Tips For a Happy (Healthy) Halloween!

Does the idea of too much Halloween candy chill you to the bone? While kids are excitedly planning out their Halloween costumes, parents are preparing for the sugar rush (and crash!) of this spooky holiday. Have no fear - there are plenty of ways to make your Halloween festivities a little bit healthier while still maintaining the fun factor. If you’re hosting a Halloween party of your own, preparing to head out on the town with your trick-or-treaters, or opting to stay-at-home away from the zombies, there’s healthy alternatives for everyone! However you choose to celebrate, try out these tips for your very own happy, healthy Halloween:

For The Party Planners

Healthy can still be scary: Don’t think that healthy has to mean boring. Dress up your snacks and make them irresistibly amusing - pumpkin clementines, banana ghosts (with dark chocolate chip eyes), carrot/parsnip fingers (with almond slice fingernails!), mummy-wrapped applesauce pouches or raisin boxes, fruit and marshmallow ghost kabobs, pumpkin-flavored mousse and more! The possibilities are endless!

Move your monsters: Incorporate plenty of movement-based activities at your Halloween bash. Play pin-the-hat-on-the-witch; have a zombie dance party; demonstrate a spider crawl; frolic around musical chairs, or dive into a three-legged monster race.

Don’t be afraid to play: Mom always said, “don’t play with your food”, but this Halloween season, why not give it a go? Try bobbing for apples or decorating your own tangerines, oranges or clementines as Jack-O’-Lanterns? If you’re feeling really brave and ready to up the “gross factor”, play the “Guess the Body Part” game where you blindfold participants and have them take a stab at the gross, food-based body part they are touching: use cooked fettuccine as guts; hard boiled eggs as eyes, mini hot dogs as fingers, and more!

For The Trick or Treaters

Forget oversized: Instead of using the giant pillow case for collecting treats, consider downsizing to a smaller container. Grab one treat at as many houses as you can and when the container is full, head home to peruse and sort through the variety of the night’s gatherings.

Don’t go out on an empty stomach: It’s easier for kids to resist eating their favorite candy before it hits their trick-or-treat bag if they have a healthy meal BEFORE they wander the neighborhood. With a full tummy, the temptation to scarf all the sweets before they get home will be minimized.

Move your monsters (again!): Make trick-or-treating a fun family activity by upping the ante. Instead of driving from house to house, consider walking...or running! Make it a competition to see how many houses or streets you can hit up in a certain amount of time. Compete in teams or as individuals. Bring plenty of water for hydration; grab a flashlight for safety; and don’t forget to wear comfortable shoes to up your chances of winning the competition.

Plan ahead: Before heading out for a night of trick-or-treating, consider talking with your child(ren) about smart eating habits and “everything in moderation.” To put a visual to this, take out a receptacle (like a small bowl or a jar) and let your little ones know that the amount of candy that fits in the receptacle will be what is kept at the end of the night. If they are old enough, let them decide what to do with the excess candy (check out our suggestions that are listed later in this article).

For The Stay-At-Home Group

Make it a family affair: Perhaps you want to keep candy out of your house altogether? Maybe seeing the trick-or-treaters at your door isn’t for you? Turn off your lights, pop in your favorite Halloween movie, make some popcorn and dress up in your favorite costume to boot. Halloween at home!

Be a good goblin: Halloween doesn’t have to be all about tricks or sugar-filled treats. Make some healthy, Halloween-themed snacks and bring them to your local nursing home, senior living facility, fire or police station, or hospital. Dressing up in costume is optional, but definitely increases the fun factor for everyone.

Be the healthy house: Go ahead - flip on those porch lights and get ready to hand out healthy treats or non-edible items. Shake things up a bit and give those ghosts what they least expect. Keep it kid-friendly, creative and fun. Here are some ideas:

Healthy treats:

• Applesauce pouches

• Snack-sized popcorn, pretzels, dried fruit, trail mix, pumpkin seeds or 100% fruit leathers

• Sugar-free gum

• Seaweed snack sheets (did we seriously just suggest seaweed? Yes!)

• Low or no sugar yogurt tubes

• Single serving nuts

• Pumpkin clementines

• Granola bars

Non-edible items:

• Halloween-themed pencils or erasers

• Bouncy balls

• Crayons with mini-color pages

• Halloween-themed rings

• Stickers

• Temporary tattoos

• Bubbles

• Slime or putty

• Fake teeth

With all these options available to you and after much debating, you’ve decided to go the trick-or-treating route but ended up with more candy than you know what to do with. Nice Healthcare wouldn’t be “Nice” if we suggested you get rid of it ALL now, would we? That’s why we encourage you to enjoy your treats in moderation while also getting rid of the excess responsibly. Here are some tips:

• As mentioned above, let each child keep a jar or a small bowl for themselves - enough to have a piece or two of candy a day for the next couple of weeks. Keep some and get rid of the rest.

• Your child asks for a piece of candy? Sure! But pair it with a healthy option as well: nuts, a banana, or an apple with peanut butter.

• Save appropriate pieces in the freezer for holiday baking or an epic holiday gingerbread house.

• Got a birthday coming up? Save it to fill a piñata for that special birthday party.

• Check your local dentist office and see if they have a “buy back” program for Halloween candy.

• Donate excess candy to a homeless shelter, a children’s hospital or troops overseas. A treat can let someone know you care and provide a warm feeling of home or belonging to others.

When it comes to your wellness, Nice Healthcare encourages healthy treat options...but never at the expense of a little fun! No matter how you choose to celebrate the Halloween season, we hope we’ve given you plenty of feasible, fun and health-focused options that focus on the celebratory, spooky nature of the holiday.

From Nice Healthcare, to every kind of ghost, goblin, monster, or mummy around, we hope you have a happy (healthy) Halloween!