Not so commercial Halloween?

[irwinleah]

Hello all:
I have been a member of this forum for a long time but haven't posted recently. Not sure if this is the right place for this question, but here goes....my daughter is 2 (26 mos.) so is just old enough to participate in Halloween. However, we don't like the traditional scary costumes/way too much sugar/let's dress up as commercial characters thing. Anyone done things differently for Halloween? We'd like to start a tradition in our community of hosting/sponsoring a Halloween party that encouraged creativity in costumes, healthy eating, fun old fashioned kid games, etc. We want to provide an alternative fun time for families who have similar concerns with "traditional Halloween" as us. Any ideas/experiences to share?

Thanks so much....

Leah Irwin, mama to Anna Claire

[lightheart]

bobbing for apples is fun!

I'd talk to your neighbors, it sounds like fun!

We live really rural and I'm not going "out of the nighborhood" to get candy I don't really want the boys gourging on, we go to some friends house dressed up and have just regular dinner like we would any time up there and she usually makes cookies for them to have when the come to the door. That's a seperate night since they live an hour away. Then on halloween we go to 3 houses, pretty boring I guess but it's fun working on the costumes for a couple weeks!

[astrophe27]

We go to our church's party -- where they have games like you describe already. Before you reinvent the wheel -- check to see if your local churches, parks, recreation centers are doing that sort of thing already.

Also, if you prefer to celebrate it as Samhain -- by all means do! Check to see if local pagan groups are having their witche's ball/rituals.

A.

[reducereuserecycle]

visit some elderly people and show them the cute costumes and take them some healthy goodies

[GenB]

I second the church/school activities. Several churches in our area host great events the night of Halloween with games, crafts, etc. and not so much candy and scary stuff. They welcome everyone and usually have lots of folks from the community and it is a great way to meet new people.
I started hosting a chili party for neighborhood kids and parents and that's turned out to be a blast! We go all out because our kids are older but you could have a few friends over and maybe have a cool craft or two for the kids with some natural decorations and bowls of healthy snacks. Ours has become a tradition and now we have a house full! I just do two big pots of chili with fixins' and everyone else brings something: chips and salsa, dip, etc. The candy isn't even noticed. Halloween is my fav time of the year and it is really easy to be creative and have a great time! Good luck!

[rachelagain]

The chili party sounds like so much fun- maybe we should do that.
We've been to a church "harvest party", but it still had alot of candy here- the games were good though and kids had fun.
But normally we just go to a couple houses and stop in at Grandma's.
Last year I made the kids make their costumes, they whined and complained and made it sound pathetic to grandparents/bio dad- but I stuck to it. ANd they had great costumes-- one was a chicken (holy cow- the amount of "feathers" we cut out!!) but it was a great memory builder. I'm doing the same this year- it's not because of money, it's because I want them to learn and enjoy creating.
I give the kids 30 min to eat whatever and the rest disappears- but I don't think they would be excited about it if they option of "candy" was taken away... as it is, they probably only eat 3 to 5 pieces anyway.

[GenB]

That's a good idea. I never got too strung out about the candy thing; my kids were terrific eaters and never consumed much candy or many softdrinks, etc. I would let them pick a few pieces then put the rest away for treats or give it to my dad who has LIVED on candy almost exclusively his whole life.(btw he's 86 and in pretty darn good shape...still has his own teeth, great mind, no horrible diseases, etc.) I was always the one who had trouble staing away from it!

I think the important thing is to make your own traditions and have fun with your kids. Making costumes is so neat. My kids whined too after a few years but now they look back and think its much cooler that they did that then going to the store and buying a cheezy one. And theirs were always AWSOME in spite of the fact that I do not sew!!

[sedalbj]

we have done TOT for Unicef the past years, and will continue. i think we are also going to bake cookies for all her friends. we gave away juicy juice last year to the kids at the door (they LOVED it). i think the begging for candy part is fun, and i take away most of her stash anyway. the neighbors love to see the kids dressed up.