Alternatives Treats to Halloween Candy for Your Trick or Treaters

Although Halloween may be over a month away, it is never too early to start planning for those trick or treaters. With obesity being a growing concern in the United States, you may want to consider handing out goodies other than candy this Halloween.

There are many treats that children will enjoy receiving on Halloween, maybe not quite as much as candy, but they will still be content. For instance, if you still want to give an edible goodie, instead of buying chocolate and lollipops this year, get small packages of pretzels, crackers, or trail mix. Many companies are creating Halloween themed packaging to encourage healthier treats. You can also give out little juice boxes this Halloween, it will eliminate the children's thirst while they're trick or treating and the juice will still provide the sweetness they desire.

If you decide that you want to avoid food all together this Halloween, you can go to a local party store and find all sorts of little toys and games to give to your trick or treaters. If you know the children in your neighborhood you can gear your treats towards their age group. For instance, if you know you have a lot of very young children, you will want to stay away from small plastic toys that create choking hazards. You can go to many stores and find small Halloween stickers that young children will love. If the children are older, your options are numerous. Local party stores will almost always have small Halloween novelties such as spider rings, puzzles, pencils and little travel games that will distract the children from the endless amount of candy they will inevitably receive.

When you live in a small community and never get many trick or treaters on Halloween, you could even think about getting small gourds or pumpkins. The really small ones won't rot for a long time so they make great activities for children. They may have already carved a pumpkin but it will rot shortly after Halloween is over so if you give them a small one they can decorate with paint or markers, they can keep it for quite a long time.

If you want to give your trick or treaters an activity to do but don't want to buy a bunch of gourds, your local craft store will usually have small Halloween themed craft kits that usually cost a dollar each. There are typically different designs such as using foam pieces to create a jack o lantern or a witch flying on a broom stick. These kits are a great way to keep the children busy and they will be able to have fun without focusing purely on the candy.