No Sugar Added: An Alternative to Candy and Other Sweets for Halloween

www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.doNormally when you think of Halloween, you automatically think of candy: Fun sized chocolate bars; individual bags of candy corn, and peanut butter chews wrapped in orange and black wax wrappers.

Everyone these days is more health conscious. We worry about how much sugar our children are getting. So what are the alternatives? Well, to be honest, I wasn't sure about it when my husband and I decided NOT to give out candy this Halloween.

Of course, there were the alternative snacks: At Wendy's you can purchase for $1 a book of coupons for 10 free kids sized frostie desserts. A few of the McDonalds restaurants are offering the same book of coupons, only their version will get you a package of cookies. Even some snacks that you would think of as healthier are full of sugar! Popcorn balls are made with heavy cane syrup, Candy or Caramel Apples are of course just apples coated with candy. (One of my favorite things to eat at Six Flags is a Fudge Apple!) Even fruit snacks can sometimes have as much sugar content as a candy bar!

I began to panic, thinking that we had stepped out and falledn into a black hole that we couldn't get out of. After all, we'd been bragging to all of our friends that the Carpenter household would not be giving out Candy this year! How in the world was I going to live up to my promise if I was giving out fruit roll-ups that actually had very little fruit in them? Then a flier in my daily paper gave me an idea...and it only took one trip to my local party store to find a virtual smorgasbord of treasures for the kiddies on All Hallows Eve!

I waded through trinkets and toys,(and while this sounds lame, I'm going to say it anyway), for girls and for boys! There were tiarra's and baby dolls, pocket pinball games, and high bounce balls. And many for the same price or less than a bag of candy at the grocery store. Then inspiration hit me as I came around the corner of an aisle and saw a box from none other than Oriental Trading Company. I still had over a month before Halloween. Plenty of time to order from the online company~without the markup that I would pay at the Party Store!

I planted myself in my rocking chair, propped my feet up and logged on to the website. www.orientaltrading.com I typed in the keyword "Halloween" which brought up 6 categories: Decorations, Goody bags, costumes, Candy, Craft Kits, and Toys and Games. After half an hour of browsing through what is probably thousands of different items; some Halloween, some Religious, and others just generic; I chose a variety of different things to give out this year, depending on the ages of the children that come to the door.

1. First, let's talk about the babies/toddlers that come to your door dressed as Elmo, Wiggle Worm, bumble bees, and lady bugs. They are so cute clutching their plastic pumpkins. Their eyes are wide with excitement and glued to the sack of goodies in your hand, having already learned at previous houses, that something from that bag was going into their pumpkin.

For the youngest trick or treaters, I ordered rubber ducks, dressed in cheerleader outfits with a megaphone for the guys, and pom poms for the girls. They can be ordered in blue and white, green and white, purple and white, red and white or red and black,; for more of a Halloween feel, there are also orange and black ones! Perfect for the bathtub, or to use as a teething toy, they were reasonably priced at only $5.47 a dozen.

2. Next come the 2-6 year olds. In my opinion the age group that Halloween is perfect for. They're old enough to walk on their own, can sing out Trick or Treat as I open my door, and often have picked out their own costumes that they are delighted and ready to show off. This is where you begin to see Dora the Explorer, safari animals, and Barbie right along with Woody from Toy Story, Shrek and Thomas the Tank. So what to get for this animated group of youngsters became my next adventure.

I actually bought three different items for them.

First came the bubbles. 24 bottles were just $6.99. The lids are halloween creepy critters: a mummy, vampire, ghost etc...and the bottles come in a variety of colors and contain .6 oz of soap.

I also chose Halloween themed Memory Card Games. You don't have to read to play because it has both the word and the picture of the word on each card. Each game has 18 sets of bones, spiders, haunted houses, eyeballs and more and the cost is $4.99 per dozen!

At the last minute, I found Halloween Coloring books and Activity Pads. For $9.99 you get 72 silly and spooky coloring books with 6 pages each. Another $5.99 buys 12 Halloween Activity pads: 48 pages filled with coloring pages, games and puzzles.

