5 Allergy-Friendly Halloween Treats You Already Have at Home
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About 1 in 13 kids has been diagnosed with a food allergy, so if you’ll be handing out candy tonight, it would be nice to have some allergy-friendly treats — either to give only to the trick-or-treaters with allergies, or to everyone. The most common allergens are milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy, fish, and crustacean shellfish, meaning that lots of popular candy bars are off-limits. (OK, maybe you don’t have to worry so much about the fish and shellfish.) Do you try to accommodate kids with allergies on Halloween? (Hey, no judgment if not!) Do you have a child with allergies who has to be careful during the holiday?
If you’d like to let trick-or-treaters and parents know that you will provide non-food items and allergy-acceptable food, you can print out a Teal Pumpkin Project sign and put it on your door. (If a child comes to your door with a blue pumpkin bucket, however, note that it may be the blue pumpkin for autism, which has generated debate — in theory, light teal is for kids with food allergies, while royal blue is for autistic kids.)
Want to offer an allergy-friendly Halloween treat, but forgot to buy any? Don’t worry, we gotchu… so here are:
5 Allergy-Friendly Halloween Treats You Already Have (Probably)
1. Tootsie Pops and Dum Dums
Besides Tootsie Pops, all Tootsie candy is free of peanuts, tree nuts, and gluten, although some items contain milk. The company even has printable “peanut-free house” signs on its website. Dum Dum products that are packaged by the Spangler Candy Company (check the bag for the source), do not contain peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, or gluten.
2. Applesauce and other fruit pouches
I don’t think I’d ever give out pieces of fruit — say, oranges or apples — but pouches like this seem a bit more Halloween-adjacent, if not environmentally friendly. (By the way, here are some ways to have a more sustainable Halloween — the holiday produces a ton of waste, which I admit to never having thought about before, sadly.)
3. Fun pencils and erasers
At our house, we have many, many unused, un-sharpened pencils lying around. Some came from party favor bags, others came from teachers, and I think some must have spontaneously generated, because otherwise how did we get so many?! Though not quite as exciting as candy, pencils are a passable Halloween item. (By the way, why do so many of these pencils have erasers that don’t actually work and instead leave a permanent smudge on your paper? REALLY, eraser, you had one job!) Speaking of erasers, those little ones that are shaped like food, etc., would be good to hand out, too.
4. Temporary tattoos
Halloween themes would be ideal, but any temporary tattoos would be a good allergy-safe option.
5. Miscellaneous party favors and/or things from Target’s Dollar Spot
I’m sure you have some fun doodads lying around from Target impulse buys and past birthday parties and so on, so now’s your chance to declutter all those random Floam toys, glow sticks, slime, PlayDoh, gel window clings, stress balls and squoosh characters, and more. (Although those are often Kat’s “restaurant presents” to bribe kids into a allowing you a few moments of peace when you eat out with your kids. Also, did you know that Target’s Dollar Spot has been rebranded as “Bullseye’s Playground”? It makes me think of the ’90s one-hit wonder Marcy Playground — and actually, the song “Sex and Candy” is somewhat Halloween-appropriate. Also, it was written at my alma mater. Here’s to ’90s nostalgia!)
What do you give out for Halloween, and do you keep any allergy-friendly treats on hand? Do you take your kids trick-or-treating while your spouse or partner stays home and takes candy distributing duties, or vice versa? Or do you both accompany your kids and simply leave out a bowl and hope for the best?
Stock photo: Deposit Photos/monkeybusiness.
Yea, let me just dip into the handy stash of temporary tattoos I keep around my house in case of emergency… what?
This article rubs me the wrong way. It’s not enough as moms that we had to remember to buy candy, but did we remember to accommodate allergies?! Oh, we didn’t? Let’s not just forgive ourselves and say “oh well, I got something that the majority of kids can enjoy” — after all “it would be nice” to include everyone! And you want to be “nice”… don’t you?
