We have a Halloween tradition we call The Great Pumpkin tradition.
After I take the kid’s Trick or Treating and they fill up their pumpkin, we will dump out all the candy and sort it by favorites. Then they pick out 10 pieces of their favorites and the rest goes back in the pumpkin and we put it on the back porch. During the night, the Great Pumpkin comes and takes all their candy and leaves them prizes in return. Emily LOVES this tradition and I love that they don’t spend days/weeks begging for Halloween candy.
A friend of mine has the tooth fairy visit on Halloween and exchange the candy for fun toothbrushes and toothpaste.
Do you have any Halloween traditions like this?
brenda says
We have 4 kids and the amount of candy they collectively brought home was too much to have in the house, so we started a tradition of buying the candy: 5 cents per piece–10 cents for a full-size bar. They pick out what they want to keep and then count up their ‘winnings’! As each child counts, invariably the others add to their piles to sell so they don’t lose out on the cash, until everyone has a small pile of ‘must-haves’ they keep. The money never adds up to much out-of-pocket, but it stops them from over-indulging.
Angela says
My brother is a diabetic so my parents straight up bought our candy off of us. we made a price list before Halloween not knowing what we would come back with. Once we agreed on the price they just bought it from us. We still got to pick some that we really wanted even my brother but it was only a sandwich bag full.
My parents first date was Halloween so it was a huge deal in our house, really we just liked decorating and dressing up and going out with our friends. The candy didnt matter as much to us because it was more about doing something fun as a family.
Melissa says
My girls are 4 and 2 and they don’t beg for candy whatsoever. So it just sits on the counter for a week or so and then I send it to my husbands work. My girls will ask for an apple or an orange over a piece of candy. Makes me proud, Mommy did good! :)
Lynn says
wow! i never thought of doing something like that! my daughter will be two in feb. and she doesnt really eat candy [cause i wont let her. lol] and i dont really like candy, either. but what a great idea to pick out favorites and then have the great pumpkin come and leave prizes! i LOVE the idea for the tooth fairy to leave toothbrushes/paste…my daughter loves brushing her teeth! [and im pretty sure the great pumpkin is the long-lost, candy-addicted brother of the tooth fairy…thats why hes so round and has missing teeth!] i think i may just adopt your halloween tradition; that way we have the fun of dressing up and trick or treating, but we dont have whiny, sugar-overload and approval from dr. M! :D thanks for sharing your great idea!
Julia says
When I was a little girl my mother told us that the Halloween fairy came and took our bag of candy but every morning she would leave us a few piece. This lasted a few weeks until we just forgot about the rest of the candy, LOL I really don’t have to do anything like that with my kids they both know they have to ask first so they may ask for one or two pieces a day for the first week then they forget about it then I go to their rooms and take the bag away and they never say anything about it.
Laura says
I think this is a great idea! Thanks for sharing. What kind of prizes do you use if you don’t mind me asking. Thanks for all that you do and continue to do :)
libby says
I normally don’t care about how much candy they eat, but my 2 yr old is so darn messy I think I will end up taking most of it away after a few days. Dunno what to do with it though. Guess I will call dentists in the area!
Erin says
We do the turkey fairy. My 4 year old gets to pick her favorites (enough to fill a sandwich bag), and the rest goes to the Turkey Fairy who takes it to the turkeys so they can get nice and fat for Thanksgiving!
Janice says
I like that one!! Makes sense on timing too! lol
Kelly says
We do the same Great Pumpkin thing. We did it last year for the first time and the kids loved it. They were just telling me this weekend they couldn’t wait to see what the great pumpkin was going to bring. We’ve had several fall/Halloween activities already and I’m already over the begging. My 3 year old has a huge sweet tooth. What they have already had plus 10 more is plenty. I take some to school and keep some. This way they still get it but when I want them to and I don’t have to listen to the begging for candy at 7am:)
Tia says
For my kids, I’ve always done where they can’t eat any candy until they get home. Once we get home, they sort through it (keeping what they like and is sealed and throwing out what they don’t like and anything I think is questionable and we don’t know who gave it to them). Then Halloween night I let them eat however much they want but after that they are limited to 3 pieces of candy a day. Its something I’ve always done so I’ve never had any arguing or anything. If they end up having any left by Christmas time, then we use it for gingerbread houses.
Krista says
My kids are 4 and almost 2. We’ve always drove the 1/2 hr to where our parents live so they could see the kids in their costumes. On the way we just stop at my husbands great aunts house and my grandmothers house. So about 4 houses total. Those 4 houses never get many trick or treaters, just grandkids, so they always buy lots for the kids. I let them have a bunch that day but slowly I get rid of it. I can let candy sit there forever and it would never bother me…could care less if I ate it or not….but my husband on the other hand has a HUGE sweet tooth and if the kids have a piece, then he has one or if he has one the kids want one. So…..is it mean that I make it disappear….a little at a time? lol
Lourdes says
My kids really don’t each much of the candy. I’ll let them have what they want and the rest will go to my MIL at the assisted living facility. She eats some, shares the rest.
