It’s that time of year- children are picking out their Halloween costumes, getting ready to paint their faces, and score some treats from their neighbors.

I remember painting, creating, and thinking about my costumes long and hard. It’s such a fun time of year, and such a great activity to get those little creative minds working.

One thing that I can't get over- in every store- is the wall-to-wall shelves of candy! It’s everywhere, in grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, and everywhere you turn. In this day and age, we KNOW sugar is bad for us, so why do we do it to ourselves?

Well, it’s fun, it’s colorful, it tastes great, and.... its tradition. Halloween is the time of year when you score as much candy as you possibly can, right?

I want to throw a new idea out there to you, and tell me what you think in the comments below. I think it is possible to create a Sugar-Free Halloween! Some of you are thinking, well, you don't have kids Gaylene, you don't know what it’s like. So- you got me there, but I WAS a kid once, so I'm trying to think back about all the fun things that Halloween was. The costumes, the friends, all of that other stuff including trick or treating.

What about, this year, you give out FUN things that are sugar-free to the kids trick or treating at your house?

Here's a list of ideas that I think kids would love. I have been chatting with the ladies in my Facebook community to come up with other ideas for this list as well.

Glow sticks- set up a fun colorful jar of glowsticks. I live in a really dark community, so that's what I have for the kids this year! The long skinny ones that can make necklaces, or bracelets or hang from their costume. I remember being happy any time I got my hands on glowsticks when I was little. If you live in a dark neighborhood make sure your kids wear one too!
Stickers- this idea was suggested from a lady who tries to have non- sugary candy for her little trick or treaters. Its a great idea, and you can have halloween ones, or animal ones, the ideas are endless. I was a kid that LOVED stickers, so this would have been a hit for me!
Pencils/ Crayons/ Markers/ Erasers- you can find halloween pencils and erasers at the dollar store- and have a variety of designs for the kids to pick one they like.
Balloons- you can have halloween ones that the kids need to blow up, or even a handful of helium ones to give your neighborhood kids.
Halloween rings - fun rings with spiders, pumpkins or ghosts!
Bubbles- kids always love bubbles. Find some at your local dollar store with halloween goblins on the package.
Colouring books or notepads- small halloween themed colouring books or notepads are fun, and they will last until next year if you have any left over.

All of the items above are sugar free. Some even make halloween safer such as the glow sticks to make your neighborhood children more noticeable. For kids that have nut allergies, these are fantastic to have on hand so they can enjoy halloween too!

Any of the items above could be in a bucket to choose from JUST like kids (at some houses) get to choose their candy of choice. It would cover a variety of age groups, and let the kid choose what they think is fun!

I would love to hear your sugar- free ideas, so comment below!

Share this with your neighborhood friends and your family, so that when the kids are out there, there are things OTHER than sugar for them to choose from.

Stay safe and have fun!!

Area you ready to kick the sugar habit for good? Or even just for a couple days? Here's a 5 Day Sugar Free Challenge to get you on the right path (its FREE!) Click the photo below to get started: