Teal Pumpkin Ideas - 10 non candy trick or treat ideas!
Halloween is one of our families favorite times of the year! My 10 year old, D and I create decorations for the house, tell spooky stories, play made up monster games like zombie tag and play dress up. One of the main disadvantages of the season is all of the candy! I have a massive sweet tooth and candy is my kryptonite. We live in a neighborhood that gets a decent amount of trick or treaters, and I love to hand out treats to all the kids that come by. This past year I have been on a much healthier path and decided I cannot have all the candy around.
I heard about the Teal Pumpkin Project a few years ago and started getting some small non candy options in addition to candy to hand out. The teal pumpkin project is a great idea to include kids with food allergies when trick or treating. You can read about it on their website and even register your home as a participant if you would like!
Some of my favorite options for treats are not exactly Halloween related. Yes it is great to give fun vampire teeth or spider rings but I also like the idea of giving something that can be enjoyed for more then a day or two.
Squishies:
I am reluctant to admit how fun squishies actually are. I am not sure why but they are actually very calming to play with them! My daughter plays with them as all the time. She uses the animals as pets for her barbies and has more then I would like to admit. You can find some inexpensive packs of them on amazon like the set below.
Bookmarks:
We are house that is slightly bookmark obsessed. The friends of the library book store that we visit always has free book marks out. They have season picture and the operating hours for the store. Every month or so they are changed out. D has to get all the new ones! She has a stack probably 20 high. She also uses them ALL the time! She would be thrilled to get these cute bookmarks trick or treating!
Toy cars:
When I was filling goodie bags for D’s birthday party a few years ago I came across these toy cars on amazon. They are mainly plastic but honestly were better quality then I expected for the price. Most boys love to play with cars (as well as many girls!) and I think it will be a fun surprise for them to get on Halloween. I have seen at the dollar tree you can get three cars for $1 however the price per car was less on amazon.
Self inking stamps:
These stamps are so beloved by my daughter. I bought this 50 pack as party favors and decided to keep about 10 for D. You would think I had them custom made for her do to have often she uses them! She uses them among her free style drawings and uses them to stamp “her students” papers when playing school. I personally like the idea of the mixed variety however I have seen eight packs of Halloween stamps at the Dollar Tree.
Puffy stickers:
I had an epic sticker collection as a kid and would have LOVED all the awesome sticker options that are available now. Puffy stickers were always my favorite and I felt they were extra special. These puffy stickers are insanity inexpensive for the amount of sheets you get. There is a great variety of themes and can be used for boys and girls. They are not Halloween styles but still an awesome option for trick or treaters.
Make a bracelet kit:
I am sure if you have kids that like to craft you have extra craft supplies around. We have plenty of items that we will never fully use up. Pony beads are one of those items. I bought two big bags of them when trying to get D to practice her hand eye coordination however she quickly got over the activity and I have not revisited it in a while. I also have a large stash of yarn from my crochet obsessed mom. I put together these simple craft kits by putting beads and yarn into a small zipper bag then labeling them as “bracelet making kit”. I found the bags on amazon.
Mini tic tack toe game:
Last year I found a bunch of Halloween mini erasers on clearance and had to buy them because I knew I would find some use for them! We have used mini erasers for learning activities before and I just think they are cute and fun. When I came across them in our Halloween craft box it struck me to make tick tack toe games! We play the game all the time and D is obsessed with it. I am going to keep one of these in my purse all month for when we are on the go. I cut sheets of cardstock into 16 pieces (about 2.25 inches by 2.75 inches) then drew the game board on each piece. I placed a “game board” and nine mini erasers in a 3 by 4 inch plastic bag. I then placed a label on each bag. (I used the same bags as above!) If you need to find mini erasers you can get them at the Target Dollar Spot or on Amazon here.
Activity pages:
https://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/print/halloween-maze-coloring-page/
Pencils are a very common favor to give out. Instead of just giving out a pencil, I wanted to include an activity page with each pencil. You can find some free printables around the internet including this great maze from crayola! I printed them two per page. Once I cut down the pages I punched two holes in each maze and wove the pencil through the holes. It is a very simple and inexpensive to give away!
Glow sticks:
While trick or treating last year, D got a glow stick necklace! I thought it was a brilliant idea! It was a great way to have the kids stand out for cars driving by and she felt so cool glowing while walking the neighborhood. You can find large packs of 22 inch glow necklaces on Amazon. For a more cost effective option, you can give out 8 inch glow bracelets. I have also seen a variety of glow stick items at the Dollar Tree.
Blank books:
I feel that D is always doodling, writing, stickering or coloring inside small notebooks. We have a ton of them! I found these bulk blank books which are perfect to hand out. They are simple enough to use all throughout the year and a good price!
