Halloween Candy Alternatives: Healthier Trick-or-Treat Goodies

We live in a big neighborhood that is full of young, costumed trick-or-treaters, so they will get plenty of candy in their Halloween totes. I want to take a different healthier approach to Halloween this year and not give out candy, but I don't want my house to get egged or have my trees toilet papered because I made the little kiddies angry either! Trust me, this has happened to some people I know and my kids told me they heard it was because of the "yucky stuff" that particular house gave out as candy or treats. I don't know if that's the real reason for the egging or toilet papering of trees, but I don't want to take any chances. So I talked it over with some other parents and here are our top ideas for alternative healthy choices to hand out as Halloween trick-or-treat goodies instead of candy.

Grab bags of cheap toys and party items
Make your own Halloween themed grab bags! You can buy the majority of these cheap inexpensive fun items in bulk at a party store or club warehouse and save a lot of money. I like the idea of grab bags because the kids don't know what is inside the bag until they get home, so it prolongs the fun and gives them something to do while they stuff their face full of candy they've gotten at all the other houses! I also like the grab bags because parents can go through the goodies inside the grab bag and toss out anything that isn't age appropriate and could be a choking hazard (be sure you seal the bags well with some glue). You can make your own grab bags or buy pre-made Halloween themed bags. Then all you have to do is fill the grab bags full of fun inexpensive items like skeleton or spider rings, Halloween decorated pencils or brightly colored erasers in fun shapes, colorful sparkly stickers with ghosts or other Halloween icons on them, small notebook pads, stencils, Halloween themed stamps and ink pads, mini-sized tubs of play-doh, small party sized bubbles, or miniature coloring books and crayons, yo-yo's, paper airplanes, small bouncy rubber balls, miniature slinky toys, or cute themed toothbrush and mini-toothpaste kits.

Healthy food alternative instead of candy
As with the items for your grab bag, you can buy the majority of these treats in bulk at a club warehouse store or discount grocery and save a lot of money. Consider handing out child size packages of animal crackers, packages of cheese or peanut butter crackers, individual wrapped low fat cherry licorice sticks, kid size packs of low fat gummy bears, mini boxes of kid friendly flavored cereal, single serve packages of fruit rolls, sunflower seeds, small bags of chips, mini boxes of raisins, single serve packets of popcorn, granola bars, pretzels, sugar free gum, packets of instant different flavors of hot chocolate, yogurt or chocolate covered raisins, or single serving packets of mixed nuts (just be sure to ask the child if they are allergic to nuts).

Using these suggestions, you won't spend any more money on these Halloween candy alternatives than you would have spent on candy, and you'll feel good about giving the kids a healthier treat.