Ideas of things to do with leftover Halloween candy
The Halloween candy is everywhere, and there’s no way your family can really eat all of it. What should you do?
Donate your candy to your local food bank.
If your child sees an orthodontist, see if that doctor will buy back your kids’ candy.
Contact nearby nursing homes, homeless shelters or other charities to see if they accept candy donations.
Make something with it! Cookies, fudge, brownies … your opportunities are endless.
The Candy Witch needs to come. What’s the Candy Witch? She’s like the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus only slightly meaner. Ask your kids to pick out their favorite 10 pieces of candy. Then the Candy Witch comes to your house at the allotted time. It could be overnight, it could be a couple days from Halloween. Sometimes she leaves money or a toy. Other times she just takes the candy and runs. The Candy Witch (aka you) disposes of the candy.
Dole it out a little at a time. One piece a night per kid can last a long time. Plus it can be the reward for good behavior at school or chores done. The trick is to not eat all the candy yourself.
Send your candy to a soldier. Visit soldiers angels.org/treatsfor troops for the drop-off locations.
Donate it to your school.
Donate it to your house of worship. They might be able to use it for religious school classes or an event.
Make art with it. Make a collage using candy. Why not? You also can make holiday ornaments using it as well.
Save it for holiday cookie decorations. Who doesn’t love a peanut butter cookie with Reeses’ Pieces in them, or a sugar cookie with frosting and bits of candy bars on top?
Decorate a gingerbread house. You need candy decorations — and now you have some.
Gamble with it. The stakes of the next game of Go Fish got higher with candy.
Save it for the next kid’s birthday party. Fill the piñata with it. Use it in treat bags.
Fill the stockings with it. It make excellent filler in between the trinkets.
Hand it out in treat
bags to the homeless. That guy with the sign you see every day on your way to work, doesn’t he need candy? Do something even better and add a bottle of water, dry socks, a snack with protein, some toiletries to that treat bag.
Throw it out. Yes, we
live in a land of excess. Yes, there are hungry people everywhere. But, candy doesn’t have a lot of nutritional value. If your family doesn’t need it in their diet and if you know you can’t dole it out over time without wanting to eat it all at once, give yourself permission not to have to have it in your house. If you really aren’t sure you can handle even knowing it’s in the trash can outside, put the kitty litter or some other gross garbage on top of it or spray it with cleaning fluid so you won’t be tempted to dig it out.