Healthy Halloween: Avoid Eating Too Much Candy

on October 6, 2009 at 7:30 AM

Surely, you've heard of the Candy Banshee, right? She runs in the same circles as Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, and her job is to help kids avoid eating too much Halloween candy after a long night of trick or treating through the neighborhood.

Mamastarfish recently wrote about the Candy Banshee in the All Things Autumn... group. She started this tradition with her daughters in which they would give the Candy Banshee their Halloween candy in exchange for toys. And so far, it's worked!

"The Candy Banshee is a fairy who needs to stock up on candy and live off of it for the whole year. She has special teeth and does not get cavities like us humans.

Children save only a small pile of their favorite candy and put the rest (the bulk of it) on the dining room table (or common area table) on the night of Halloween. Then the children call for the Candy Banshee to come and take her candy and leave a toy in its place.

So far my girls have been given toys for the past three years, and we have less candy in the house! (The leftover candy actually goes to work to be handed out to employees and clients.) My girls are 4 and 7 now, so it was easy to implement. My oldest girl questioned why she did not come years prior, and I explained that I just found out about her, so let's try it and see if it works!

I even encourage them to make up a rhyme to say to bring her to the house with a really cool toy."

Would the Candy Banshee work for your kids? How do you keep them from eating too much candy on Halloween?

Related Posts:

Halloween Candy: Vegan Treats Kids Will Love

Trunk or Treating for Halloween

Halloween Safety Tips for Toddlers

About the author Kim Conte

has shoes that make people stop her on the street and ask "Where did you get those?" but it doesn't work for taxi cabs as she was hit by one ... and lived to tell the tale. She has more freckles than Lohan but way less attitude. And she's a fierce cook with tons of recipes to share -- and wishes she could share some with Bourdain.

Filed Under: desserts, halloween, traditions

Comments (4)

rebecca_tal4

on Oct 6, 2009 at 9:24 AM

i say... its HALLOWEEN, it only comes once a year... let them sugar binge for the day and have FUN instead of worrying so much!

after that the big bowl o candy goes in the very top of a cabinet and we get it down for treats...

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RanaAurora

on Oct 6, 2009 at 12:32 PM

The way we keep my kids from eating too much? We let him eat his fill one year and he threw up. We've also talked to him about why rationing your treats makes them last longer, etc.

So, between discussing rationing and letting him throw up from stuffing himself one year (when he was 3, I think), he rations his OWN candy. We don't have to hide his candy from him afterwards either, as he continues to ration himself until it's gone. He makes his candy last at least a month.

sodapple

on Oct 6, 2009 at 1:31 PM

i still have candy from last halloween!!!!! what do you say to that! lol. we do keep her from eating too much candy, this year i'll throw the old ones and bring the new ones lol =-D

toriandgrace

on Oct 6, 2009 at 10:44 PM

I would rather let her have some on Halloween and then put it up for treats. Candy doesn't go bad very quickly, and this way we don't have to buy treats for a long time.