As the parent of allergic children , I think this isn’t necessary. We don’t do the teal pumpkin thing ourselves. My kids are taught to say thank you at the door and they know I will swap out treats they can’t have for other treats at home. There are a ton of mostly allergy free common options like chips, maynard candies like swedish berries and fuzzy peaches, skittles, twizzlers etc – so it’s not that much more work to grab the candy instead of the oh henry bars at the grocery store, but again that’s a nice thing not a necessary thing.
The most helpful thing would be if people are not rude if a kid says no thank you to something. Sometimes, my 4 year old is wary of accepting things he knows contain peanuts even though I’ve told him it won’t hurt him unless he eats it.
That said, I keep a stash of dollar store pencils and tattoos with the halloween decorations. Mostly culled from birthday party loot bag stuff that my kids weren’t interested in. I toss them in the candy bowl with the other stuff in case kids want a non-candy treat. E.g Halloween is a PITA for diabetic kids so I know the non-candy option is appreciated. I struggled with what to do with the dollar store stickers/tattoos/pencils etc and I find this is a good solution instead of tossing them in the garbage.
Anon for this because it would out me IRL. My mother was very into healthy eating. On Halloween we had to sort through our candy and choose a limited number of pieces to keep, then throw out the rest. We were allowed to eat one piece per day until Thanksgiving. I always liked getting granola bars (somehow these were “healthy”) and non-food items because they didn’t count against my candy quota and I got to keep them all. My mother also used to give out cute stickers instead of candy, which I loved.
My first Halloween as an adult living in a place where kids actually trick-or-treated, I was so excited. I decided mine would be the “good house” that gave out non-food treats, so I bought a bunch of little Halloween-themed doodads at Target. When I opened the door and offered the treats, nearly every single kid asked “Where’s the candy?” The next morning, I found a bunch of the toys discarded discarded in my lawn and a bag of dog p00p on my doorstep. Every year since, I’ve only given out candy.
As an allergy parent – I really ask everyone to take a step back and think of what it feels like to have a kid who is around things that are harmless to most but that can easily kill him. We do have a teal pumpkin and always purchase non food treats (like stickers etc.) and I hold zero grudge against those who don’t have teal pumpkins or who buy snickers bars. Not everyone has the bandwidth and I get it. But have a little sensitivity about what is at stake for kids with allergies. Being sympathetic, even is not accompanied by any action, doesn’t cost you anything or take any time. Halloween is such a dangerous holiday for my kid (and for others with allergies) and while his safety is my responsibility – having a community that cares a little about compassion goes a long way.
Terrible for the environment, but always a big hit are glow sticks/bracelets. If you buy in bulk, they’re cheaper than candy and the kids will wear them right away, making the kiddos more visible in the dark. (I buy candy, too, and let them take both if they want.).
There’s also a blue pumpkin now to signal that the carrier is not neuro-typical, which is problematic because (a) it’s really close to teal, so people are going to be confused, (b) why do kids owe us their diagnosis when they trick or treat, and (c) is it really that hard to expect people to not be jerks to kids trick or treating? I can’t fathom being rude to a trick or treater, even if they seemed “rude” to me. They are children.
We do not have a teal pumpkin. My husband bought the Halloween treats this year, and got a mixed bag of chocolate candy, mixed tootsie rolls, and single-serving pretzel packs. I think that covers most allergy bases, and though I probably would have grabbed something non-edible (glow sticks are also my choice, our neighborhood does not have sidewalks, and I make my own kids wear glow stuff) to throw in there… when my husband does something helpful like take care of Halloween logistics, the last thing I”m going to do is say, “what? no non-food treats for allergic kids?”
My kids don’t have allergies but I actually appreciated this post. It was trying to be helpful. Lots of people have extra little things laying around. And you don’t have to have stickers or tattoos or Dum Dums for every kid. Just have a few things available/in sight.
Obviously, I don’t do a actual teal pumpkin but think it’s really minor to have some extra stuff on hand. Growing up, people who ran out of candy gave out change. You could do that. My older kid loves coins!