As a mom of two small children I know the struggle that parents have trying to find healthy alternatives to some of the goodies that kids ask (beg, plead, and nag) for.  I've joined up with the MomsRising Halloween Blog Carnival because I truly believe that in order for our kids to someday be healthy adults, they first have to start out as healthy children.  Not to mention, no 3 year old has ever torn apart a house on an "apple high", but a sugar high is a whole other story!

Every child loves going around and collecting their little sack full of candy on Halloween night, and every mom dreads the sugar high, tummy aches, and general insanity that comes with their kids gorging on as much refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup as they can fit into their mouths.  So we’re here to give a few ideas on how to win the battle of the candy craze!

Let’s Make A Deal!

There’s no shame in bribing your kids. Ok, maybe there’s a little shame, but we’ve all done it so let’s not judge! This Halloween, instead of letting your kids keep their big bag of potential diabetes, make a deal with them. Here are a few ideas for how to get them to give up the goods and stay healthy:

–Participate in the Halloween Candy Buyback, an organization run by dentists all over the country. They buy Halloween candy from kids for $1 per pound and send the collected candy to Operation Gratitude, an organization that makes care packages for deployed military personnel.

–Let them pick out their 10 favorite pieces of candy and donate the rest! A few places that accept candy donations are:

• Firestation,
• Ronald McDonald House,
• Local soup kitchen,
• Nursing homes
• Food pantries
• Operation Gratitude (Operation Gratitude/ CA Army National Guard 17330 Victory BLVD, Van Nuys, CA 91406 ATTN: Rich Hernandez)

–Do what I do… buy the candy from them using a marble exchange… 1 marble = 1 piece of candy. Marbles are kid currency in my home, they collect them and when they fill a mason jar full of marbles they get to choose a fun outing (zoo, aquarium, movies, etc). Some years I’ve donated the candy to the above mentioned locations, other years I hoard it for myself. I’m not proud…

Healthy Candy Alternatives!

Start at the source…. talk to your neighborhood association about agreeing to pass out healthy alternatives to Halloween candy. Communities are surprisingly open to healthy Halloween treats since we all loathe our children acting like maniacs on their sugar highs. Here are some great alternatives to the sugary junk:

Photo courtesy of Betterbee

Honey sticks.  They sound weird but kids gobble this up, and it’s simply either raw honey or honey with a natural flavoring added.  No extra junk!  You can purchase these at Betterbee.

Photo courtesy of Decas Cranberries

Who doesn’t love dried cranberries??  They’re sweet and delicious and have a similar texture to gummy fruit snacks without the chemicals and corn syrup added!  These are from Funny Face and come in little snack size packs perfect for trick or treaters! These can be purchased HERE.

Photo Courtesy of The Healthy Crow

Nothing is healthier than just plain fruit, but these mandarin oranges are jazzed up for Halloween with just a little marker to turn them into Jack-o-Lanterns!  So cute, super cheap, and it doesn’t get more natural than that!

Photo Courtesy of Play Doh

You can always avoid food altogether by handing out these cute little 1oz pots of Play Doh!  Cute, inexpensive, and something that kids would be so excited to receive!  They can be purchased HERE.

Photo Courtesy of Party City

Kids love stickers… anyone who’s had to scrape them off walls, furniture, or car windows can tell you that.  So they make for well received Halloween treats that won’t leave kids hopped up on 6lbs of sugar at the end of the night!  These particular stickers can be purchased HERE.

So as you can see there are ways to get around some of the dreaded candy craze that comes with Halloween leaving you and your kids able to focus on what’s really important…. toilet papering the neighbor’s yard.

(Just kidding!)

This post originally appeared on www.mompopculture.com.

This blog is a part of the MomsRising and CSPI #HealthyHalloween Blog Carnival