Halloween is a mixed bag for us at Apple Park. While we love kids dressing up in costumes and getting out into the neighborhood meeting folks and expanding the community, we don’t like how they come away with buckets of candy laden with high fructose corn syrup, among other chemicals we can’t pronounce.
What’s the solution? Is it possible to have an organic Halloween?
While we’ve found it difficult to completely cut off all non-organics from the holiday without being a bit of a spoil-sport to the kids, there are quite a few ways we can make it healthier and keep it fun.
- Make organic treats at home. Kids can be convinced to eat less candy if they’re given an alternative they appreciate.
- Make the focus of the candy collecting about giving it away. Although this may be tricky when kids are older, younger kids can be convinced that the point of the candy is to give it to folks who don’t usually get such treats. We’ve tried allowing them a couple of treats on the night, and then the rest disappear, never to be seen again. We’ve found there never seems to be a lack of places who appreciate buckets of candy – workplaces quickly come to mind. If in doubt, just throw it out.
- Another option, rather than focusing on giving candy away, is to negotiate with kids for their candy. Make it a fun game!
- Buy organic candy to hand out to the kids who come to the door. There are lots of sources of organic candy these days. Make sure they’re individually wrapped. Many parents will simply throw away treats that aren’t.
- You could also give away small toys instead of candy.
- Organic costumes are hard to find, and are quite limited in selection, but there are some options.
- Bring healthy treats with you when trick-or-treating. If there’s something in their mouths, they won’t be as tempted to fill up on candy.
