Using up, Making Do, or Doing without Halloween Candy!

Thanks, Heidi, for the great post on the Candy Witch! Great idea!

Like Heidi, year after year, I'm amazed at the seemingly endless supply of Halloween candy that streams into our house. I've heard of families that would rather have their kids binge on the candy and get it overwith rather than have their kids eat it little by little over time. That may work for some but in our house the ramifications of too much sugar all at once can have lasting, undesirable effects. So, over the years we've come up with different and creative ways to make the candy last without the "Mom, can I have a candy?" asked repeatedly for months after Halloween.

Here are our favorite ways to use up Halloween Candy. If you have other great ideas, please reply and share!

1. Send them overseas to soldiers. Candy is a real treat when you're so far from home.

2. Find someone who is going on a church or service mission to a third world country. Send them with goodies to pass out while they're there. When I lived in Guatemala, handing out a piece of candy to a child there was like giving them a piece of the world. Their eyes would get big, their smile would reach from ear to ear and they'd run off to get their friends. It took seconds to empty a box of candy!

3. Make Candy Christmas Trains. Each year, our family would spend a day making Christmas Candy Trains out of mini candy bars and candies. Why not save candy from Halloween so the kids can look forward to this great tradition?

4. Make Gingerbread Houses with saved candy.

5. Save candy for a special treat over the summer. A friend gave me this great idea! Every summer, many theaters offer free movies. My kids always begged for popcorn and treats from the concessions, but I could never justify the expense. Then, my friend shared her solution: Freeze Halloween Candy. Each movie day, each child picks 2 candies to take with them to the movie. My kids were so excited to save their candy that they had very little left! Perfect!

6. Use candy as a form of discipline. Lately, our kids have struggled to treat each other appropriately. Even with reminders to speak or act kindly, they'll continue to speak rudely or treat each other unkindly. Last night, we had a talk about the behavior and together, we came up with a plan. If they are rude or unkind to a family member, they need to give the family member a piece of candy (me included). The catch is that the person who has been offended get to pick what they want! Knowing that we all make mistakes, they decided that they get 1 warning before the punishment takes effect.

7. Give Mom your chocolate!! Okay, that's my favorite solution, but let's be real....

So far, these ideas have greatly lessened the November Candy Binge in our family. Let me know what you're doing and how it's working!