Tips & Tricks on A Fun-Filled, Safe, & Healthy(er) Halloween

If my kids have a solid base, then I won’t be stressed later on when they’re out in the world making their own decisions. I want them to enjoy life, I want them to participate in everything – without them being fearful or ashamed of what they ‘can’ and ‘can’t eat’. But I also want them to be strong in their knowledge of what better options are andwhy. 

HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO HALLOWEEN?

Well, if you keep reading, I’ll tell ya!

Tips & Tricks on A Fun-Filled, Safe, & Healthy(er) Halloween

WALKING SAFETY

• Be sure to cross the street at corners, using traffic signals & crosswalks. This is a great time to teach your kids (or remind them) to look left, right, and left again when crossing the street. For extra precaution, keep looking left and right as you cross – particularly for those knucklehead 18-year-olds driving too fast because it’s cool. IT’S NOT COOL

• Put the phone down – your eyes need to be up, not at that screen!

• Hold hands. This is a rule in our family. Anytime we are in a parking lot or crossing a street, both kids need to hold onto someone’s hand. They usually choose mine because, for now, they’re just super attached to mama. 

• Teach your kiddos to make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of them. This confirms that the driver has seen ya’ll and it’s safe to cross. 

• Always, always, always walk on the sidewalk or a path. If there aren’t any sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far towards the edge of the road you can get. Keep your kiddo on the outside of you (i.e. on the side farther from the passing cars).

• Watch for cars that are turning around or backing up. Good teaching opportunity here to make sure your babes know to never dart out into the street or cross between parked cars

• Stick to well lit areas & be sure to always supervise kids under the age of 12.

• If your mini adult is over the age of 12, make sure you review a plan of action with them. Where they’ll be going, who they will be with, and what time they need to be home.

COSTUME SAFETY

• If possible, choose light colors. If your child decides to be Darth Vader, on the other hand, make sure to add something reflective – yes it can be a glow-in-the-dark lightsaber (a couple pieces of reflective tape works well too either on the costume or the candy bucket).

• If a mask obstructs your kiddo’s vision – replace it withnon-toxicface paint (see below)!

  • Consider Go Green Face Paint– This certified organic face paint is ready to use so you don’t need to add water. It’s lead-free & uses rice cream as its base, enhanced with jojoba oil and no dyes that contain heavy meals. The Party Pack includes 15 colors and 6 different color sets for faces like Monster Madness, Classic Clown and Superhero Supreme. The paints have a long shelf life, so you can use them beyond Halloween, like decorating for birthdays or other special events.

  • Checkout Natural Earth Paint. Their Natural Face Paint Kit is made from over 70% certified organic ingredients that are clay and mineral-based. They also contain organic, Fair Trade shea butter & organic castor seed oil. Their paints are free of nanoparticles, heavy metals, parabens, phthalates, formaldehyde and animal products like carmine. BOOM.

  • Try Glob’s Natural Face Paint– made with botanical extracts, natural colors, certified organic ingredients, & no artificial dyes or harsh chemicals.

  • Make your own: Mix any creamy fragrance-free skin lotion that’s also free of parabens & phthalates with a few drops of plant-derived food coloring. Spread the “paint” on thinly and let it dry. Or, mix 1 tablespoon solid shortening with 2 tablespoons cornstarch until smooth. Add natural-based food coloring one drop at a time until you get the desired color. Use a clean sponge or fingers to apply where you want it. Remove with warm water and soap.

• If you child decides to be a hot dog, or any other costume that doesn’t have a built in source of light, please make sure you or your kiddo carries a flashlight! 

• This is common sense, but please make sure your kids costume fits correctly – we don’t need anyone face planting in the street.

DRIVING SAFETY

• Slow down my fellow humans, particularly in residential neighborhoods. Kids are super excited on Halloween to accumulate as much sugar in their bucket as they can – meaning, they can be unpredictable creatures & sprint off in 17 different directions.

• Take extra time looking for kids at intersections, on medians, and on curbs.

• Enter & exit driveways and alleys slower than normal.

• Turn your headlights on earlier in the day to help families see you better and for you to see them better.

• Peak trick-or-treating hours are from 5:30pm-9:30pm so be on extra high alert during those hours.

Let’s talk about treats.

• Before Halloween, talk to your kids about limits so they know what to expect and aren’t blindsided by mommy’s crazy rules the night of. I’m an over-explainer in situations like this because I really want my kids to understandwhyI do certain things rather than just telling them “because I said so”.

