Our first Trunk-or-Treat is in a matter of hours, so I am armed and ready for battle.
It is our family tradition to let the kids eat candy that evening, then have the “Candy Fairy” come and take the rest in the night (if the child chooses) and leave money instead. This is a killer money maker in our house, and the kids are eager to go shopping for their favorite toy within the next few days.
I’ve never come up with a good answer to, “What does the Candy Fairy do with all that candy?” I always seem to blurt out, “Chuck in the dumpster”. However, Fit Momma Crystal wrote in and I love her tradition:
The Great Pumpkin comes the night of Halloween here (they can eat as much candy they want the night of). They leave their Halloween buckets out (much like an Easter basket) and then Great Pumpkin comes in the middle of the night and trades all of the candy for a toy they have really been wanting. Then "the great pumpkin" sends the candy over seas to some of our soldiers. That way it gets out of our house and lives quickly!
How very noble of you! It brings back the Charlie Brown nostalgia.
Also, Fit Momma Paige sent me this idea for those of you with older children:
Halloween Candy Science Projects
Yet some other options besides eating it all when your children slumber:
1. Decorate with it. You surely have some Gingerbread houses, Christmas cookies, or candy trains in your future. Save the candy and put it to good use.
2. Make candy sculptures with it. Make mosaics with hard candy. Cover sturdy cardboard with wax paper, aluminum foil or paper. Then instead of tiles, use candy to create a design and “grout” it with stiff icing. To make sculptures, stick soft candy, apples and marshmallows together with toothpicks.
3. Wear it. Make a candy necklace out of string or yarn and candy. Attach candy by knotting the ribbon around the wrapper ends or lollipop sticks until the necklace is complete. Tie the ends together and wear the latest in edible jewelry!
4. Recycle it. Of course, this is an old trick. Give it away to the trick-or-treaters that come knocking late into the night. Or just set a bowl outside the door with a note asking to not knock, but just load up. Jackpot!
5. Stuff it. Have a birthday coming up? Why not save it and put it in a piñata for little guy’s celebration.
Adapted from 10 Things to do with All that Halloween Candy.
And finally -- this is my specialty - just chuck it in a dumpster.
Do you have any other good, great or grand Halloween candy ideas? Comment away, por favor!
4 comments:
Love this idea--thanks so much for sharing!
Ryan, my dh, who is also a pediatric dentist, has a "Cash for Candy" event at the office. He pays kids for their candy. $1 for each half pound. Then we donate it to a group that makes a huge gingerbread/candy village, whose proceeds go to the Boys and Girl's Club. I'm sure the "Candy Fairy" could find all sorts of fun places to disperse her goods. (:
Great ideas. I send it to work with my husband to share around!
Some dentists around here will let kids come in and they'll pay them $$ per pound! I think the limit is like $40, but, hey, that's a lot to a young trick or treater!
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