If you’re anything like me, you cringe at the thought of all the candy your children will be collecting this weekend. We already have bags of candy from Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party, and I know more is coming.
I have some ideas for using up the sweets, without affecting the girls’ health, but dentists across the country have a way that also gives back.
When your kids participate in the Halloween Candy Buy Back, the candy will be sent to overseas military—giving them a small taste of October at home and giving kids $1/pound to put towards something else.
If cash isn’t enough to motivate them, you can also let them know the Great Pumpkin will exchange their candy for a coveted toy. (Then, you sell the candy to a local dentist!) Here are a few other ways to use up the sweets:
- Chop up your favorites to use in desserts—mix into brownies, cookies or sprinkle over ice cream sundaes.
- Save any non-Halloween themed candy to use in birthday goody bags or stockings.
- Create candy bouquets or wreaths to give as teacher gifts.
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Many health experts say that actually eating all that candy at once is less harmful that limiting it to doses over an extended period of time. And frankly, whats the point of the kid going through all that effort to walk and earn that candy, if they’re just going to get 1 or 2 dollars. That’s a cheat. The soldiers are grown ups. Let kids be kids.
It’s a nice idea to give some of it away, but it’s not that horrible idea to let a kid be a kid once a year. Halloween’s a time to break the rules, diets included