This is a collaborative post.
If you’ve been to the shops recently, you’ve probably noticed that your local grocery store has an aisle entirely dedicated to Halloween. In the first half, you can find a collection of scary plastic decorations and masks of witches and other unidentified monsters. The second half of the aisle is filled to the bream with Halloween, sugar-loaded snacks in a variety of attractive colours.
For parents, it can be challenging to try to convince the kids that Halloween can be fun and healthy at the same time. Ultimately, marketers are becoming smarter and have managed to create a celebration that revolves entirely around candies, chocolate bars, and biscuits. You can’t eradicate those from the picture – more about this later. But you can add an exciting and healthy twist on Halloween to introduce good habits at home.
You can’t control everything, but you can influence
What makes Halloween especially harmful for children is that the celebration promotes diversity in the shape of candies and sweets, and other processed food that can be part of a Halloween-inspired meal. For children, while it can be a lot of fun, there is little to none nutritional value. You can’t ignore the marketing messaging, as chances are your children will be exposed to it in a way or another. However, you can tap into the Halloween imagery to encourage children to try out new food and flavours. How about black rice and salmon with a colourful rainbow beetroot, for example?
Have a family craft project
This year, it can be tricky to arrange for children parties or the typical trick or treat round if your neighbourhood has one. Staying at home means that you can have more control about the sweets and candies that are available. But it comes at a high cost, namely boredom. If your children were looking forward to spending the day with friends, lockdown restrictions can make things feel a little dull instead. But why not turn the day into a decorating project that will keep everyone engaged and excited? You can consider Halloween-themed craft activities, such as adding a spider web around the windows. A glue gun along with hot melt glue sticks can let you draw the web shape. You can add glitter or glow in the dark paint for more effect. Besides, you can turn your Halloween project into an activity-packed party for the family. Planning games at home can encourage everyone to make the most of the DIY decor.
But mum can we have Halloween treats?
You can’t prevent children from spotting treats in shops or talking to their classmates. Of course, they will ask about Halloween treats, because that’s impossible to ignore. Being strict is important, as a parent, but you can’t ban sweet treats. If they’ve received sweets for the occasion, you can ration these after dinner. That will prevent dramatic binge-eating while letting them enjoy the same food as their friends.
You can also provide a healthy alternative to the traditional Halloween sweets. A pumpkin cake can be nutritious, full of healthy fibre and vitamins. Making your own pumpkin traybake gives you control over the ingredients. The other advantage of a traybake is that it’s a cake that is easy to cut and store. You can even freeze some slices for later, which means you are in charge of the sweets without depriving the kids.
How about you throw your own Halloween challenge?
The main excitement for children about Halloween is the prospect of receiving sweet treats. But why not make it a challenge for the whole family to come up with a Halloween costume instead? Dressing up can be an exciting party trick that distracts younger ones from sugar-loaded treats. Family costumes are more of an American thing, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t pull it off at home. More importantly, it’s the occasion to take photos. When most households can’t mix up and visit relatives, being able to send fun photos can bring everyone together despite the distance. The circus family, for a fitness-focused household, is a cute idea to get younger ones to play muscle characters and show off their flexibility. Harry Potter also remains a popular theme, easy to reproduce with school uniforms and suits – add a colourful tie and a handmade wand. The idea with family costumes is to promote togetherness over sweets, shifting your children’s mind about Halloween.
Halloween may not be the most serious snacking risk when it comes to holidays and festive parties – hello Christmas; we’re looking at you. But it’s a day that is increasingly associated with sugar load and sweets. Breaking the sugar cycle early means you can introduce new meanings for Halloween, encouraging your children to make healthy choices without compromising on fun!