Healthy Halloween Treats for Children and Tweens
Healthier Halloween Foods for Trick or Treaters and School Parties
Oct 24, 2008
Halloween marks the start of the candy season. This is the time each year when "consumers are bombarded with candies and treats that overflow store shelves tempting adults and children alike with sweet, fat and high calorie confections and other treats." The season runs from October starting with Halloween and runs until April or May, ending with Easter.
The candy season can make it difficult for health conscious parents to limit the amount of candy given to their children by well-meaning family, friends, teachers and other parents.
Managing the Mixed Messages at Halloween
Halloween sends a mixed message to children, since it is the one day that children are encouraged to eat candy and parents are encourage to pass out candy. One key to resolving these conflicting messages is to encourage children to eat their Halloween treats in moderation and to focus on eating foods that fall in the healthier range of the food spectrum.
Healthier Halloween Options
Fortunately with more parents and teachers being aware of the need to promote health and wellness in children, Halloween treats are turning into healthier options. Finding alternative healthy and nutritious treats for these occasions can be challenging but not impossible. With a bit of imagination you can make the healthier treats fun for children.
Here is a list of suggestions of healthy Halloween food treats or alternatives to Halloween candy. Some of these Halloween treats can be passed out to Trick or Treaters, some used as healthier Halloween treats for school parties.
13 Healthier Halloween Food Treats
- Trail Mix - Mix together several different nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds raisins, craisins and package them as "Goblin Food."
- Popcorn - Microwavable bags to pop later or bagged inside of skeleton gloves.
- Apples - Apples can be especially fun if part of bobbing for apples or cut up and served with a caramel dip.
- Sugar-free gum - Another good option especially if the brand has been approved by the American Dental Association.
- Pretzels - Individual bags of pretzels.
- Juice Boxes - 100% Fruit Juice.
- Fruit leather or Fruit roll ups - 100% Fruit only.
- Raisins, Craisins- Raisins are a healthy options. Craisin have additional sugar added, so are a healthier option.
- Hot Chocolate Mixes - Some of these come with additional Calcium so are a healthier option.
- Nuts or Seeds - Individual packages of peanuts or sunflower seeds.
- Fruit - Fruit is a great option for class parties. Fruit can also be passed out to trick or treaters as pre-packaged containers of natural apple sauce or pre-packages fruit in natural juices e.g. pineapple or low syrup juices.
- Cheese and Crackers or Peanut Butter and Crackers - Look for options that are low in trans fats and hydrogenated fats.
- 100 Calorie Packs - There are a wide variety of pre-packaged 100 calorie items from which parents can pick. The benefit of these pre-packaged items is that it prevents children (and parents) from over indulging on an item.
Selecting Health and Eco-Friendly Halloween Treats
Unfortunately the need to have many Halloween treats pre-packaged makes it difficult to be as eco-friendly as parents might like to be. When selecting healthy and eco-friendly Halloween treats try and pick those treats with the least amount of additional packaging or see if you can repackage larger bulk amounts into snack sized bags.
More Resources
Dyer KA. Healthy Halloween Non Food Treats for Children. Suite 101.
Dyer KA. Surviving the Candy Season. Suite 101.
Dyer KA. Healthy Halloween Treats. Squidoo.
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