Dressing up for Halloween as an adult is always fun, but for a kid, it can be so much more! Before you and your son put on your ninja costumes carefully set up a few guidelines and expectations!
Halloween is always fun for children but the amount of candy they get can be overwhelming. Although adults realize that too much of a good thing is not always best, to a child a bag full of candy can seem very tempting. There are some parent friendly Halloween candy ideas and alternatives to candy that can still be appealing to the little ones.
Although apples and oranges have been tried in the past, most little ones will simply wrinkle their noses if offered such a treat on Halloween. The same is said for healthy snacks like raisins. What good is it to have cool Halloween costumes if you only get fruit in your basket? One thing to keep in mind is that the look of an item plays a big role in whether or not a child can be tempted to try it. If it looks appealing it will be more readily accepted by most, so the trick is to make less sugary treats look as tasty as the chemical filled, artificially sweetened candy that is most normally handed out at Halloween.
One parent friendly Halloween candy substitution is to buy decorated bags with Halloween characters on them and fill them with items such as trail mix, snack crackers and possibly a box of raisins. Try matching kids’ costumes with their Halloween bags! You can add small gifts such as a Halloween pencil or a sheet of stickers with ghosts and pumpkins on them. Yogurt covered snacks can also be placed in the bags and are usually sweet enough to be enjoyed by even a picky eater.
Sugar free snacks sound great, but when you actually research the ingredients you may change your mind. Much of the sugar free gum that is sold currently contains a chemical called Sorbitol, which is also a laxative. It might be a better idea to make home made candies using real sugar then to load a child up with sugar free sweets that may have a worse effect on their systems. Although the children of people you don’t know may balk at allowing their child to eat a homemade treat, the children of friends and family members would probably appreciate the thought.
Any type of party favors that are decorated with a Halloween theme are usually enjoyed by children, which means you can fill a bag with items that aren’t edible, and the items will still be fun. Adding a small bag of fruit treats like gummy bears that are made with fruit juice makes it more like a regular Halloween treat bag.
Another parent friendly type of treat for Halloween for children that you know well, such as friend’s children or family members, is to make home made cookies with Halloween decorations on them. These can be fun to make and are always fun to eat. A regular sugar cookie recipe can be used. Roll the dough out and cut the cookies with cookie cutters in the shapes of ghosts, pumpkins, scare crows or whatever Halloween ideas you have. You can sprinkle the cookies with orange and black sprinkles, or if time allows, you can decorate them in a more elaborate way with different colored icings and designs. Recipes can be altered by cutting the sugar amount down, thus giving a more parent friendly Halloween treat.