Halloween has come and gone, but now you’re stuck with pumpkin buckets filled to the rim with candy. If your household is anything like mine, it is constant battles over when they can eat the candy, how much, and fighting over someone accidentally eating the piece they were saving for another day. Each year, I wonder how much I can secretly hide in the trash can before they notice the piece that “accidentally fell into the trash can”.
However, the waste of throwing away good candy hurts my core, not because I want to eat it, but rather because it is overall wasteful. People in my neighborhood spent money, effort, and time preparing treats for my kids. I want to be able to use it for good while still not rotting all of my kids’ teeth out within the month. Brainstorming started, and I came up with a list of ways you can get creative with those treats.
1. Use Candy for Other Desserts
I pull a few types of candy off to make other recipes for future gatherings (think tailgating parties or even Thanksgiving). This win-win approach to reusing candy helps show your kids that you can do other things with candy and still enjoy it. It also allows you to share the holiday treats with others.
2. Donate it
There are numerous programs available that aim to collect your leftover candy. Sending candy to the troops is one way that organizations collect leftover candy to put it to great use. Troops stationed around the world can enjoy Halloween treats with some of their favorite candy while teaching your own children that giving to others matters. Another option is to see if local dentist offices have “cash in” programs. One year, my toddler and I took his extra candy into our local dentist’s office for a “cash in” program. For every pound of candy he brought, they bought it for him. He ended up with a few bucks that I let him go to the store to spend.
3. Your Local School System
I am lucky enough to already work in a school, so I tend to bring my extra [allergy-free] candies to share with my students for positive rewards. Since I don’t tend to use a lot of food rewards for my classroom, I put the extras in the teacher’s lounge and the stash is usually gone by the end of the day for other colleagues to use as they desire. You could call your child’s school to see if they are open to this idea!
4. Community Giving/Buy Nothing Groups/Neighbors
Worst case, snap a photo of that extra pile of candy you can’t seem to shake and post it on your local Buy Nothing Group so others can enjoy their favorite treat. Perhaps you’ve just made the day of an elderly neighbor who would love to have an extra few Snickers bars to brighten their day. Drop a small bag off and share the love. This is not only a kind thing to do, but also something fun for your kids to participate in, spreading kindness throughout the neighborhood.
And, unsolicited advice: let them have some of the candy. They are only little once!
