All year long we talk about the bad "sugar bugs" on our teeth and making good, healthy food choices. Then comes Halloween! I enjoyed researching various options on what to do with all the Halloween candy collected. This is the first year I am actually concerned about how to deal with all the treats that will be brought home. In the past, my son played with the candy without realizing it could be eaten! A day or two after Halloween, the candy just disappeared and it wasn't a problem. This year, may be a different story. He now knows that there are very delicious treats underneath the bright colored, crinkly wrappers.
Here are some fun and creative ideas I found. I hope you will find them useful with your family.
* Immediately throw away all choking hazards. Hard candy is the worst!*
1. The Great Pumpkin or Sugar Fairy or The Switch Witch: The kids pick a few pieces of candy (your discretion) and place the remaining candy on their doorstep before they go to bed and when they wake up the candy has been replaced with a present for the child and a thank you note. Keep the gift small, Christmas is right around the corner! This can be done a day or two after Halloween.
2. Pick out and save candy to decorate a gingerbread house at Christmas time. (Use glue when attaching the candy so it won't be edible.)
3. This can be a good opportunity to read the ingredients together and look for the really bad stuff: high-fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, artificial coloring, etc... Go to a natural food store with your child and have them pick "healthier" alternatives instead.
4. Use it as a learning tool: counting, matching, sorting, graphing, weighing, estimating, patterning
5. Candy Science Experiments: http://www.candyexperiments.com/
6. Operation Shoe Box will send it to over to our troops http://www.operationshoebox.com/
7. Local dentists will buy back candy, enter zip code to find one near you: http://www.halloweencandybuyback.com/index.html
8. Movie Stash: Save some money at the movie theater by bringing your own candy.
I want to set a good example for my son, so the sooner the candy is out of the house, the sooner we can get back to living a healthy lifestyle.
Do you and your family have any special traditions or ways to limit candy intake?
Fun and educational activities for kids and parents of young learners. Activities can be adapted to meet the needs of all children.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Boo-tiful Ghosts Again!
I had to re-post this project because this is one that you can do year after year, especially if you've had any new additions to the family. This year I will be doing this activity with my son's preschool class. The kids will be painting these ghosts on trick-or-treat bags. On another day, the parents will be passing out non-sweet treats to the kids at the end of class so the kids can practice saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you!"
http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2010/10/adorable-ghosts.html or you can read more at http://www.lamorindaweb.com/articles/family-parenting/1673-boo-tiful-ghosts-worth-treasuring
http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2010/10/adorable-ghosts.html or you can read more at http://www.lamorindaweb.com/articles/family-parenting/1673-boo-tiful-ghosts-worth-treasuring