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I've never been a big fan of Halloween or the thought of kids getting pounds of sugar-filled treats. Would the neighborhood children hate me as the "crotchety ol' meanie" if I gave out something like glow sticks or half dollar coins (can I even still get those at a bank?)
Would your kids enjoy getting something other than candy at some of the houses? If so, what other ideas might you have?
The young ones get small cans of Play-Doh from us; the kids AND their parents are always thrilled to see that. The older kids get a bag of pretzels.
A friend gives out books to all the kids.
Stickers, Wendy's Frosty certificates, a can of pop or a juice box works well too.... my kids got those occasionally.
Glow sticks would be great.
As far as money, a quarter would be fine, unless you want to go bigger. I guess that depends on how many kids you get!
That's a great idea but it might be harder to pull it off because you can get kids from 6 months to 16 years knocking on the door. For younger kids, Crayola crayons or dollar store color books or pencils would work great.
Every juice boxes will work nice.
Mine loves crayons, playdough and stickers. She would not be disappointed to see them provided she is also getting candy from other houses.
I'm sure the glow sticks would be a hit. The concern I have is if a little one mistakes it for candy and bites into it.
Individual bags of chips or pretzels have come home with my kids, they liked them too. I think one day, centered around candy, is more in the spirit of Halloween, but as long as you aren't handing out apples or broccoli, you'll be fine.
We have done numerous things over the years and a few years we would give everyone a few different items.
We would give them one small bag of candy, a small bag of pretzels or Cheez Its and depending on the age of the child a small box of 8 crayons and small color book. All of our Halloween purchases for the crayons and color books were made throughout the year though when those items were on sale so the cost was spread out over 12 months and we didn't have a large number of children either.
We would also give small bags of popcorn or the already made popcorn balls we could get from the local popcorn shop at a very good price.
I'm sure the glow sticks would be a hit. The concern I have is if a little one mistakes it for candy and bites into it.
Individual bags of chips or pretzels have come home with my kids, they liked them too. I think one day, centered around candy, is more in the spirit of Halloween, but as long as you aren't handing out apples or broccoli, you'll be fine.
LOL at the broccoli comment! No, even I don't push healthy eating THAT much!
(Sure would be funny, though, to see the looks on the kids' faces if I cheerfully offered ziplock bags of broccoli florets!) Bwwaahhhaaaa!
My son is 10, and he would be very happy getting stickers, pencils, erasers, temporary tattoos, glow sticks, halloween-themed plastic jewelry (esp. glow in the dark). I think if a kid is too old to think things like that are fun, then maybe they are too old to be trick or treating.
He'd be thrilled with a Wendy's Frosty coupon but I'm not sure that addresses the not wanting to give out a non-sugar filled treat.
I've never been a big fan of Halloween or the thought of kids getting pounds of sugar-filled treats. Would the neighborhood children hate me as the "crotchety ol' meanie" if I gave out something like glow sticks or half dollar coins (can I even still get those at a bank?)
Would your kids enjoy getting something other than candy at some of the houses? If so, what other ideas might you have?
Check with your bank if they have half dollars on hand. When I worked in the branch we used to always keep them in stock. Question is though--do you get a very large turnout of kids? Handing out half dollars might cost you a lot of money lol
Glow sticks are a nice idea. I'm going to assume that kids don't eat anything until their parents inspect the items (that's what I do). If you give out glow sticks maybe tell them, "Hey, I have cool glow sticks you can use to walk around with" that way there's less of a chance of them just biting into it
We've given out the small bags of pretzels and my daughter has received them as well. She's not much of a candy eater (only a few things she actually likes) so she always likes getting pretzels or small bags of chips.
I also go to the party store and pick up packages of Halloween party favors like spider rings, bookmarkers or Halloween themed erasers or those little maze toys. They're pretty inexpensive and you get at least a dozen in a package, sometimes more depending on what the item is. We've spent so much money on candy and have had left-overs that we preferred having little items that we can use the following year if there's any left.
I usually pick stuff like this...
bookmarkers
rings--these are really inexpensive. I think they're about $2
Oriental Trading Company can provide a wide range of items!
Yup I've purchased from them many times. They pretty much have EVERYTHING.
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I've purchased from them many times. They pretty much have EVERYTHING.
