties, friends’ parties, and trick-or-treating, most kids will probably eat their weight in sugary, unhealthy candy and snacks. But short of locking your kids in their rooms until November 1st, how do you keep them from becoming sugar zombies? After all, a few treats now and then are fine, but massive amounts of sugar will do nothing for their teeth, their sleeping habits, their energy levels, and much more.
Below are a few easy ways you can reduce the amount of sugary snacks your kids consume this Halloween, without making parties and celebrations off-limits:
1. Limit sugary snacks at school parties. Talk to your kids’ teachers and see if you can get them to agree to restrict the snacks they serve at school parties. In many classes, the parents of the other kids are the ones who provide snacks for the class party. The teacher might be willing to ask parents to send in healthier snacks such as pretzels, fresh fruit, and cut up vegetables. Odds are, you’re not the only parents concerned about the amount of sugar their kids consume; with enough time, teachers can effectively phase out most candies in favor of healthier foods.
2. Feed your kids well before parties. It’s only common sense; if your kids are full from a healthy meal, they will be less likely to stuff themselves with sugary snacks at a friend’s party. This is a good tip for adults, as well. And if there are any “special” snacks being served at the party that your kids really want, you can always pack some up to enjoy later.
3. Limit Halloween candy. Of course, you should always make sure that all candy your kids receive while trick-or-treating is checked before you let them eat it, but another rule should also be that a portion of the candy must be saved for later. After all, it’s for their benefit as well – we all know what will happen if they eat all their candy in one night, and it won’t be pretty.
Hopefully these tips will help you get through Halloween with a minimum of sugar highs and lows and upset stomachs! Do you have any tips to help you get through Halloween? We’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Digg it!
Add to Delicious!
Stumble it
3 Comments
We sort through the candy my children receive and put 1/2 of it aside for decorating Gingerbread Houses at Christmas time. The candy does not go bad in that time period and why buy more at Christmas when we have received sufficient amounts at Halloween!
I also find there is alternatives that companies are offering instead of candy as treats. The past few years we have given out funky colored pencils, play-dough, mini playing cards, and 100% fruit bars but I have also seen mini crayon packs too. It is very common for me to hear kids say “wow, I need a new pencil, those are cool” or “hey, play-dough, I want (red, blue,etc) please! The kids are usually excited to see these options.
If we let our imagination lead us, we can make small changes that will make Halloween a much healthier time.
Awesome post!
We still have hallowe’en candy left over from last year, in fact. Up until very recently, we had hallowe’en candy from several years past. On Hallowe’en night, we allow our young’uns two Hallowe’en treats from their bags (and we realise that Older One has probably snarfed some out on the prowl). Then, every day, if they have good behaviour, they are permitted a treat from their treat bag. But not at school, and not before school.
We don’t give out candy, either. We either give out toys or we give out fruit. I know there are parents out there who are freaked out at this idea because of the story from the 80s where some kid found a razorblade in her apple (urban legend anyway, I think) or because of Snow White or something, but a) we live in a small town and of the two people in town who give out fruit, people could find us if they needed to ask about it, and b) that’s *their* problem, not ours. We give out nutritious snacks, if we give out snacks. I’ve noticed other families doing the same.
For school parties, I will make low-sugar or sugar-free snacks…I’ve noticed that the fruit trays with berries tend to go fairly quickly.
And if we have hallowe’en parties, I don’t serve candy. Sandwiches cut in spooooky shapes; buns shaped like arms, but no candy.
When my kids did the Halloween thing, we’d often find alternatives, such as going to parties, or relatives, instead of door-to-door. More and more people are turning to these alternatives, for safety reasons. Going to the mall is popular, but still leaves the problem of too much sugar and fat. I like the idea of pencils, cards, etc. A friend (well-meaning, but childless, so not really aware of the problems) suggested homemade treats, so you can control the sugar. That may have worked years ago when we were still naive, but now, it’s just not sensible. Gifts are an excellent alternative.