How to Manage Halloween Candy with Your Kids 
Plus healthy spoOky food ideas for kids!
For many kids, Halloween is one of the favorite occasions of the year. Parents and caregivers want to see their kids have fun yet at the same time respect health.
With Halloween just around the corner, here are some strategies on managing Halloween candy with your kids as well as some fun spooky yet healthy food ideas for kids.
What is the best way to manage junk food in general with kids?
It is important to help your kids learn skills to eat nutritious foods and also to balance less nutritious foods chosen more for celebration, taste, and non-nutrition reasons.
If you raise your kids in a home free from all so-called “junk foods”, don’t be surprised when they over-consume these forbidden foods at a friend’s house. At the same time, your kids don’t need several treats in their lunch each day, candy after school, and dessert after supper every day, or they will be missing out on key nutrition needed for growth, health, and learning.
Are kids consuming too much sugar overall?
There is no Canadian data on the amount of added sugar kids consume on Halloween.
Overall, Canadian adults on average consume 9.9% of daily energy from free sugars and children and adolescents consume 12-13.5% of daily energy from free sugars. Free sugar is the amount of added sugar in foods and beverages plus those found naturally in honey, syrups and fruit juice.
The World Health Organization recommends that adults and kids reduce free sugars to less than 10% of daily energy intake (and ideally less than 5% of daily energy intake).
Yes, Canadian kids could benefit from eating less sugar overall but let’s not worry about specific holidays such as Halloween, birthdays and Christmas for example, let’s focus on typical everyday family eating patterns that can make a bigger difference.
How should we manage candy on Halloween night?
Nudge, don’t nag! Keep in mind that what happens one day out of the year won’t matter. It is what you do between Halloween this year and next year that is most relevant. There are no bad foods, its your overall diet that counts!
Fuel up before trick-or-treating
Make sure your kids enjoy one of their favorite healthy suppers before heading out. Choose something filling that provides lasting energy, such as:
- A make-ahead slow cooker chili with rice and steamed veggies
- Homemade pizza and salad
- Pasta with meat sauce and salad
👉 Check out these cook once, eat twice cozy fall recipes for inspiration.
Let your kids know there will be a chance to enjoy candy when they get home.
When the candy haul comes in
Join in the fun! Encourage your kids to dump out their stash and admire their awesome collection.
- Ask them to pick their top 3–5 favorites (and maybe share one with you!).
- Observe how much they eat without commenting or setting rules.
You might be surprised how many kids self-moderate and only eat a few pieces.
If they go overboard…
If your child has inhaled about half a dozen of their favorites, gently ask them to choose one more candy to enjoy.
Then remind them that the rest of the stash will still be there tomorrow.
What are some options on how to deal with the large pillow sack full of candy after Halloween?
I am a fan of allowing kids the chance to manage their stash with some well set out ground rules about when. Tell kids they are able to enjoy Halloween candy after meals. If they can follow the rules, then they get to manage the stash; if they don’t, and you find them grazing on candy before meals (which will impact their appetite for healthy meals), then you get to manage the stash.
Again, observe how much they consume without making any comments or providing them with any rules since you might be surprised how many kids self-moderate and eat only a few pieces.
If you notice your child continues to inhale about half a dozen at a time, ask them to pick one more of their top choices and remind them that the stash will be there tomorrow to enjoy again. Since every family and child is different, here are some other ways some parents and caregivers have provided kids choice (I believe the key word here is CHOICE):
- “Stash for Cash” – offer the choice to keep the candy stash or alternatively trade some or all of the stash for cash.
- “Switch Witch” – ask younger kids if they would like you to call the “Switch Witch” who is similar to the tooth fairy but switches some or all candy for toys.
What are some healthy Halloween foods you can make with kids?
1. Stir up a “Witches Brew”
Add fresh or frozen blueberries into oatmeal while cooking to make “purple porridge”. Use a meatball/melon baller to scoop out honeydew melon pieces to make “green eyeballs” to add to the top.
2. Healthy Pumpkins
Peel mandarin oranges and place a small cut piece of celery or peeled cucumber in the middle to look like a pumpkin.
3. Make Some “Witches Fingers”
Buy small farmers market fresh carrots and placing a bit of nut butter on the end to stick on a flat sliced almond.
4. Spooky Ghosts
Peel and cut bananas in half and place on Popsicle sticks if desired. Push in raisins to make eyes and a mouth to look like ghosts.
5. Make a Green Witches Drink
Create a smoothie in the blender with frozen mango, fresh/frozen/canned pineapple, apple/mango juice and fresh kale. Try this recipe on our blog.
6. Halloween Muffins
Bake pumpkin muffins and add spooky cupcake tags or Halloween stickers on toothpicks to decorate. Try this recipe.
Interested in more creative and fun nutrition tips for you and your kids?
Sound Bites is a weekly nutrition newsletter that goes out to thousands of subscribers. Written by our team of registered dietitians, it includes articles, videos, tips and recipes.
As a special BONUS, we’ll email you our popular ’51 Healthy Snack Attacks’ PDF.
If you enjoyed this blog post, check out these other articles on our blog!
About Andrea Holwegner
CEO, Registered Dietitian, Counseling Practice Director & Professional Speaker
Andrea the «Chocolate Loving Nutritionist» is founder and CEO of Health Stand Nutrition Consulting Inc. since 2000. She is an online nutrition course creator, professional speaker and regular guest in the media. Andrea is the recipient of an award by the Dietitians of Canada: The Speaking of Food & Healthy Living Award for Excellence in Consumer Education....Read more
