5 Things To Do With All of That Leftover Halloween Candy

The best part of Halloween is of course the candy. But what do you do with all the leftover Halloween candy after your kids get over the sugar buzz?  You don’t want to throw the rest away, so here are few really cool ideas to deal with that leftover Halloween candy that are both educational and beneficial to others.

1. Teach Sorting Skills

Encourage your kids to sort the candy by type. All candy corn in one pile, all M&M’s in another etc. This is a basic preschool skill. Pick one candy from each stack and put in individual bags. You are encouraging counting and one-to-one correspondence. Your kids are learning and having a blast at the same time. That’s that teachable moment I keep taking about.

2. Share the Wealth

The end of Halloween marks the beginning of the giving season. Use all of the leftover Halloween candy as a great opportunity to teach sharing. Take all the individual bags your child has made and deliver them to food banks, shelters, nursing homes and community pantries. Take your child with you as a wonderful way to form human connections and help encourage them to understand helping others feels good.

3. Halloween Candy Buy Back

Many dentists have a program participate in a program called Halloween Candy Buy Back. This program was started with the goal of getting taking the excess Halloween candy and supporting the troops. For every pound of candy you bring to a dentist office your child will receive $1 per pound or other local office giveaways. The candy is then sent to soldiers overseas.

4. Operation Gratitude

Operation Gratitude sends over 100,000 care packages to US troops overseas. Encourage your child to write or draw a picture and include it in the leftover Halloween candy that your child sorted and bagged. You can check out their website for more information on this worthy  project.

5. Recipes

Use that Halloween candy in a favorite recipe. Taste of Home has 15 really fun and tasty recipes that turns all of that extra candy into fun and tasty treats.

Well the holidays have just begun. Next is Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah and then New Year. There is always good food, gifts and celebration. Enjoy them with you family make wonderful family traditions and find that teachable moment.