Today, we’re talking about non candy Halloween treats for kids. Join in and share your favorite ideas!
In our house, we try to keep candy to a minimum. My kids don’t need the sugar rush, and I don’t need the extra temptation for my sweet tooth.
During the Halloween season, our children have loads of activities and opportunities for receiving candy. There is an annual trick or treat at the zoo, trunk or treat with our granny, various Halloween parties and more, all before the big day.
Are you looking for ideas for your Halloween activities that DON’T involve candy? I’ve compiled a list of non candy treats and fun things to share during trick or treating, as well as holiday parties.
1. Halloween Bubbles
I don’t know any children who don’t LOVE bubbles! These party favor sized bubbles would be perfect to hand out.
2. Stickers
Add these fun Halloween stickers to any goody bag for a sugar free treat.
3. Tattoos
My children are obsessed with temporary tattoos – I use them in my house for a reward for chores.
4. Play dough
I’m a fan of home made play dough, instead of store bought. If you have time, check out this recipe for homemade play dough. If you’re in a rush, you could grab these party sized Play Dohs in fun Halloween colors.
5. Pencils
My daughter loves seasonal Pencils — we always hand them out for holidays like Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s day and Easter.
6. Erasers
These are the perfect pair with decorative pencils. You could go with these character pencil toppers, or mini erasers. (Caution for kids under age 3)
7. Mini note pads
Let kids take notes or doodle with these mini note pads.
8. Hot chocolate
Fall nights are cold … Warm up your little ones with some hot chocolate packs to take home.
9. Apple cider
Not a fan of chocolate? Try some hot apple cider.
10. Goldfish crackers
11. Pretzels
Satisfy salty cravings with crackers or pretzels.
12. Popcorn Packs
13. Popcorn cones
What did the baby corn say to his mother?
Where is POP CORN?
Hand out popcorn that kids can pop at home, or treat them to specialty popcorn.
14. Juice boxes
All those crackers and popcorn will make folks thirsty! I love the idea of wrapping them up like little mummies!
15. Glow necklaces
Kids will love these fun glow necklaces to wear on Halloween night!
16. Spider rings
Hand out these spider rings for a treat and a scare!
17. Vampire teeth
Have little vampires visiting your porch? Send them on their way with a set of teeth.
18. Bendables
Treat your visitors to these bendable monster toys.
19. Halloween Fortune cookies
Having a Halloween party? Hand out these ghoulish treats.
20. Halloween rubber ducks
Keep the kids occupied in the tub with these Halloween rubber ducks.
21. Mask craft
If you’re having a party, these mask crafts would be a hit.
22. Pumpkin decorating craft
Love decorating pumpkins, but hate the mess? Try out these foam stickers instead.
23. Monster squeakers
Make some noise around your house with these monster squeakers.
24. Monster pens
Add these monster pens to your collection – your kids will love drawing with these!
25. Bouncy Balls
Watch your head – these balls really bounce high!
26. Maze puzzles
Children can work on their hand-eye coordination with these fun Halloween maze puzzles.
27. Porcupine balls
Kids of all ages will love these fun porcupine balls.
28.Stretchy skeletons
Learn a little about the physics of stretchy plastic with these skeletons.
29. Yo yos
Learn how to ‘walk the dog’ with these Halloween yo yos.
30. Porcupine figures
Your kids will love collecting these porcupine figures in their Halloween basket.
31. Mini prisms
Teach your young ones about colors and refraction with these mini prisms.
32. Mini Paratroopers
I know my boys will LOVE climbing and letting these paratroopers fly!
33. Whistles
Let your little ones make some noise with these fun Halloween whistles.
34. Slide flutes
Want to make more noise? Try the slide flutes.
35. Whoopie cushions
I know some of you may cringe, but my husband once put whoopie cushions in all the kids’ stockings for Christmas. They LOVED them – you’ll hear peals of laughter for weeks!
36. Cookie cutters
Halloween cookie cutters are the perfect pair with some Halloween playdough, or even real cookie dough.
37. Grow a bug
Impress your little scientists with tiny bugs that grow in water.
38. Finger puppets
Kids can put on their own Halloween show with these fun finger puppets.
39. Bookmarks
Keep your place reading scary books this fall with these bookmarks. Bonus? They also serve as tracers or stencils.
40. Stamps
Create some Halloween artwork with these Halloween stencils.
Do you have a candy free treat that you hand out on Halloween? Be sure and leave a tip in the comment box.
My guys always loved getting goldfish and microwave popcorn in their treat bags!
It’s funny — I never knew about things other than candy for treats until we went to the zoo. That’s the first time we saw microwave popcorn.
I know your guys would have LOVED a whoopie cushion, too!
These are such great ideas even though I’m a sucker for the candy 😉
I’m sure we’ll have plenty of candy on hand around here as well.
