You’ll find plenty of good Halloween candy substitutes if you don’t want to contribute to your neighbor’s kids’ sugar highs, or if you just want something different to hand out at Halloween. Though candy is still popular, some parents refuse to give it to their children, and many dentists offer small toys or gifts in exchange for candy, or even pay children to turn in their candy. Parents can do the same, and if your child enjoys trick-or-treating but you don’t want them to consume too much sugar, you can give them a small gift that they can “purchase” with their candy supplies. Candy substitutes include small toys, dried fruit, gum, and other single-serving foods.
You have a lot of options when it comes to giving out Halloween candy substitutes to neighborhood trick-or-treaters. Tiny, child-safe toys that you can buy in bulk are something that many kids love, and will actually choose just as often as candy in surveys. Instead of giving out candy bars, consider skeleton rings, Halloween pencils and pens, toy whistles, or jack-o-lantern mazes. Others would like to give out a treat but are hesitant to do so if it contains sugar.
In this case, you can consider a variety of natural treats that can be used as Halloween candy substitutes. You can buy dried fruit boxes or, if your trick-or-treaters are well-known, you can also give them lovely fresh fruit. When you have children who don’t know you coming to your house for Halloween, the latter isn’t recommended as a substitute for candy because most parents won’t allow their children to have unwrapped items from strangers’ homes. Individually wrapped granola bars or cookies are another tasty alternative to candy, and you can find healthy varieties of these in health or natural foods stores.
Though gum is often referred to as “candy,” giving sugarless gum to children usually does not harm their teeth and, in fact, when used in moderation, can be beneficial to their dental health. As long as the kids don’t have braces or a lot of fillings, this would be a dentist-approved sweet treat. You can give out Halloween-themed toothbrushes if you’re really into dental health, though these can be a little pricey.
Change can also be fun for kids; a quarter or a couple of dimes can be good Halloween candy substitutes. Small gift certificates for ice cream or a muffin from a local shop can also be entertaining. You should probably avoid giving out any peanut-containing treats, especially if they are not properly labeled. So you might want to avoid nutty trail mix, though if you know your trick-or-treaters aren’t allergic to peanuts or nuts, this might be a good option.
Small packs of chips, cookies, or crackers, individually wrapped beef jerky, a box of crayons, and so on are some other alternatives to Halloween candy. If you really want to give homemade treats to the kids you don’t know, consider having a packaged alternative on hand. Also, include your family name and address, as well as an ingredient list, on your treat wrappers so that parents can quickly recognize the treat’s origin and decide whether it’s safe for their children to eat.