13 Halloween Sugar Substitutes
Give the Children Real Treats Instead of the Usual Sugary Path to Diabetes and Obesity!
Ok, my subtitle is rather strong, but I am passionate about reducing sugar consumption in this world so this is a timely reminder. I never give out anything with sugar in it at Halloween as I simply do not see it as a treat for children.
Halloween for me as a child was unusually healthy unusual in the sense that the rest of my life was VERY unhealthy. (You can read more about me at the bottom of this article.)
The last couple of years I have been making sure that my actions show how much I care for the welfare of the children in the community.
I invite you to join me in this endeavor to increase the wellness of children by not giving them candy filled with chemicals in the form of color and artificial flavoring and, of course, sugar. Most of these alternatives have zero calories!
Here are 13 great ideas to fill the baskets of trick-or-treaters:
1. Buy packages of stickers; give one page out at a time
2. Hair bands for the girls
3. Little rubber balls
4. Colored pens for the older children
5. Colored pencils and erasers
6. Little notebooks
7. Party favors like whistles and hats
8. Have a collection of pennies; let them take a small handful. Not for very young children.
9. Small packages of raisins if you can find them
10. Fruit leathers
11. Key chains (cartoon character)
12. Small packages of potato c! hips (ch eck label to be sure it has only potato, oil and salt) The salt will balance the sugar to some degree.
13. Mini blowing bubbles, set of 100 (packaged for weddings) may come open but are usually secure.
Here is a picture of Diana with her baskets.
Plastic toys (small cars and trucks, water toys like boats, ducks) were on my list, but. In recent years there have been recalls of toys made in China due to lead. Health Canada has asked the industry to stop using cadmium in their childrens products. There are chemicals in plastics.
Much of this can be found inexpensively at a discount or Dollar Store. When the children first see that there is no candy, it is fun most of them are very excited to be getting something different and I even hear them yelling happily to their parents about the surprise. The only ones who are disappointed are the teenagers as the best that they get is a little notebook or pen and they are so addicted to sugar that it is a disappointment for them.
I enjoy seeing the excitement of the children and am always here to greet them with a smile, a gift and a compliment about their costumes.