Kathleen says
We do the Switch Witch around here as well. I don’t limit how much candy she can have – because she is simply not that into candy – but after a few days the Switch Witch comes, takes away the candy and leaves a toy. This year she has a TON of candy already because we went trick or treating at Disneyland Friday night so she may get two toys for the all the candy the Witch will be getting.
Kristy says
Luckily, my kids haven’t been that bad as far as the begging goes, so we keep it around and snack on it. I do however keep up a tradition started by my folks. No eating ’till we get home. Then we dump it out on the table, toss out any homemade stuff that we don’t know where it came from (I grew up during the razors in apples scare-can you tell?!?) and then Mommy and Daddy collect a ‘payment’ for taking them.
Hillary says
My little guy is only 2 this year, so he didn’t even get to eat any of it last year :-P my family (when I was younger) would each get to fill a sandwich baggie with our favorites (with 6 kids, that meant lots of trading deals!!) And the rest went to my dad’s work for his “special” drawer (a draw to get people to come talk to the boss without feeling intimidated!!)…as a mommy now, I’m going to have to do something with it because I will end up eating it all!! (my poor hips!) I let my little one have a few pieces of candy throughout the week normally, so Halloween for him is just going to be a chance to get some candy that mommy doesn’t buy!
Amy says
I have spent the last 3 years dutifully rationing out the candy over an extended period of time. Honestly, it made me and my kids miserable and we hadn’t gotten rid of the Halloween candy by the time Christmas rolled around with even more candy in their stockings. This year, I’m just letting them dig in and eat what they want when they want. We never have candy in the house except at holiday times and I’ve decided that if we’re balancing the rest of our lives with healthy choices, a little indulgence for a week isn’t going to kill them, and it doesn’t make me a bad or irresponsible parent either.
Kristin from Couponing to Disney says
Well of course not. :) For me, it’s the constant begging/asking for candy that I like to avoid.
anna says
Our dentist actually told me to let them have at it so its all gone in a day or two. The few days they are pigging out I make sure they brush their teeth extra good. This way it isn’t prolonged begging or prolonged exposure for their teeth.
Janet says
The candy that my kids don’t like (mostly the gummy and gummy items) comes to school with me. I put it out on Conference Nights for the parents to snack on while waiting for our Teacher-Parent Conference. I often find other parents “sneaking” a piece but I don’t mind…after a long night at school, sugar is needed!
Janet says
Whoops…I meant GUM and gummy items.
Heather says
I think it is a great idea-we have the “candy fairy” come. Same concept as you-they go through their candy and get to keep some of it and the rest goes to the candy fairy (usually the hubby’s work) and then the get little prizes (ie…activity books, legos, etc). This year my son’s school was asking for extra candy to send to the veteran’s home :)
Cynthia Phillips says
We said they couldn’t have any to eat till they brought it all home unless they knew who it came from, which meant special neighbors and they would eat it right then. But mostly they were too excited and wouldn’t eat any till they got home. Then we separated it all, throwing out what they didn’t like. And of course Grammie and Mommy and Daddy got to pick out what they wanted for the Taxes. They were allowed to eat that night and the next morning then they pretty much forgot about it.
Rebeccah says
I read something similar in the Family Fun magazine. Kids get one piece of candy a day until a specific date. Then the Switch Witch comes and needs candy to build a candy castle you leave the bag of candy on the front door and she in turn takes the candy and leaves a book for each child. I’m going to make a cute letter from the Witch pleading for candy this year and see what happens. Might become our new tradition too!
Crystal says
that is a really cute idea!
Jennifer Walker says
The great pumpkin thing is cool. As is the dentist thing, but that tooth fairy thing……leaving them toothbrushes for candy…..if I were kid, I’d be like “screw the tooth fairy, I am hiding my candy this year!” LOL
Donna B says
Every year I sort through the candy with the kids……they like to trade with each other for candy that is their favorites!! I then take away all the gum because we don’t let them have gum.
But the best part is the TAXES….the kids have to pay my husband & I TAXES on ALL the candy that they got…….mostly that means he & I get a couple of pieces of chocolate each!!!
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
Haha! That is an interesting idea! :)
Wendy says
I was curious what do you do with the candy? I know alot of dentists are accepting candy and will pay you $1 a lb. They send it to the military.
Kristin from Couponing to Disney says
Wendy – In the past, I have put it in the top of the pantry and used it for special treats. I started doing the Great Pumpkin tradition when Emily was like 2 and she insists on doing it every year now.
I think this year I will take it to the dentist though. I think that is a wonderful program.