Non-junk food and candy Halloween ideas?

I really don't want to hand out sugar-laden snacks. What do others do?
last year I bought some mini Play-Dohs but I am afraid some parents
might have a tizzy...
TIA for any ideas.

-L.

-L. wrote:

I really don't want to hand out sugar-laden snacks. What do others do?
last year I bought some mini Play-Dohs but I am afraid some parents
might have a tizzy...
TIA for any ideas.


Bubbles, pencils, erasers, silicone bracelets ...
Look at the Oriental Trading website for all kinds of non-candy
novelties.

-L. wrote:
I really don't want to hand out sugar-laden snacks. What do others do?
last year I bought some mini Play-Dohs but I am afraid some parents
might have a tizzy...
TIA for any ideas.

-L.


What about snack sizes of chips or crackers? Also one year I bought a
bag of 4 pack crayons like they hand out at some restaurants. If you
have a membership to the local Sam's/warehouse club you might get some
ideas there.

Rose Garten wrote:
-L. wrote:
I really don't want to hand out sugar-laden snacks. What do others do?
last year I bought some mini Play-Dohs but I am afraid some parents
might have a tizzy...
TIA for any ideas.

-L.


What about snack sizes of chips or crackers? Also one year I bought a
bag of 4 pack crayons like they hand out at some restaurants. If you
have a membership to the local Sam's/warehouse club you might get some
ideas there.

The problem, of course, is that most small gift items like that will
appeal to one group of kids (crayons -- little munchkins, for example),
but not to the broad range. Small balls might be pretty universal, but
not for the littlest ones (choking risk). Or maybe glow sticks

For food items, small bags of peanuts ... except that the
peanut-allergic will NOT be pleased with you. (Then again, they
wouldn't be pleased if you gave out candy with peanuts!) Small boxes
of raisins? Small-size granola bars (some consider them junk, I
consider them less-junky-junk).

Barbara

Laura Faussone wrote:

Bubbles, pencils, erasers, silicone bracelets ...
Look at the Oriental Trading website for all kinds of non-candy novelties.

For the last several years we've given out glow
bracelets or necklaces. The kids like them, they help
keep the kids visible in the dark, and they wear out soon
so they don't stick around in the house as useless clutter.
Plus, our kids enjoy playing with the leftovers and we don't
add to our candy overload if it's a slow night for trick-or-
treaters.

Best wishes,
Ericka

"-L." wrote in message
oups.com...
I really don't want to hand out sugar-laden snacks. What do others do?
last year I bought some mini Play-Dohs but I am afraid some parents
might have a tizzy...
TIA for any ideas.


One possibility is hard candies that are sugar free, like jolly ranchers.
That covers the candy and no sugar issue all at once. Personally, I would
not allow DS to eat anything that was not pre-packaged/sealed entirely
unless it was made by someone we personally knew *well*. Toys get expensive
fast, unless they are dollar store items and, quite frankly, the kids don't
want them and I don't need them cluttering up the house. As to the better
toy items, I'd rather not up the bar so kids start *expecting* toys on yet
another 'holiday' event. There are more than enough of those that more than
a few households are trying to change the emphasis away from toys.

-aula

Barbara wrote:

The problem, of course, is that most small gift items like that will
appeal to one group of kids (crayons -- little munchkins, for example),
but not to the broad range.

Personally, I don't have any heartburn not appealing
to the older teens, especially the ones that hardly bother with
a costume and are just looking to shake folks down for candy.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Ericka Kammerer wrote:
Barbara wrote:

The problem, of course, is that most small gift items like that will
appeal to one group of kids (crayons -- little munchkins, for example),
but not to the broad range.

Personally, I don't have any heartburn not appealing
to the older teens, especially the ones that hardly bother with
a costume and are just looking to shake folks down for candy.

Ericka --

I don't, either. And it may well be that our kids are very different
(indeed, based on their preferred extracurricular activities, I am
guessing that they are). But IMHO, not many kids over the age of 4 or
5 are going to be happy with a 4-pack of crayons and, chances are, it
will hit the trash almost immediately. If I'm giving something out,
I'd like it to be something kids will like. Otherwise, why bother?

Barbara

"-L." wrote in message
oups.com...
I really don't want to hand out sugar-laden snacks. What do others do?
last year I bought some mini Play-Dohs but I am afraid some parents
might have a tizzy...
TIA for any ideas.

-L.

I love the sugar, chocolate, complete junk for Halloween - maybe it's just
me, though. Halloween IS my favorite 'holiday' (event? day? whatever...)
and I prefer it far over Christmas, even!
For me, it comes once a year - bring the junk and garbage on, let me
decorate my yard all scary with all kinds of decorations and props, also
with the 'scary' music and let me go nuts - while on a total chocolate and
sugar high the morning of Halloween. Heck, it's once a year, and if I'm
handing out all the sugar to everyone elses' kids, they'll surely repay the
favor back to me!
I do, however, try to be careful of what I do hand out. A couple years ago,
I picked up boxes and boxes (and I do mean boxes and boxes!) of freezies...
I think I paid something like 35¢ for a box of the freezies - probably 8 or
10 boxes of the big freezies and probably at least 12 or 14 boxes of the
small freezies. I also grabbed about 15 boxes of the sugar free freezies.
I seriously had my ENTIRE trunk PACKED with boxes of freezies, and IIRC, I
paid with a $20 bill and had change back from that purchase. (yes, I do go
a bit nuts with stuff on sale... heh)

I handed out freezies for Halloween that year. I gave the older kids the
big, regular freezies (those that looked around 7-12 years), the big, big
older kids the small regular freezies (ones that looked about 13 and older)
and the wee ones (ones that were about a year to 6 years) got the sugar free
little freezies. Along with the freezies, I passed out little tattoos and
stickers that my aunt scored for me. She had a whole case of these tattoos
and stickers, and I again gave stickers to the little ones, tattoos to the
slightly older ones and, of course, nothing for the way older ones. I too,
as I believe some others have said, am NOT a fan of all these real big kids
that come knocking on my door for candy when they look like they're 15 or 17
years old, and all they've done was put on a ratty pair of jeans and an old
camping jacket claiming they're dressed up as a 'hobo' or tossing on a lousy
mask and expecting to get something lol

That's just what I did one year, and in all honesty, I didn't know what kind
of reaction I'd get at the beginning, but then I started hearing the kids
say stuff like, "Oh wow! Big freezies!!!!" or "Hey!! Hurry up!! That
place is giving out freezies!!!"
I also remember getting Halloween themed pencils and erasers back when I was
younger - those were a far better hit (with me, anyways) than something like
the raisins.

I presume that if a family is trick or treating then they assume that there
is candy involved. Otherwise, they wouldn't be out there in the first place.
I don't like to dictate what others eat and since this particular event
surrounds candy, that is what I give. That is what kids want and then it is
up to the parents and children alike to eat it in moderation. I definitely
don't want to take the fun out of Halloween for the kids because they really
don't want anything else except the candy.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

"-L." wrote in message
oups.com...
I really don't want to hand out sugar-laden snacks. What do others do?
last year I bought some mini Play-Dohs but I am afraid some parents
might have a tizzy...
TIA for any ideas.

-L.