13 Candy Alternatives to Give to Trick-or-Treaters

Admittedly, no one wants to be like that weird neighbor down the street. You know, the one who gave out Bic pens or cough lozenges for Halloween. At the same time, if you’re working on getting fit, you probably feel at least a tiny bit guilty dumping a handful of sugary junk into trick-or-treaters’ bags, especially with child obesity rates at an all-time high.

In light of that, we thought we’d offer you a few healthier options, some culled from our experts, some from you! Here’s our list of candy alternatives you can hand out tomorrow night. And, consider this, since most houses will be handing out candy, your treats will stand out (in a good way) from the bunch!

Sunflower Seeds Mini Pack
Sunflower seeds are incredibly labor intensive, so kids tend to reach satiation or boredom before they can overeat. The sodium is a little dodgy, but the fats are all good and they pack a nice little bit o’ fiber.

Crayon 4-Packs
No kid can have enough crayons. And they inspire creativity instead of obesity. You’re not going to get much healthier than this, provided kids don’t eat the crayons, of course.

Pretzels Mini-Pack
Yes, we know, refined flour. But no fat and little or no chemicals. A 100-calorie pack of pretzels is such an improvement over, well, any candy.

Bubbles
This simple toy can lead to hours — or at least minutes of entertainment.

Temporary Tattoos
Rebellion, man! That’s what Halloween is all about. Kids will walk away from your house happy and healthy and, if you’re lucky, you’ll really annoy a few parents. Those things don’t come off in the bath, ya know. (They do, however come off with a little rubbing alcohol.)

Fitness Passes
Crystal (@Crickey13) had the great idea of inspiring fitness in a fun way. She “bought swim/skate passes for the kids! Great exercise and fun too!”

Fruit “Snack” Rolls
They may not be as good as a real piece of fruit, but they’re individually wrapped and they usually contain about 1 gram of fiber for every 12 grams of carbohydrates.

Pirate’s Booty
Katheen Larsen (@Markaval) likes to hand out this cheesy snack. “I tried to do glow-in-the-dark fangs, but they aren’t individually wrapped.”

Finger Trap
Remember these little bamboo puzzlers? Stick your fingers in each end of the tube — and you can’t get them out!

Stickers
There’s something about kids and stickers. They’ll be happy to sticker themselves, each other, and all sorts of stuff with Halloweeny stickers. Can’t find Halloween stickers this late in the game? Pick up animal or fantasy-themed ones!

Halloween props
Most stores carry bags of spider rings, bouncy eyeballs, or snakes. Or consider handing out Halloween-themed pencils and erasers. The fun of these will last long after the Halloween sugar high is gone.

Glow in the Dark Sticks
Courtney (@Wolfey10101) likes to hand out glow sticks! We loved these as a kid and kids will have fun waving them around as they trick or treat.

Finger Puppets
If you can find them, those little monster finger puppets are super fun at Halloween both for terrorizing siblings… and parents.

What do you like to hand out for Halloween?