I don’t know about you guys, but we have a ton of Halloween candy left over from the last week. It has become a battle with Logan at every meal. The first thing he asks for is some candy. I finally had put it up and out of sight, which has helped some. Then you have the fact that Shadrach and I are wrapping up Whole30 on Tuesday and the last thing we need is a bunch of candy to tempt us. So, I gathered up a list of things that you can do with your Halloween Candy.
One of the things about this list is that I tried to come up with ways that will help us teach Logan about giving and sharing. Since this is the first year he’s gotten candy (which you can read about here), I’m hoping we can show him that it’s okay for him to keep a little and give the rest away. Plus it’s a great opportunity to teach him all the different ways to give. I don’t think we have enough candy to do all of these but we will pick the ones nearest and dearest to our hearts.
1.) Find a Local Dentist that will buy it back.
Did you know there are dentist that will do this? They will take your Halloween candy and give you a toy or money in exchange. I looked it up to see if there were any dentist in my area that did this, but sadly, no. However, I can remember when we lived in Raleigh, a few of my mom friends talked about how their kids took candy to the dentist or orthodontist. You can check here to find out if there is a program in your area. After they collect the candy, they donate it to the troops. So it’s all for a great cause.
2.) Adopt a soldier or donate to one of these organizations.
I have a few family members and family friends that are in the military and I figured we would send them a little care package with some Halloween candy and a few other things. Then as I started looking into ways to donate candy, I came across a few different organizations that take candy donations as well as other things and send it to soldiers overseas. You can also adopt a soldier and send them care packages monthly. How amazing would it be to support and encourage our troops while emptying our homes of candy? Anyway, the three different organizations that I found are:
3.) Donate to your local Ronald McDonald House.
This is one I never thought of but I read somewhere that they take candy donations. I just encourage you to call ahead of time before just showing up to drop it off. Check here to find your local Ronald McDonald House.
4.) Make up little treat bags to give to your local police departments, fire department, or even your garbage man or mail man (or woman).
I am a big believer in teaching Logan to respect and be grateful for those people that protect us. I know that the garbage man and mail man don’t protect us but they do jobs that not everyone wants to do. Plus, Logan gets so excited whenever he sees the garbage trucks or mail truck, I thought it might be nice to let them know that we appreciate what they do.
5.) Donate it to your local homeless shelter or soup kitchen.
Contact your local shelter or soup kitchen and find out if they would like some candy. Plus you might be able to find out if there are other items they might need and take those them at the same time. This is a great way to get your kids involved and let them see that it’s good to give and help others.
6.) Contact a local nursing home or retirement home.
Check with your local nursing and retirement homes to see if they have a need for candy. I also think it would be fun to see if there is someone who doesn’t get a lot of visitors and adopt them. Take them treats or little gifts, or just spend time with them on a regular basis, and bring your kids along too!
7.) Send it to work with your husband.
I can remember in my working days, everyone brought their leftover candy from trick-or-treaters to work the next day and it did not last long! People love getting free candy in offices and workplaces. So if your spouse works outside the home, send it with them (plus it will make your husband popular for a day. :))
8.) Freeze it and save it for later.
Chocolate candies can be frozen and kept for later. You can save it for bribing your kids because you know, desperate times call for desperate measures. 🙂 Trust me when I say, I’m not above bribing Logan to avoid a meltdown or tears. You could just save it and give it out as a special treat once in a while. Plus the freezer works great at keeping it fresh.
9.) Use it to build a gingerbread house at Christmas.
There are some great ideas on Pinterest on how to build a gingerbread house using various candies. This would be a fun crafty way to use up that candy.
10.) Use the Candy Fairy Method
Sometimes, your kids can be a little attached to their candy, and I’ve heard this method works pretty well. Tell your kids that there’s a fairy that comes at night and swaps out their Halloween candy for a really cool toy. This way you can get rid of it with one of the suggestions above, and avoid some of the tears that may come otherwise. I consider this method the last resort. 🙂
I hope these suggestions inspire you to do something great with your Halloween candy and teach your kids about showing gratitude and giving to others. Logan is young enough that I want to start instilling the values of giving to others. Do you have any tips or tricks for getting rid or using up all your Halloween candy? I’d love to hear about it.
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Laura Ramnath
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When a someone is traveling away for a week and a friend of them tell them take care!, is this just a polite saying to say goodbye or does it mean the speaker really cares about the person who’s leaving?
Great suggestions – I didn’t ever think of freezing the candy as an option but its definitely one way of keeping a stash fresh! I love the little party bags to donate to emergency services, such a nice idea for the people who work so hard to keep us safe!
Thank you Lisa! Supporting our local emergency service with gift bags is one of my favorite ideas too!
Bringing it to work used to be my go to for candy left over from what we handed out to our trick or treaters! Now that I’m a stay at home mom, and my husband has his own business so no office to send it to, this is a great list!
Thank you Rachael! Yeah, not having a job to take it to as a quick fix is hard. I have that same problem now too!
Great ideas!! I will have to ask our dentist about that….. I HOPE he’ll do it for my little people
Thank you Mary! I hope he does too! You can always click the link up there and check to see if any other dentists in your area do it, in case yours doesn’t.
Great ideas! I had no idea dentists bought back candy.
Thank you Sara! I know, it’s a great idea! I can’t find a dentist in my area that does it but I know when we lived in Raleigh, NC that there were a lot that did this. I hope you can find one close to you that does it.
I will definitely have to remember these in the future when my daughter starts bringing home lots of candy!
Thank you Vicki!
I LOVE these ideas! My little one was too young to trick-or-treat this year, but I’ll have to remember these in the future. I really like the idea of sending it to solider or other organization, but I know that the taking it work method is also a quick fix. If someone sets something on our workroom table, it’s gone before the day is over!
Thank you! This was our first year trick-or-treating so I was on the hunt for ways to keep me and my husband from eating all the candy. Ha! 🙂 Taking it to work is the quickest and easiest way to get it out of the house for sure.
I love 7- and I will be sending some to work with my husband tonight! What a great idea to use it for a gingerbread house! My son is not allowed to take any to school so he can only have it after school is out, I am only letting him have a piece or two a day depending on the size of the candy he wants. Great advice. I had never heard of some of those options before.
Thank you Stacy! I hope your husbands coworkers enjoy it! That’s a great way to let your kiddo enjoy it too!
Love the idea of making a treat bag. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Maggie! That’s my favorite one too!
These are great tips! I had no idea dentists would ‘buy’ back candy. That is a great option and supports a wonderful cause.
Thank you Melissa! I love supporting a great cause.
Those are some great ideas. I wish that we did something other than eat them haha
Karen, thank you! I probably should have put that as an option too! 🙂
LOVE number 5 & 8! Totally going to do this. Great ideas!!
Thank you Kristine! I’m so glad it gave you some ideas. 🙂
These are great ideas! I also have taken our candy to schools to the secretary’s office for the staff when they pass by! I like the idea of using it to give back to the community in some way and then use that as a teaching lesson for our littles!
Thank you Gloryanna! I didn’t even think about taking it schools for the office staff. Great idea!