Anyone wake up with a house full of leftover Halloween candy this morning and children on a sugar overdose? Don’t throw it out quite yet!
Our Halloween costume this year
I have a fun idea for all of your leftover Halloween candy, Easter candy, Christmas candy, 4th of July candy, Valentine’s candy, etc. I’ll start out with some ideas of my own, and then provide you with a few more that I have heard about.
Creative Uses For Candy
At home with the kids? Instantly access any of these printable activity bundles to keep them learning!
MONTH OF APPRECIATION: Use it as a tool for showing your children how much you love, appreciate and adore them. Stay with me…I’m also going to give you some other ideas in case you hate this one (but you shouldn’t because it’s awesome). There are so many resources available to us now on the internet. You could probably find a cute saying to go along with every single piece of candy that you have! That doesn’t mean you have to, but free printables are available to you everywhere! Slip a treat in your kid’s back pack, your husband’s lunch, or on your little one’s pillow. Thank your daughter for going the extra mile and unloading the dishwasher. If one of your children are struggling, write them a note listing the reasons why you love him or her. Use your candy for 30 days of Love to your family. This will bless you as a mother as well because you will be focusing on all the reasons that you love your children and/or husband. I’ve created a “candy grams” board on Pinterest for collecting ideas, and you can also find tons of free printables for you husband from the Dating Divas website. There are also tons of lunch note printables out there in blog land.
Why this rocks: You are shifting the focus. Rather than your children feeling “entitled” to all the leftover Halloween candy, they feel loved and appreciated and are waiting for the next moment when mom will surprise them! Children need praise and sometimes we forget to give them enough.
“Happy Pills”: Chances are pretty high that you know someone currently that is sick, lonely, stressed, heartbroken, discouraged, just had surgery (or a baby). Fill a storage box with candy and gift someone with these cute “happy pills.” There is also a printable for “Chill Pills” if that one is more fitting.
12 Days of Christmas. Do this for your kids, your husband, or your neighbors. You can find plenty of free printables on Pinterest.
Stocking Stuffers. Save some of your candy and use it for stocking stuffers
Random Acts of Service. Leave something nice for the mailman, the check out clerk and everywhere else! Get your children excited about random acts of service. Let them eat a piece too.
Ice Cream Night. One family mentioned that they love to save their candy for “Family Night” which occurs one night a week. After enjoying an activity together, they will eat ice cream. Each kid gets to choose which candy they want for their “mix-ins.”
Candy Fairy. Several have mentioned that they enjoy this tradition. Let your kids enjoy their candy for a day or two, and then have them put it all in a bag and leave it for the “candy fairy.” When they wake up in the morning, they will find that the candy fairy exchanged their candy for a fun toy.
Chore Reward: Give candy out as an incentive after chores are done.
Birthday Parties: If one of your children have a birthday coming up, save the candy to use in the favor bags.
Baking: Find fun recipes online for all the chocolate bars. You can then freeze cookies for a later time.
Thank You Gifts: You can fill candy tubes with candy and your candy will go a LONG way! These make perfect thank-you gifts to have on hand.
Family Store: Use the candy as prizes in your “family store.” Children do basic things to earn FUN BUCKS (free pritnable) which can be used in the family store for prizes, treats, etc. This also teaches your children about earning and spending 🙂
If you really want to get creative (I don’t..), just get on Pinterest. There are ideas for painting with candy, making candy wreaths, etc.
What do YOU do with all of the leftover Halloween Candy?
photo credit: Nomadic Lass via photopin cc
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Beth says
Gah! Great ideas! I so needed this post. So pinning.
Trish says
This is absurd! In no way should we be feeding any of this to our children or anyone else for that matter. Read the ingredients of all these ‘treats’ and you’ll find artificial flavors and a slew of GMO ingredients. Trick or treat if u must, my kids do, trade them for more wholesome treats then let the fairy take them away (into the trash)….no using this junk as bribes or polluting other’s bodies. I found this list of alternative treats: http://eatplaylovemore.com/2013/10/13/how-to-de-crap-halloween/
Tina M says
Trish, great ideas, thanks for sharing! I actually live in a gated, organic & GMO-free community, so all my kids came home with this year were fruit leathers, Lara bars, and honey sticks. Phew!
Little Sister says
Growing up in a health oriented family myself and being aware of the awful ingredients of most junk food, sometimes it’s nice to just indulge myself in a big fat chocolate candy bar every once in a while! Your ideas are wonderful! The lady I work for surprised me with a cute basket of treats one day after I complained about a hard day I was having and I was so touched by her thoughtfulness!
Katie says
Thank you so much for the great ideas! While I also don’t like my kids eating all the processed junk for Halloween, I realize that with moderation, it can be a wonderful holiday and create wonderful memories. Yes, there is GMOs in just about everything, and pesticides and chemicals. There is also filth on the internet and countless other horrible things our children could be exposed to. The important thing is that we teach our children, but be positive and supportive of all around us who are trying to do the same. Thank you for your post, Kristina, and for inspiring others to take something that could be negative and turn it into something positive. I love your blog and how you are trying to inspire families to be better in the not so great world that we live in!
Tina M says
Thanks for the smile Katie! I’m glad you are enjoying the blog