Halloween Candy - Culver City,CA

I makes me a bit sad to see all the gals in these various posts saying they will toss all the candy. Maybe thats part of why so many are quitting the passing candy out over the years? They know parents toss so much of it and its wasteful money-wise overall?

But they have these organizations that can distribute the candy to care packages for the troops...do that! What a nice little treat for the troops!

When my daughter was little (shes 17 now)...we did the "pick one for your lunch box", and usually one after dinner..the lunch one lasted for weeks as she was a bag lunch kid always (still is)...but the dinner one faded as she just forgot about the treats at the end of a long day. Mom and dad pinched from it...plus she never ever went to too many houses as I didn't want the waste idea in the first place. We would go to the 2 or 3 blocks in our immediate area...maybe 20 houses tops, but usually a smallish handful from half of them. Minue the 10 pieces or so with opened wrappers from being jostled in there that we tossed...it became a manageable amount and very little was tossed (maybe hard gum).

Always just worked out for us!

Good luck!

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When my kids were younger we had the sugar witch. She came a week after halloween. the kids ate what they wanted out of the bins for the first couple days. Then all the candy got dumped into one big bowl. on the 7th day after halloween the sugar witch took the whole bowl. (they didn't know it lol but she divided it up and made birthday bags for the january birthday party goodie bags. of course that was when we did goodie bags lol)

Since they are older maybe suggest to them that they pick out the parts they really really like. Take the rest and make goodie bags to take to the food pantry or send to service men and women over seas.

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My kids are older, 12 and 9. For a few years, we had The Great Pumpkin visit. They got to pick their fave pieces and then put the rest in a bag and left it outside their bedroom door overnight. Then the Great Pumpkin would come and take the candy and leave a toy instead. Now they are older so that doesn't work very well. Plus this year they got mostly choc and they don't want to give it up (I don't blame them!!). So we let them have 2-3 pieces a day and only when they ask. After about a week, they start to forget they have it so then my hubby ends up eating it! =)

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I saw an idea in a magazine about making an advent calendar for November (one piece of candy each day) for all of November.

For my son, who's 3, I may tell him 3 candies a day (b/c he's 3 yrs, 3 candies). But this morning, he hasn't even remembered that there's candy. I think I'm going to take a few and add them to some cookies/brownies I'm making for a fire dept fundraiser this weekend. Anything left (he didn't get a TON) I'll let him have one a day until they're gone. But of course, they'll be gone quick b/c Dad and I will probably take what we like as a snack.

ADDED: We're just finishing lunch. I think I'll use his halloween candy as his 'dessert' for the next few weeks. When/If he finishes what I served him, he can have a candy. So he'll probably get two a day. One after lunch, one after dinner.

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my kids take half of what they get and send them to a local dental office and then they send them to the troops over-seas. We then give them one or two pieces a day in their school lunch. by the end of Nov.... it is gone.

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They get to pig out after dinner as long as they finish their food. I give them 10 minutes and then the candy gets take away for the night. After a couple of weeks I take leftover chocolate and make cookies or blondies with it chopped up in it. Whatever is left after that we either throw or I bring to work. Candy needs to be gone by Thanksgiving. My kids are 7 & 4.

My girls are 9 and 12, and they can collect quite a haul! On Halloween night, they can indulge all they want when they get home and sort their candy. Starting the next day, it is all put up on top of the fridge and they have to ask us if they want a treat. We never allow it before school. Most days, they can have one treat after school and one after dinner, if they ask. Sometimes they forget about it (fine with me!) Sometimes I will put one in my DD's lunch on days she takes a lunch from home. After they've eaten most of their favorites, and they don't argue about my after Thanksgiving, we throw the rest out rule.

Fortunately that's an issue I don't have to deal with because my DD isn't really a candy eater. She trick-or-treats for the fun of it, but most of the candy will get thrown out.

They ask and I decide if they can have it and how many based on what they've eaten during the day. The hard and fast rule is absolutely no candy before noon. Which I have to repeat almost every day. My four year old loves chocolate like a woman with pms.

The 1st night they had about 5 pcs, and then i put it up in a cupboard after they went to bed. They seem to of forgotten about it.

I picked out the stuff that my daughter likes (and the stuff that dad and I like) and put it in a bowl. I told my daughter I am taking the rest to work. She got a little upset. I said, well when we finish the bowl of the good stuff, I can always bring some back from work (it's just in the candy jar in my office, that people help themselves to occasionally, not like a free-for-all in the staff lounge).
I'm pretty sure we'll be bored of the candy before we even finish the bowl. I think a couple pieces a day is ok. I know couldn't stick with just one :)

There is a program called Operation Gratitude. It's a non profit organization that sends care packages year-round to service members deployed overseas, to their children left behind, and to Wounded Warriors in Military hospitals and transition units. There are dentists that will 'BUY" your unopened Halloween candy by the pound. You can go to www.halloweencandybuyback.com to find a partipating dentist in your area. We have a few in our area that will pay $1.00 per pound. They then deliver the candy to Operation Gratitude. It's a great organization.

My boys are younger, 5 and almost 3, and I guess I am a candy natzi, because they are only allowed 1 per day, and I would never pack any in my 5 year olds lunch. Last year, they forgot about it after about a week, so I'm sure I'll be taking a bunch to work just like last year.

I haven't read all the answers so maybe someone has suggested this, but I love the idea of the Halloween Ghost. You pull out however much candy you want the kids to have, the rest you leave out for the Halloween Ghost. In the middle of the night (or during the day while they're at school), the Halloween Ghost comes and replaces the candy with a little toy.

My kids are much younger (2 and 3) and this is their first year to really like halloween. I went throught the candy last night and took out anything i dont want them to eat (anything with nuts, to chewy stuff like that). Fo rmy 3 year old I told him he will get 1 piece everyday till it is gone as long as he doesnt have any potty accidents. For my 2 year old I am doing the same except she will get hers if she can go without screaming for no reason. We will see how it works but they were both excited about it this morning.

One suggestion: Give the kids 10 cents for each piece of candy they have. They use that money to go buy something or they can save it for something bigger later on down the road. Also, let the kids know that their candy is going to charity, such as a children's home where the kids are not have costumes and are unable to go trick-or-treating.

We buy the candy from our kids then donate it to a local charity. They have a choice to keep it or buy it, but they generally prefer the money. We let them pick 5 pieces to keep and eat 1 per day, and the rest we pay them $3 a pound for. They love putting that much money into their piggy bank. My kids are 5 and 9 years old.

I throw away whatever hasn't been eaten around mid-November (if there is any). Usually it's a bag full of empty wrappers, Dots, Tootsie Rolls & lollipop sticks, lol!

It's not my son that's the problem, it's me! I can't stop eating his candy, ughhh....