Halloween is obviously a super fun holiday, but it’s not just “one night” if you’re chowing down on highly processed sugary candy for weeks or months to come. So I’ve got some fun ideas for you to help make sure you don’t “fall off the wagon” at the start of this holiday season!
5 Ways to Get Rid of your Halloween Candy
- Cash for Candy through the Buyback Program
This is a national program with thousands of participating dentists and orthodontists. Use their handy zip code locator to find a practice who will buy back candy (typically $1 per pound up to 5 pounds) near you! Most dentists send their loot on to the troops. Some health food stores also offer a trade in program.
– - Operation Gratitude: Mail your candy to the troops
Another great way to reduce your overload of sweet stuff is to send your candy directly to the troops (they love care packages!). Be sure to check out their guidelines before packing it up. If you’re concerned about shipping costs you could also look into donating it locally to a homeless shelter or food bank.
– - The Sugar Goblin
Do you have one yet? My girls were so excited when this little guy arrived in the mail. The Sugar Goblin will leave a little something for your kids in exchange for their candy (that they don’t eat) on Halloween night! This is a great way to keep candy consumption in check without spoiling any of the fun. To purchase yours check out their website, amazon or target.com. I’m told that target.com may sell out soon so if you’re interested don’t delay on this one!
– - The Switch Witch
This is a similar concept to The Sugar Goblin. It’s pretty self explanatory if you read through the poem below, and if you’re a long time follower here you know we’re fans of the Switch Witch and her naughty cat! :)
– - Use it for Science Experiments!
Now how fun is this? My kids both love doing experiments, and I know using candy as their subjects would definitely up the fun factor. Check out the Candy Experiments website and books for loads of ideas!
In Summary…
I hope you get some use out of these ideas! Of course you can always just throw all the extra away, although I know that is not a very eco-friendly option. But this dilemma does remind me of one of my favorite Michael Pollan quotes …”it’s better to go to waste than to go to waist.” Very true!
I’d love to hear what you do with your candy after Halloween in the comments below.
2 Easy Ways to Make Pumpkin Puree
Set aside some of the colorful and interesting looking candies to decorate gingerbread houses at Christmas
Cute ideas! However, no one should be eating these sugary treats, not sure how I feel about sending to our troops. I am all for sending care packages, that is very important. Maybe you can put something healthy in those packages. I’m a fan of the candy “disappearing ” if you know what I mean, wink, wink…
My grandson has many food allergies, but he is a kid and loves the fun of trick or treating. He received lots of candy that he cannot eat. Out of the many items that he was given by his neighbors, he is able to keep only a bag of potato chips, an apple, and a small toy, aside from the allergy friendly candy I purchased for him. I belong to the group SLIDELL LADIES FOR LIBERTY (check us out on Facebook.) We ship care boxes to deployed soldiers with connections to our hometown, Slidell, LA. We love donations of extra candy that we use as packing material for our boxes. I purchased my grandson’s candy from him and will use it in our November packing. He then gets to make a trip to the toy store!
Gather all the chocolates and make a cake, brownies or cookies. Then give it away! :)
We keep some of the sweets to decorate gingerbread houses at Christmas.
My youngest has allergies ( avoiding corn, soy, diary right now), so Halloween is a struggle. We “offered” a candy exchange for the younger, so he’s looking forward to a trip to a toy store on Nov.1. My older son also took us up on the offer. We also spent the afternoon baking Lisa’s pumpkin muffins from the cookbook, and will dip pretzels in chocolate later, as it seems important to have something to offer when the ” can’t I have just ones?” ( an absolute no,no for the allergy child) arrive!
I love the idea of using candy in science experiments. I think we could have a lot of fun doing that.
Hello All!
I did this at work today with 30 grown-ups in two groups of 15:
http://gurutotheoutdoors.com/candy-ball-game/
Originally I found this on Pinterest. The lady on Pinterest did not use a bell and I did not use the industrial wrap because it was expensive. Plain saran wrap worked fine and our shipping department let me have about 3 feet of bubble wrap for each ball – an added obstacle and extra padding.
If we do this again next year, I will probably avoid peanut butter cups. Too squishy! Maybe next time the middle will have a bag of M&Ms of something biggish to bulk up the ball and give that last person a great prize.
But what a fun project this could be to use up some candy! Make it with your kids and use it as a reward to have some friends over to play. :)
I love this! I know a lot of local dentists do candy buy-backs, too! With the holidays around the corner, I know a lot of the candy that doesn’t melt might be good additions to those shoebox donation gifts, too! Take care!
Really like these ideas. I did a few videos dropping candy into a blender just to see what happened. Best use of candy yet! I really like the idea of substituting some healthier choices for treats to hand out to the little door ringers as well.
I would not recommend donating to food banks. I have worked for a meal program for six years. Our partnering food bank is inundated with candy throughout the year, and it is a struggle to provide healthful, nutritious food to our guests every day. Many of our guests already experience dental issues and don’t have access (or have very limited access) to dental care. They literally can’t chew tougher candies, such as licorice or tootsie rolls. If you are thinking of donating to a food bank, please reconsider paying the shipping to cheer up one of our troops.
This year I let my son decide what he wants to “buy” with his Halloween candy. He chose a video game, which feels like trading one addiction for another! still, we have established rules for gaming already so I’m okay with it.