3. Elementary Kids were the most fun to buy for. This is also the group I purchased the most variety of things to give out to.

Pink Pirate Playing Cards were on sale so I was able to pick those up at $5.49 a dozen. Mini Pirate Pinball games were a steal at $3.97 for 24 games. Wacky Bendable Monsters cost 37 cents each, allowing you to pick up 4 dozen of them for less than $18! Inflatable Mini Monster or Skulls Beach Balls can be ordered for $5.99 a dozen. And Flashing Skeleton Ball Gliders were also being clearanced out at $5.47 per dozen. Halloween Tracing Bookmarks were $5.99 and you get 144 of them, which allows you to give out an assortment to each trick or treater.

4. Upper Elementary and Early Junior High students: those that are on the verge of being too old to Trick or Treat, but still young enough to enjoy it despite their ages are probablly the hardest group to please. I used my 11 year old niece and two of her friends to help me pick out things that they would enjoy. Our choices were separated into the boys: Halloween Whistles that came in a batch of 72 for $5.99; Spooky High Bounce Balls at $4.99 for 4 dozen; and Pirate Frisbees that were $8.99 a dozen.

The girls got Smiley Face Candy Corn Pencils (24 for only $3.99); Jack-o-lantern Spinning Pencil Toppers (4.99 for 24) Plastic Haunted House Boxes contain stationery and crayons (12 for $5.97) and an assortment of Halloween Card Games. The assortment may vary, but mine included Hearts, Old Maid and Go Fish (12 for $7.47),

5. For high school and young adults, you can still have fun at Halloween. Simpley throw them a party! Last year, I allowed each of my 3 children to invite 3 friends. With them, it made 12 young people. I made Chicken Salad Sandwiches with slivered almonds, chips and dip, and two party trays: one with veggies, the other with fruit: Both with dipping sauces.

Since most of Oriental Tradings toys/novelties are packaged by the dozen, it made it easy to make them gift bags! The following prices are for a dozen, unless otherwise specified.

I started with Mesh Beach Bags that were $17.99. They are extra large, drawstring bags that measure 16" x 16:.
Here are some suggestions of things you can put inside of them.

• Glow in the Dark Hibiscus Plastic Drinking Cups-- $4.99
• Transparent Flashlights on a rope--$6.99
• Blue Inflatable Go Team Noisemaker Sticks---$7.99
• Color your own Fuzzy Paddleball Game---$5.99
• Plush Autograph Soccer Balls---$9.97
• Dominoes with Case---$7.99
• Glitter Cube Mind Teasers---$12.99 (24 pieces)
• Letter Games (Boggle)---$7.99
• Inspirational Halloween Pencils---$3.99 (24 pieces)
• Inflatable Mini Monster Beach Balls---$5.99
• Plush Zoo Animals Bookmark---$5.99
• $100 dollar Bill Notepads---$4.99 (24 pieces)
• Halloween Stationery Sets---$6.99
• Light up Skeleton Shot Glass--$8.47
• Fleece Christian Pumpkin Tied Pillow Craft Kits $9.97 (set of 6)

Oriental Trading also carries some great items that you can play games/do activities with at your party. For instance the

• Inflatable Enormous Volleyball $9.99
• Design your own Picture Frames $14.99
• Unfinished Bird Feeder Kits $19.99
• Carnival Spinner Game--$19.99
• Halloween Disk Drop Game---$19.99
• Halloween Bend Game (Twister)---$7.99
• Mad Scientist Halloween Toss Game---$3.47
• Frog Bowling---$10.99
• 6 Super Suction Cup Catch Game---$6.99
• Milk Bottle Toss Game---$6.99
• Leap for the Lord Potato Sack---$4.99 each
• Toy filled Bobbing Apples---$5.99

Halloween can be fun for the whole family, but it doesn't have to involve a pumpkin basket full of sugary candy and snacks. Be creative and leave your kids with a healthy halloween that they'll remember for years to come.