It’s that time of year again! Halloween is a lot of fun for most of us. Decorations, Halloween parties, creative costumes, and so much candy!!!  While we enjoy celebrating  Halloween each year at my house, I also really look forward to it being over.
The sugar factor is the biggest drawback for me. It’s common knowledge that sugar is not good for us and that too much sugar can adversely affect kids. Halloween means way too much sugar and Halloween week can really stretch us thin with hyperactive kids and not so great behaviors. Each kid handles sugar differently and I’m sure your kids are impacted as well.
Most kids go out Halloween night and come back with a candy haul that is large enough to last them several months. Most kids also have a propensity to overindulge in candy, because they are human after all. I try to set limits on how much candy is eaten, but it’s still hard to keep my kids away from it when I’m not looking.
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Switch Witch
I was introduced to the Switch Witch by another mom when my oldest daughter was in kindergarten. Halloween was still in full swing for our family, and I was immediately intrigued. The idea behind the Switch Witch is to entice kids to give up their candy by offering them something else. Here’s how it works for us.
We celebrate Halloween in the normal way with decorations, costumes, and candy, just like millions of other kids. On Halloween night, my kids are allowed to indulge in a moderate amount of candy. I set limits, but still let them indulge. I remind them that the Switch Witch will be coming the next night.
They are given a full day with the bag of candy, although there are still limits of course. The night after Halloween, I ask them to set aside a small amount of candy to keep and remind them to leave out the rest of their candy for the Switch Witch to take. They are excited to do this because they know that the next morning, they will have received something new from the Switch Witch in place of the candy.
The Switch Witch takes their candy and leaves a new toy, craft item, book, or WHATEVER in place of the candy. I then remove nearly their entire candy haul (minus whatever they set aside) and can donate it, repurpose it, or throw it away and they don’t have to spend weeks dealing with how their bodies process too much sugar each day. It’s a win-win situation for everyone! After a day of having candy, my kids are pretty much over all of it anyway, so giving up a giant bag of candy for something new and fun is not that hard of a sell.
As far as what the Switch Witch brings, the ideas are endless! I normally spend around $20 to get something decent, but this part is truly up to you.
Happy Halloween and don’t forget the Switch Witch!
