Could you imagine if instead of candy, adults passed out veggies, “Oh, hello little Jimmy, that’s a spooky costume you’ve got! Here is a bundle of carrots. Be a good boy and help your mom cook some tasty stew”.
Now, that sounds like my kind of trick or treating!
This post may contain affiliate links, I earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. As a an amazon affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Yes, kids loveeee candy, it’s true. But as a parent, I love it when my daughter gets a random apple from one of the neighbors or a fruit snack.
Should you pass out a healthy alternative to candy?
I say, “yes!”
I know not everyone agrees with my sentiments, and that’s totally ok.
But, if you’ve read this far, I’m going to assume you are at the very least curious and open to the idea of passing out something other than candy.
Teal pumpkins
Have you heard of the “teal pumpkin project” ? If not, basically if you see a home with a teal pumpkin on it that means you have “non- food“ items available for trick or treaters.
Teal is the color of food allergy awareness. Homes with teal pumpkins usually have things like; glow sticks, bouncy balls, stencils, etc.
This provides inclusiveness to children who might otherwise not be able to participate due to food allergies.
11 Healthy alternatives to handing out candy for Halloween
1. Fresh fruit
Handing out fresh fruit is a great alternative to candy. Here in Hawaii it’s still very hot while trick-or- treating and all that walking has got the kiddies tired out. Fruits have natural sugars to give your child a little pick me-up to continue their candy trek.
Fruits like apples, bananas, and oranges are great items to give out since they can either be washed or peeled.
2. A beverage
Reiterating from the same concept as above, because of all the walking the kiddies will be doing, you need to replenish their fluid loss.
What better way then to hand out beverages. I am always so thankful when that random house passes out little mini water bottles, and my daughter is always pleasantly amused, by the teensy-tiny-mini-water bottles.
3. Non-candy items.
Non-food candy items like toys can be real winners for kids and levels the playing field because every child can have a little toy, but not every child can have chocolate or candies with nuts. If you’re looking for some great ideas to put in tick-or-treaters bag, check out this post, “20 non-food items for Halloween”
4. Dried fruit
If you’re not so excited about handing out “fresh” fruit, little mini bags of either “Freeze dried” or “dried fruit” can be another alternative. My kids prefer “freeze dried” over regular dried fruit, as do I. It gives you the impression of eating poofy, crunchy, chips.
This tasty 16 count-variety pack comes with: Apple, banana, mango, pear, pineapple, strawberry, and tangerine.
5. Veggie chips
If you want something resembling “junk food” veggie chips are good option. Nowadays, there are so many options for healthy snacks, but did you know there are veggies chips shaped in fun Halloween spirited designs?
6. Fruit leathers
You can get a lot of individually wrapped fruit leathers for a decent price compared to other healthy alternatives. Make sure to look for a fruit leather that has “no-added sugar”.
Organic crackers
Ok, so, it doesn’t have to be organic. But, I figured I’d throw that in since we are talking about healthy alternatives. We are big fans our “Annies Cheddar Bunnies” they are similar to goldfish.
You could also do a cracker that is more on the sweet side, like graham crackers. Or shoot, you could mix and do both crackers!
7. Popcorn
I seriously don’t know any kids who don’t like popcorn, at one private school I worked at every friday we would have a movie day with popcorn. Literally, no child denied to cup of popcorn we offered.
Popcorn comes in so many flavors these days… You can get sweet, salty, buttery. There is a flavor for everyone.
8. Organic gummy snacks
My daughter typically does get a few gummy snacks in her trick or treat bag, and ya know what? Those are usually the first items to get eaten in her bag. I feel like gummies are not created equally, some taste better and feel smoother to chew than others.
The favorite in our household are these “Black forest organic gummy bears” I actually just bought this pack to give out for Halloween this year.
9. Applesauce pouches
You know those applesauce fruit squeezes your kids enjoy so much? Those can be a good healthy alternative for your neighborhood trick or treaters. If you buy in bulk, you will get a better discount, this usually goes for just about anything.
10. Pretzels
The universal dry, crunchy, salty snack. There are a few individually wrapped pretzel packs with halloween designs that I see EVERY year. I am assuming these are quite affordable!
Did you know it’s physically impossible to eat more than 3 pretzels in one minute and also swallow them? Are you off to try this? Ha.
I’m honestly not sure how factual that information is, but when I was in elementary school we tried it as an experiment and even the teachers tried it and no one could physically eat more than 3 and swallow them completely.
If you try it and eat more than 3 in under 1 minute, please comment below and let me know. I am genuinely curious if it’s physically possible, ha!
11. Baby food
Last year when my son was just starting to eat solids we were testing out different foods, flavors, and textures.
There were some baby food squeeze pouches that he was not crazy about that I couldn’t bare to just toss in the trash (none were even close to expiring).
So, literally an hour before I set the candy out, I set out a seperate bowl filled with baby food pouches, and guess what? They were all gone at the end of the night.
If you have a extra, unopened, unexpired baby food why not? After all, babies can’t eat candy, might as well give them something they can eat.
I hope I was able to help you find a healthy alternative to handing out candy at Halloween.
Is there something you or your child have received while trick or treating that was not the norm?
