3 Alternatives to Trick-or-Treating

You shouldn’t have to feel like you need to avoid Halloween to avoid eating too much candy, but you also shouldn’t feel like you have to eat candy (or let your kids).

There are plenty of fun ways to celebrate without overdoing it on sweets. Here are three:

1. Host a “Healthy Halloween” party. Trick-or-Treating is great, but you can have just as much fun with a party at home. Invite people to bring their own healthy dishes or appetizers for everyone to enjoy. It takes out the problem of too-many-treats, and the sometimes-uncomfortableness of accepting candy and snacks from strangers.

2. Offer a Trick-or-Treat exchange. This is basically trick-or-treating without the candy. Let your kids have in on the fun of trick-or-treating, but offer toys or other goodies to them in exchange for the candy. For example, a toy car might be worth 10 pieces of candy, and a puzzle might be worth 7 pieces of candy.

What to do with all those sweets? Keep them for later, or donate them to a good cause like Operation Shoebox, which puts together care packages for soldiers serving overseas.

3. Embrace other Halloween traditions. Halloween isn’t just about candy. Make your own special tradition: Go to a haunted house, or check in your area for scary movie marathons. If you don’t like what you find, don’t be afraid to make up something of your own!