When my kids were tiny we successfully avoided Halloween’s trick-or-treat. We hosted costume parties with their toddler friends. We let our kids stand at the door to pass out non-candy treats on Halloween night. One year we set up a wildly inventive Halloween scavenger hunt with our other health-conscious friends, watching three and four-year-olds dash all over our shared yards to find treasures like packages of vitamin C gum, cloth bags with blocks, and carob candy spheres wrapped to look like tiny planets. These tactics all worked well until the oldest in each family went to school. Then the lure of roving house to house on a dark night, shouting “trick-or-treat,” was too great. The tradition is clearly an inescapable part of a child’s Halloween.
Still, we aren’t fond of handing out corn syrupy candies or, as suggested in so many “alternatives to Halloween candy” lists, a bunch of cheap themed plastic toys destined for the trash. Here are our suggestions, with prices.
Ka Boom Comics (Thanks to GeekMom Jenn for this hint.) 50 kids’ comics for $19.99 Last day to order!
Monster Tattoos
YumEarth Organic Lollipops
Halloween Temporary Tattoos
Book Grab Bag. Start picking up kids’ books from thrift stores, garage sales, and library sales to hand out.
Glow Stick Bracelets 
Pirate’s Booty, Aged White Cheddar snacks
Play-Doh 
Make Your Own Halloween Pumpkins Stickers
Endangered Species Chimp Mints
Annie’s Homegrown Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks
Annie’s Homegrown Organic Vegan Fruit Snacks 
Snyders of Hanover Variety Pretzel Snacks 
LED Finger Lights 
Jack o’Lantern face oranges. Use a permanent marker to decorate Clementine or regular-sized orange.
You’re the parent that I detested as a child. Don’t force your shitty halloween on everyone else. Just hand out candy like a normal person, and then throw the rest away at the end of the night. Even if you think your Halloween alternatives are for the greater good, you’re setting yourself up for massive hatred and failure. I hope your kids don’t figure out how unfun you really are, because they will rebel in a very knee-jerk reaction.
What awesome suggestions! As someone in the process of adjusting to a healthier lifestyle, this list was very helpful, thanks! I also agree that most other suggestions out there are just cheap junk, which is only marginally better than them eating junk. 🙂