Taming the Holiday Candy Monster

Here are some sugar-free strategies to get through this Hallow's eve holiday season without the freaky sugar frenzies.

1. Think outside the candy box.

When goblins come a knockin’, give out stickers, pencils, crayons, bracelets, rings, plastic spiders and snakes, high-bounce balls - any party favor you’d put in a child’s birthday gift bag. Be careful of choking hazards with younger children.

2. Host a haunted dinner party and give your menu a creepy twist.

For example, guacamole or spinach dip becomes “frogs’ guts.” Call spaghetti with tomato sauce and gooey mozzarella cheese, “bloody brains with meatball eyeballs.” organic cranberry juice mixed with warm spiced cider becomes “Dracula’s blood” – serve at body temperature of course. Invite kids to help cook and serve the meal.  Eat by candlelight, or around a fire pit and then sing songs, howl at the moon, and make up spooky stories.

3. Focus on dress-up.

Visit a second hand store and pick up assorted items with creative potential – scarves, hats, jewelry, and uniforms. Let kids create costumes with your found items. Give every child a prize for their unique persona. Or, make theme masks, paint faces and dye hair.

4. Celebrate the harvest season and Mother Nature.

Go camping and tell stories around the campfire. Take a hike and search for leaves, sticks, acorns, feathers, rocks and flower heads and seed pods. Decorate small pumpkins or gourds, dunk for apples, carve a jack-o-lantern and toast pumpkin seeds.