  • One limit may be allowing the kids to pick 5 pieces of candy on Halloween night to eat and then one or two pieces a night for the week that follows.

• Make sure your munchkins eat well before ya’ll go out. This will minimize lots of extra snacking or picking at candy prior to coming home from the night.

• For safety reasons, I strongly encourage you to look through your kids candy before allowing them to eat it. It’s hard to implement the ‘no treats until you get home’ rule because we live in the real world and what real child will follow that… Not mine that’s for sure. So take a glance as you’re trick-or-treating and choose a few options for your kid to pick from in that moment.

• When you get home, keep the candy out of reach in the pantry. This will help to minimize our sneaky little humans ability to hoard all the candy.

• If you set the rule above (one or two pieces per night for the week that follows Halloween), once that week is up consider:

  • Repurposing the candy: use the candy to decorate gingerbread houses or other fun holiday-themed art projects.

  • Donate: allow the kiddos to pick a few of their last favorite treats and then donate the rest! See below for some great causes:

    • Operation Gratitude, who sends care packages to U.S. troops stationed overseas and first responders stateside. It collects hundreds of thousands of pounds of candy annually. The organization’s mission is simple: to put a smile on soldiers’ faces. 

    • Soldiers’ Angelswho are similar to Operation Gratitude but smaller in scale, Soldiers’ Angels organizes Treats for Troops annually.

    • Ronald McDonald House Charitieshelps keep severely ill kids & their parents together during treatment. After Halloween, most locations accept donations of unopened candy for the families being served.

    • Operation Stars and Stripes, which was founded in 2001 in memory of a Vietnam War hero, this all-volunteer nonprofit supports service members at home and abroad with care packages and letters. Packages of unopened candy can be sent to the organization’s Georgia headquarters. 

    • Operation Shoebox and Any Soldier. These are two more organizations that collect and send care packages and donate Halloween candy to troops overseas. Operation Shoebox accepts individually wrapped candies all year long. Meanwhile, Any Soldier allows you to search soldiers’ wish lists and send donations to them directly.

  • Participate in a buyback program. 

    • Halloween Candy Buyback Program. Visit this site to search for a participating dentist near you who will accept candy donations in exchange for a small reward for the kids, such as toothbrushes, coupons, and sometimes cash.

IF YOU’RE LIKE ME AND WANT TO TAKE IT A STEP FURTHER…

Have the kids choose their favorite 5 pieces of candy out of their candy bag. Those can be their special Halloween treats. Then, have a pre-made Halloween replacement basket (that you, the controlling but not controlling mommy) have put together. There’s a few ways to handle this. First, you could offer the kids to swap their 5 favorite pieces for something in your pre-made basket. If they don’t want to, that’s okay! Again, think crunch mama with wriggle room. But after Halloween, rather than choosing fromtheirHalloween bucket they can choose 1-2 treats out ofyourbasket.

WHAT SHOULD GO IN THIS BASKET?

• Non-food treats – stickers, small toys, temporary tattoos, false teeth, tiny games, mini decks of cards, glow bracelets, light-up rings, bubbles, bouncy balls, mini slinkies. That’s all I got off the top of my head.

• Other candy options, see below for my fave!

  • UnrealDark Chocolate Caramel Peanut Nougat Bars

  • UnrealDark Chocolate Coconut Bars

  • UnrealDark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

  • UnrealDark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups

  • UnrealMilk Chocolate Gems 

  • UnrealDark Chocolate Peanut Gems

  • YumEarthOrganic Candy Corn

  • YumEarthOrganic Halloween Pops

  • YumEarthOrganic Halloween Gummy Fruits

  • YumEarthOrganic Giggles

  • YumEarthOrganic Roll’N Stones

  • YumEarth Organic Jelly Beans

At the end of the day, raising kids is a mind game. I find (as a practitioner and a mom), the more kids think theycan’thave or do something, the more they want to. This brings me back to my initial point – it’s all aboutbalance. Allow your kiddos to have some candy on Halloween (*refer back to the list of ‘better options’ above*). By giving your kiddos the freedom to choose their candy pieces, your kids become more comfortable around treats – and by doing so, you neutralize those treats’ power. 

Copyright 2022 The Discovery Doc, LLC®. All Rights Reserved.

The Discovery Doc – Dr. CeCe Brooks – Atlanta Holistic NP

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