Most families are looking to balance fun and health on Halloween. This post won’t tell you what to do but gives you a tool kit for finding the balance that makes sense for your situation. Why? Because there is no one-size-fits-all solution and no absolute truth about what’s good or bad in a Halloween celebration. The five key points presented here will help you find a balance that works for your family’s health goals, social context, medical needs and philosophical outlook.
Ultimately, what matters isn’t doing what the mainstream is doing or rebelling against it. It’s about choosing as a family what makes the most sense and following through with that. Easier said than done, I know – especially if your children have a different view from yours!
Consider Health Factors
Does someone in your family have a food allergy or intolerance, celiac disease, diabetes or a medical condition that makes trick-or-treating dangerous? If so, the first priority has to be safety. Obviously, with diabetes, you can’t play around with sugar, with celiac disease, you can’t play around with gluten and with allergies, especially to corn, soy, chocolate, dairy, eggs, wheat, peanuts and tree nuts, you must be careful about allergens, contamination with allergens during processing and any possible cross-reactivities. In cases like this, the safest option is definitely trick-or-treating at homes that feature teal pumpkins. More about that below.
If your child has a neurological, psychological, neuropsychiatric, behavioral, immune or other condition that causes sensitivity to sugar, food colorings, additives, packaging or ingredients in candy, you’d definitely be well-advised to avoid or greatly limit candy-focused celebrations and activities. More about alternatives below!
If your health goals and parenting philosophy are incompatible with a high-candy lifestyle, you’ll need to decide whether and to what extent to make exceptions or allowances on Halloween. This depends on a variety of factors, including both parents’ position and the position of the children, if old enough and mature enough to express their opinion and participate in a collaborative strategy.
Your Halloween may end up looking like a blend (of any kind) of “mainstream” and “alternative” ways of celebrating Halloween. You may help your children “trade” some or all of their trick-or-treat loot for homemade or store-bought healthier treats or non-food goodies. Whatever you decide, I hope you and your family will enjoy a wonderful and tasty Halloween!
Consider Your Context
Halloween is a really big deal in some contexts and not so much in others. Consider how the following factors affect the impact of Halloween:
- Where you live
- What school your children attend, if any
- Ages of your children
- Local/neighborhood traditions
- Family traditions
- Your childhood memories
- Family composition (two-parent, single-parent, divorced with both parents involved, blended, etc.) and what each parent/household feels from a cultural, social, health, philosophical, spiritual and practical standpoint
- Your children’s ages, maturity level, health status, personality, communication skills and feelings/desires
- Your family’s ability to discuss different viewpoints and negotiate a collaborative solution
- Influence of friends, culture and community on your children
Each of these items can have a profound effect on the context. Consider each point, or you may be in for a power struggle or two!
Depending on the health considerations and the contextual factors, you can mix and match the approaches below.
Consider Participating in the Teal Pumpkin Project
In case you haven’t heard of the Teal Pumpkin Project, it’s a movement that creates a safe trick-or-treating experience for children with health issues that may make Halloween candy risky for them. Households that place a teal pumpkin outside of their door are committing to handing out non-food items safe for children with allergies and celiac disease.
Please note that as a parent, you will still need to double-check your children’s trick-or-treat bags for items that may not be appropriate. For example, not everyone participating in the project knows that Play-Doh contains gluten and can be dangerous to a celiac child or that balloons can be dangerous to a child with a latex allergy. And, of course, if you have a small child, always look out for toys with small pieces that could be a choking hazard.
Make Fun Halloween Recipes
If you live someplace where everyone is celebrating Halloween, one of the best ways to help your children have a healthy and happy experience is to make homemade festive foods. They don’t have to be complicated! You’ll find an abundance of recipes and inspirations online. Here are a few of my favorites. Of course, your family’s allergies, sensitivities, preferences and aversions will determine which options are viable for you.
Serve a special treat in a pumpkin bowl
A baked or steamed hollowed-out half-pumpkin (my favorite for this purpose is kabocha squash) can make the perfect edible festive bowl for a creamy coconut custard (use maple syrup, date puré or Rapadura sugar instead of regular sugar) or for a bowl of grain-free n’oatmeal!
Other Halloween Party Ideas
Homemade gummies are perfect for the holidays and are always a hit with children. You can find a wide selection of cute gummy molds and enjoy making turmeric pumpkin gummies. This Paleo recipe can be modified for AIP. Grain-free granola is a great hit with people of all ages. One good thing about this version is the inclusion of proteins and fats in addition to carbs. The nuts in the granola pictured on the right were sprouted, the raisins were organic without added sugar, and the pumpkin puré was from fresh pumpkins. This Paleo recipe serves well to party guests in muffin cups or little paper sacks.
Deviled-egg-and-olive spiders – If you don’t have an egg allergy in the family, this one can be a lot of fun. You basically make deviled eggs and decorate them with spiders made from olives, using half an olive for the body and cutting the other half into slivers to make the legs.
Of course, you can find lots of other inspiration online!
Eat, Drink and Be Merry!
However you end up mixing and matching conventional and alternative ways of celebrating Halloween, my parting advice for this post is to find a way to thoroughly enjoy Halloween with your family and friends. Do what resonates with you and works for your family and context. Negotiate and compromise until you find a solution that everyone can enjoy. Remember that you don’t have to adhere to any standards of perfection!
Eat festive, fun seasonal foods, finding a balance that makes sense for your situation without compromising safety.
Drink plenty of warm liquids to stay well-hydrated this season! Herbal teas, including ginger tea, cinnamon tea, and herbal chai blends are a big hit with us this time of year. We also often serve warm soups, including pumpkin soups, in a homemade meat stock base.
Be merry! Enjoy yourself, enjoy your family, enjoy the festivities and enjoy Halloween. Build happy memories you can cherish!
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Are you struggling to find a balance between your family’s health needs and your ability to enjoy the holidays? Please get in touch to work together on a food-positive and health-positive framework to sustain you.
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