It’s the day after Halloween and I am slowly recovering from the chaos that ensued after a late night of trick-or-treating with my children. I left the house last night with a football player, boxer, and dancer, and I came home with three screaming children and pumpkin buckets overflowing with candy. I rarely allow my kids to eat candy, but it’s a holiday! And boy do I now regret it…too much sugar mixed with tired kids is a recipe for disaster! Now my mission is to get rid of all the Halloween candy.
Here are 10 tricks for too many treats:
1. Experiment: My oldest son loves to pretend to be a little scientist! I can’t wait to explore some science concepts with him. Does the candy sink or float? How does the candy melt? Click here to find some fun experiments you can do in your kitchen.
2. Bake: Who doesn’t love cookies with a chocolate surprise in the middle? Why not bake up a batch using some of your favorite crushed-up candies? Click here to find some delicious treats with Halloween candy as the main ingredient.
3. Donate: Several different groups, both local and national, are seeking donations of all your unwanted Halloween sweets. Carole Canzoneri is a Fairfield resident that has been making homemade gingerbread houses for charity along with friends. They have made hundreds of gingerbread houses for groups such as, Boys and Girls Village, Operation Hope, Westport Girls Home, and many more. They are requesting donations of wrapped leftover Halloween candy. The Authentic Athlete, located at 1096 Boston Post Road, Darien, will be helping in collecting donations through November 16th. Operation Shoebox and Operation Gratitude are two other charities that will take your Halloween candy and create care packages for our US military.
4. Sell: Did you know that some local dentists will buy your candy back from you? Some dentists will pay $1 per pound of candy and send it overseas to our troops. This helps promote the importance of good dental hygiene and the great feelings that go along with helping others.
5. Trade: You can make a deal with your kiddos to trade in their candy for a new toy or special adventure. Last year my daughter traded her candy for a family visit to Silverman’s farm. It was a win-win; she didn’t consume massive amounts of sugar and we had a fun family outing.
6. Learn: You can use your child’s massive collection of candy as a learning tool. Challenge your child to sort the candy in different ways (size, color, shape, etc.). Try to build one-one correspondence with counting. Practice skip-counting or creating equal groups. You can also use the candies as math manipulatives and model number stories (I had 13 Snickers and 5 Peanut Butter Cups. How many candies do I have in all?).
7. Bring to Work: Share all the extra treats (and calories) with your colleagues. You never know who has a secret sweet tooth.
8. Freeze: If you’re like me and you can’t stand to give up all of your Twix bars, you can always put them in a Ziploc bag and freeze. Frozen candy can last up to a year.
9. Hide: Create a secret stash just for you. Maybe hide your favorite candies in an empty box of cereal or in the back of your closet? You never know when you will need the comfort of chocolate after a long stressful day with the kiddos.
10. And when all else fails just eat and enjoy!
Tell us what you plan to do with all of your Halloween candy! Do you have any other tricks for your treats?
