Halloween Trick or Treat Candy Alternatives

Now is the time to start planning for Halloween. One big question that always comes up is what to give the Trick or Treaters. My husband and I live in a sub-division that loves to participate in Halloween and most of my neighbors will put up decorations and turn their porch light on to welcome the costumed kids. If the weather is nice we stand outside and pass out the treats and then we hear the kids telling each other what houses have the best treats. We have hundreds of trick or treaters every year, which means lots and lots of candy. Buying plenty and having extra was never a problem, especially if you're a chocoholic like I am.

Having leftover treats was never an issue until the year I was on a diet. Then having extra chocolate around wasn't such a good idea. I decided to buy only the amount I thought we would need. Skimping on volume was a big mistake, as it turned out, as we started to run out of candy halfway thru the planned times allowed in our town for Trick or Treat activities.

Hubby then remembered we had some Mardi gras beads left over from a festival we had participated in that year. Great idea! And, what a hit! The 'halloweeners' loved them! It was fun to be known as one of the houses that was "giving out cool things". Now every year we have something different for our guest goblins.

One year I was able to find boxes of crayons on sale. It turned out that even the older kids liked getting crayons as a treat. The faces of the smaller kids really lit up when they saw those crayons! We try to have different items each year. We have given Hawaiian leis. One of the most favored seemed to be little glider airplanes, made of Styrofoam instead of the traditional balsam wood.

My favorite place to buy these is the Oriental Trading Company, available online or by catalogue. They have lots of items to choose from. I try to keep my price to under 10 cents per trick or treater. I came up with this figure because I know I can get snack size candy bars on sale for 10 for $1. I also look for sales throughout the year, which is how I found the crayons.

When I think of all the advantages of giving a treat different from the traditional candy, it makes Halloween a little more fun. By not giving candy, well, all have heard about the potential problems with candy: too much sugar, fear of tampering, etc. Giving the kids little fun items they can play with has always been a hit with them. In addition, it's fun knowing that our house is one where the kids always come back year after year. We have had kids walk up our driveway and ask "What do you have this year?" before they even get to us!

And most parents appreciate one less piece of candy in their child's Trick Or Treat bag!

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