Halloween is a wonderful time to celebrate as a family. There are so many fun activities and traditions to enjoy together. These traditions are unique to each family based on their lifestyles and budgets. This blog post includes Halloween traditions and treats that my family enjoys during the month of Halloween. Enjoy this inspiration and make it your own.
Halloween Treats
Better Candy Options
Selecting treats and candies not only for myself, but for my son is really important to me. We do our best to review ingredients and consciously consume treats with better for you ingredients most of the time. Halloween candy and treats are expensive anyway so, I like to try my best to invest in brands that have better ingredients, no food dyes, and that are food allergy friendly for families that need that. Here are a few ideas for Halloween trick or treaters from brands that have amazing Halloween treats.
Lesser Evil: Lesser Evil is an amazing brand that brings the best of unique snacks with better ingredients. When I saw they had individual mini bags of popcorn for Halloween I knew this was going to be something that I had to get. They sell this brand at Target, Sprouts, and whole foods. It’s a fun treat to give out for Halloween and a good alternative to all the sugary options our kiddos will get trick or treating.
Yum Earth: Yum Earth has amazing candy options that may be familiar to the classic skittles, starbursts and even M&M’s. They also have better ingredients, no GMO’s, some organic options, and no food dyes. Plus of course they are food allergy friendly. We buy these are Whole Foods, Sprouts, Target, or online. You can even find them sometimes at Home Goods. My son loves the lolipops from this brand.
Made Good Granola Bars: Made good is a great brand that is conscious of both ingredients and food allergies. They taste so yummy and I love these mini granola bars that they came out with for Halloween. Again these can be bought at Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Target.
Enjoy Life: Enjoy life is an amazing brand that I love to buy during the holiday seasons. They have mini chocolate bars and are conscious of food allergies in there ingredients.
Non Candy Options: Some other cute ideas is to hand out little gift bags with a pencil, a little note pad, stickers, or anything fun. Target had an entire isle this year of little non candy goodies at really affordable prices.
Other Halloween Tradition Ideas
October/Fall/Halloween Basket for Kids
This year, I made a Halloween/Fall/October 1’st basket for my son. I love to put together a themed basket or fun items for my son to enjoy. I did this on the first of the month so my son could prepare and enjoy some Halloween and fall themed items to get excited about the holiday ahead. I did this super budget friendly and focused on what I could find at the stores. See below ideas:
- Pajamas or T Shirt that is Fall/Halloween themed
- Coloring books, Stickers, Sticker Books that are Fall/Halloween themed
- Some sort of craft supplies or Fall/Halloween themed Craft to do (Try the Dollar Tree, Target, or Color Wheel Toys, a local toy shop in Albuquerque)
- Orange, Yellow, or Black Play dough with cookie Cutters you already have that are themed
- Other Trinkets and fun themed things you can find. Think little pumpkins or spiders.
- Books that are themed with Fall or Halloween. Use what you already have here or thrift books that are themed throughout the year as you see them.
This basket was a hit with my son. He enjoyed it so much. I will be doing this Halloween tradition every year now and I have some great books and themed items that can be re-used each year. This tradition does not have to be expensive or over the top.
Decorating with Pumpkins
Halloween traditions and all holiday traditions are unique to you and your family. How we each choose to decorate and celebrate things is beautiful and based on what brings you and your families joy. I am very inspired by the idea of minimalism. That said, I do not really have many Halloweens decorations.
We do love to get fresh pumpkins and then roast the pumpkins seeds after they serve as decorations. This is an eco friendly way to decorate. We enjoy going to our local pumpkin patches (see our blog post about favorite fall spots in Albuquerque) and picked up a beautiful assortment of pumpkins. You can decorate or carve the pumpkins with your kids and enjoy the decor for a few weeks. This is a simple way to decorate that doesn’t require storage during the year.
Trading your Child’s Candy for a Treat or Book
My neighbors told us about a tradition they do during Halloween where their child trades almost all of their candy for a treat the day after Halloween. Basically after trick or treating the child gets to pick out a few piece’s of candy to keep. The rest of the candy goes out on the front door and the next day it is replaced by a small toy or book. I knew this was a great tradition to incorporate into our Halloween Traditions.
Last year my son picked out a few candies to keep and then in the morning it was replaced with a cool Pokemon book and a pack of Pokémon cards. The gift does not have to be expensive or over the top. Think a coloring book and crayons, or stickers, or crafting supplies. Don’t worry, the left over candy doesn’t necessarily go to waste. I usually give some to my In Law’s and then we keep some for treats for the upcoming months. But this makes it easier for us to manage when we give our son a treat instead of him consuming all the candy at once or on his own terms.
Enjoy this Halloween Inspiration
So, there you have it, some Halloween traditions. Holiday’s and traditions are so fun and beautiful, especially now that our son is in our lives. Make your families traditions in alignment with you and your lifestyle to get the most out of each celebration. Have an amazing Halloween this year with your families.
