Eating candy is part of being a kid. At Halloween, I remember dragging pillowcases home FULL of candy! We had tons of fun sorting through the mountain of treats to find our favorites. In my house, you got to choose a handful of favorites and then your sugary loot was replaced with cold hard cash before Halloween was even over. Here’s more ideas for swapping out candy.
Letting kids who are two and half years and older enjoy a few pieces of sugary candy is not a big deal. Kids younger than two and half years old do not need candy. They don’t know what it is yet and they don’t quite understand what it means to enjoy in moderation.
For preschoolers and older, it’s important our kiddos learn how to enjoy candy ever so often. If you completely restrict candy, your kids will want more, more and MORE.
So, what’s the big deal with letting your kiddos eat all their Halloween candy?
Here’s a silly, but illuminating way to think about it (sing it in a child’s voice to really drive it home!):
- After one night of Halloween candy, my tummy kind of ached.
- After two nights of Halloween candy, my behavior surely tanked.
- After three nights of Halloween candy, I really can’t sleep.
- After four nights of Halloween candy, I start to feel weak. (Sugar lowers our body’s immune response making it easier to get sick!)
- After five nights of Halloween candy, I’m really feeling ill. (Uh-oh! Coughs, sniffles, sore throats may start to appear.)
- After six nights of Halloween candy, I’m craving sugar like a pill!
Got the picture? After loads of Halloween candy you’ve officially got yourself a little sugar addict who might be sick, tired, cranky and NO FUN at all!
Halloween can be so much more fun than just an excuse to gorge on candy. Dressing up in costumes is a favorite pastime, watching age-appropriate scary movies, visiting haunted houses and carving pumpkins are activities American families look forward to all summer.
Just because some of us grew up gorging on Halloween candy, doesn’t make it healthy. Heck, I used to ride in the back of my Dad’s pick-up truck without a seat, never mind a seatbelt.
Tell us about your healthy Halloween traditions? How will you deal with all the candy?