Since we realized Trevor {and now Logan} was sensitive to food colorings and some other additives a few years ago, we decided to set up a trade situation. The kids go trick-or-treating and collect all sorts of goodies they aren’t allowed to eat, while I pass out all-natural gummies or pretzels, and when they get back, they sort through their bags to pull out any non-food items. Then, they re-bag the candy and trade it in for a goody basket I already prepared with a video or computer game {from the under $5 store}, some snacky-treats, and all-natural Halloween-Themed candy that I preordered on the Internet. A local dentist takes the kids’ candy and pays them $1 a pound for turning it in and not eating it. 🙂 It’s been a great tradition because they don’t miss out on the neighborhood fun of trick or treating, and I don’t deal with crazy kids for weeks afterward. {Though I do pick up some half-off candy after Halloween to hide for my own midnight cravings… shhh! It’s our secret.}
I was looking over the events in October for this area, and you could SERIOUSLY go to 2 Halloween events a week here, maybe even more. Talk about Candy overload!!
You brought up a fantastic point about food sensitivities and allergies — I didn’t even think of that!
I was looking over the events in October for this area, and you could SERIOUSLY go to 2 Halloween events a week here, maybe even more. Talk about Candy overload!!
You brought up a fantastic point about food sensitivities and allergies — I didn’t even think of that!
Holy cow, Look at your list! Thank you for so many wonderful ideas!
I must say, all those little toys and goodies are way more loved in our house than candy.
Temoporary tattoos, bubble, mini stampers, and stickers… our 3yo will play with those things hours (over the course of a few days..) before he’s lost interest.
Candy lasts 5 minutes max, then he argues for more, and then whines when he doesn’t get more. Oh, and then there’s the naughtiness that goes along with a sugar rush.
Yup, my mind is made up, no candy for Halloween at our house, Mama’s going shopping for all those little goodies on this list!!!
The fun thing about the tattoos and bubbles, etc, is that we end up using them for surprise treats, rewards, etc. So fun!!
My daughter has many food allergies so we love getting non food items in treat bags. There isn’t a candy she can have that comes in the bags but a local dentist buys candy form kids after halloween to troops oversees. She sells hers and sends a card to the troops and takes her money to the dollar store to buy a “halloween” treat. She loves it.
Wonderful! Someone on Twitter was asking about what to do with the candy you get. I advised her to stop back by the comments. Do you have some links? I know our dentist buys it back, but I forget what happens to it. 🙂
Wonderful! Someone on Twitter was asking about what to do with the candy you get. I advised her to stop back by the comments. Do you have some links? I know our dentist buys it back, but I forget what happens to it. 🙂
Love this post! Great mommy solutions! Thank you for linking this up to The Mommy Club. I’m featuring you today at noon on my Facebook page! Stop back over Tuesday after 9pm and link up more of your great ideas.
Crystal
http://www.crystalandcomp.com/2012/09/the-mommy-club-share-your-resources-and-solutions-63/
I love that you have other items on your list other than candy and food :0) My daughter has food allergies and it’s always so scary taking her trick or treating. I have to make sure that there are not any harmful candy in her bucket. Thank you for sharing :0)
We do candy experiments with the candy my kids get. It uses up almost half. Then I freeze some of it for later. But you know what my recent find is? The dollar store sells glow sticks. You can get quite a few for fairly cheap. 😀
Can we get more people on this bandwagon please? Starting with Halloween all the way to Valentine’s there is just way too much candy happening and it’s so bad for us. Thanks for linking up to Show Me Saturday! Hope to see you there again this week.
Our City of Calgary, as well as other Canadian cities like Vernon and Summerside, offer fitness passes at a great deal to hand out to trick or treaters or friends. I wrote about it today and included many of these GREAT ideas into an easy infographic
Love this list! We do candy free treats every year, and Glow Sticks are ALWAYS in our bowl. They are a huge hit every year!
These are great ideas!
We went trunk or treating this past weekend. My granddaughter came back clutching her prize beanie baby. It seems someone had a huge collection and told the kids they could take one. I have also seen the same thing done with matchbox cars. I took a bunch of McDonald Happy meal toys, bagged them up and sold them at a garage sale to a guy who said he’ll pass them out on Halloween (wish I’d thought of that!).
Thank you for these great alternative ideas.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
Marilyn
These are really great. I wanted to offer an alternative to candy as well, and since trick or treating is often during supper time, I prepared a bunch of hotdogs and had a vegetarian alternative and offered those to kids instead. I also had some healthy treats for kids that didn’t want a hot dog for whatever reason. It was my first time doing this, and it was amazing to see and hear how hungry the kids were and their parents, and how much they enjoyed something to eat on a cold night. I had put up a big sign in front of my door so kids knew before hand what we were offering. Next year I plan on ordering a bunch of pizza for the kids and having a table set up with bottles of water and a place to sit if anyone needs to.