When our first child, Lola, was two we were so excited to dress her up in costume for what felt like the first Halloween she could participate in. Would we go door to door with a two year old and collect a bunch of candy? It didn’t really feel like it made any sense. At two years old, we were focused on real, whole foods to nourish her developing brain and body, and she didn’t know the difference with junk food anyway. Really, she had the rest of her life to eat candy and her developing toddler years didn’t feel like the right time to start.
We ended up parading her to one or two neighbor homes, for our own fun, before we wound up back home on our front porch passing out candy. Hey, want to know something? Passing out candy was so much more fun! Lola sat on that stoop, eagerly waiting for people to come by. Each time she’d spy kids approaching, she would excitedly whisper to us “the people are coming!” It was so much fun to see everyone’s costumes and Lola thought it was fun to stick candy into everyones bag for them.
Fast forward a few years, to Lola at 5 years old with a couple of little sisters in the mix. She was now old enough to understand and appreciate the fun of trick or treating, but in our opinion, still too young to need to plow through an entire basket of candy. This is when we basically began conversations about moderation with processed and refined foods. We talked (and still do) about how it’s ok to eat these foods once in a while, why we make healthy choices and how to balance it all. I have always found that when we take the time to explain why we set the limits we do, as parents, our kids are more apt to go with it because they understand the reasoning behind it.
What to Do with Too Much Halloween Candy
We did some thinking. Should we just buy the candy from them and toss it in the garbage? That seemed so wasteful. At the same time, we work so hard to educate them about healthy choices and why it’s important to choose foods that nourish their growing bodies that it just doesn’t align for us to feast on a basket of candies made up from artificial ingredients, flavorings, food dyes and other ingredients which have a harmful effect. My husband and I came up with an idea! We decided together, on a new tradition. From now on, we would donate the candy to our troops overseas, but we wouldn’t force the kids to do it – we would give them the opportunity to want to do it!
Where to Donate Halloween Candy
You may have heard of people sending care packages overseas to our troops. I did a little research and was excited to discover Operation Gratitude. When Halloween candy is sent to them, it’s included in care packages sent overseas to American troops. You simply fill out their online donation form, and then receive an email with further instruction on how to ship your package. In 2018 alone, over 264,000 care packages were sent! We decided to go for it… but how would we get the kids on board?
Convincing Your Kids to Donate Candy
Here’s the deal, while Halloween candy offers nothing in the way of health, we don’t want to deny them trying or eating things they see other kids eating. We also don’t want to say, “hey, you just had all this fun collecting as much candy as you could and now we expect you to give it all away!” This is where some good ol’ fashioned bribery and deal-making come into play.
We give the kids two choices, and they choose whichever they want:
- Keep all of your candy: it’s all yours, but for the sake of portion control – it won’t be available to eat all at once, or even at free will. It will be kept out of sight, and you may ask when you would like a piece.
- Donate your candy to the troops: our service men and women are living overseas and are unable to participate in Halloween. You may pick 3 full size candy bars, or 5 fun size candies, to keep for yourself, and donate the rest. We will also give you $__ to spend how your like. Everyone benefits: our soldiers will be excited to receive candy in the mail as a surprise, and you get to go pick out a toy or craft which you can play with forever – whereas once you eat candy, it’s gone.
Every year, leading up to Halloween, our kids anticipate this deal and say “I think this year I’m going to keep my candy.” Yet every year, after trick or treating, when they dump all their candy out to sort and we discuss the choices – they ALWAYS go for the money and making someone else’s day. It’s a great opportunity as parents to discuss the importance of giving back and making others feel cared for and thought of. A big part of the fun, is making personalized letters from the kids, to add to the care package – they love doing this part, and were so excited to receive thank you letters for their candy!
Once they choose the option to donate, sorting becomes a fun task of deciding which pieces of candy they will keep for themselves. If they have some full-size candy bars, they can choose 3 total, if they are choosing fun size candy packages, they can choose 5 total. Figure out a number you’re comfortable with that suits your childs age. When the girls were toddlers, I would tell the they can choose 3 fun size candy packages, and it’s just evolved over time and with their age. I want it to be fair for them, but also a chance for them to consider giving to others instead of focusing solely on their own wants and needs. We began with $5 per child in the beginning, and are now up to $20, but the number can be anything you feel comfortable with.
Happy Halloween!
Great suggestions! Thank you