We had so much fun this Halloween! The boys were SO looking forward to trick-or-treating and wearing their costumes. I overheard Reece say to Bryce “Isn’t this the best holiday EVER?” LOL! Well, Halloween is over and we’ve got LOADS of candy in our house.
1. Donate it. There are many opportunities to donate your Halloween candy. Here are a few that I know of:
- Ronald McDonald House Charities accepts candy donations for kids. You can search for a local branch here.
- Many churches and other places of worship have candy drop-offs or accept candy donations.
- Operation Gratitude sends care packages to troops overseas.
- Any Soldier sends packages to individuals volunteers who then pass them on to soldiers who don’t get much mail. That soldier then shares his package with his troop.
- Other places to donate would be food pantries, pediatric wards, and nursing homes.
2. Sell your candy. Our pediatric dentist participates in a candy buy back program every year. The dentists “buy” the candy from the kids with cash, coupons, toothbrushes, etc. The dentists then send the candy to Operation Gratitude or other Military groups. You can find a participating dentist by visiting http://www.halloweencandybuyback.com and entering your zip code in the upper right hand corner.
4. Another option is to freeze your extra candy. Chocolate freezes very well and can be stored for up to a year in an airtight container (I use a ziploc bag.) This is also great because when you want a piece you have to wait for it to thaw :)
6. We enjoy cookie decorating parties during the holiday season. Pull out the candy that can be used to decorate cookies and save yourself the expense of buying them later on.
9. Use the candy to bake with. There are lots of recipes that call for candy. You can use M&Ms and pretty much any chocolate candy bar to make delicious cookies. Just chop them up and throw it in your favorite cookie recipe or top your cupcakes with them. Yummy!
10. Leftover candy is perfect for ice cream toppings as well. Almost every chocolate candy can be used as an ice cream topping. Just chop them up when you are ready to use. You can also use the candy to make milkshakes – yum!
My third grade class collects anything that they don’t want, (I ask parents to send it in) with the goal of getting a 1,000 pieces. Then we sort, categorize, organize, count and put into groups. Then, we send it off to troops overseas as a “thank you” for Veteran’s Day. We always get nice letters back from the troops. It is a cool way to link two holidays.
This is a great list of ideas. I would love to share it on my Facebook page.
This is an awesome list of ideas! I would love to have you come share some of your great ideas at the link party on ‘Or so she says…’ There’s one going on right now (and every Saturday – Tuesday). Hope to see you there! http://www.oneshetwoshe.com
These are some great ideas! Unfortunately, we’ve managed to just do #13 this year, but last year we donated a lot of it to one of the programs that sends the candy to troops overseas through our Cub Scouts.
Down here on the Gulf Coast, we often see Halloween candy thrown from the Mardi Gras floats in a few months!
Glad I found you through French Country Cottage!
Totally using some of these – thanks!
@Chris, Thanks for stopping by Chris!
Great ideas!
#13 is what usually happens in our household! :-) Great ideas. Thanks for sharing at The Fun In Functional!