Halloween means trick or treating, costumes and sugar comas for children across America. But if you’re like many parents, you’d like avoid the sugar comas for your kids.
What kind of items can you hand out during trick or treating or at school parties that kids will find exciting? Here are 50+ candy alternative ideas for you to hand out at Halloween this year!
You can find many of these items at your local party supply store or purchase through the affiliate links provided for your convenience.
50+ Candy Alternatives for Halloween Trick or Treating
Small Plastic Novelty Toys
Kids love small toys. My son will covet the smallest items for weeks. And Halloween time is no different. There are so many items and options you can get at party supply stores, online novelty sites and super craft shops.
- Plastic spiders
- Yo-yos
- Kazoos
- Fake vampire teeth
- Plastic lip whistles
- Mini containers or play-dough
- Silly Putty
- Bubbles
- Slide puzzles
- Puzzles
- Slime
- Fake eyeballs
- Spinning tops
- Bouncy balls
- Straws
- Glow sticks
- Whistles
- Mini Slinky
- Jumping spiders
- Stress balls
- Wind-up toys
- Finger puppets
- Slide whistles
- Punch Balloons
- Kaleidoscopes
- Mini koosh balls
- Bendable plastic character figures
Plastic “Dress-Up” Items
Don’t forget how much kids love pretending and dressing up. All these items are perfect for both boys and girls.
- Plastic bracelets
- Snap bracelets
- Temporary tattoos
- Adjustable rings
- Disguise glasses
- Glow-in-the-dark bracelets
- Face mustaches
- Bat/Spider rings
School Supplies
School supplies may seem boring at first glance, but buying items in Halloween or fall themes makes these items fun.
- Pencils
- Stickers
- Erasers
- Pencil toppers
- Coins
- Rulers
- Stencils
- Bookmarks
- Mini crayon set
- Mini marker set
- Halloween rubber stamps
- Mini paper pads
Healthy Snack Options
You can still give out food treats without giving out sugar-heavy food. For people who are giving out treats, healthy food alternatives for trick-or-treaters:
- Packages of low-fat crackers with cheese
- Single-serve boxes of cereal
- Mini boxes of raisins
- Single-serve packets of low-fat popcorn
- Prepackaged fruits/vegetables
- 100-calorie packets
- Granola bars
A little candy isn’t going to hurt anyone, right? But offering candy alternatives to kids teaches them Halloween can be fun without overdoing it on sugar.
Plus, let’s not forget kids who have food allergies. There’s a great program called the Teal Pumpkin Project, dedicated to raising awareness of food allergies and promoting the inclusion of all trick-or-treaters throughout the Halloween season. Please consider how you can include all kids in your Halloween celebrations this year.
Here are some affiliate links to our favorite and biggest hits over the years:
Shipping is FREE with Amazon Prime or $35+ orders. Sign up for a FREE 30-Day Amazon Prime Trial HERE. Along with FREE shipping you will get access to thousands of movies, tv shows, books and music for FREE!
Looking for more great Halloween ideas? Be sure to check out my collection of Halloween tips, ideas, activities, recipes and more for the entire family.
Thanks for sharing these great ideas!
Hope the candy alternatives inspire you. 🙂
What a great idea so kids are just filling up on junk all night!
I hate how much candy my kids eat. Well, plus all the candy my hubby and I pilfer from them 😉
Great list of alternatives! We gave out glow sticks one year and they were a huge hit!
Glow sticks are at the top of my list. Glad to hear they were a hit 🙂
Great ideas! I know my kids get excited for different things than candy
The spider rings are always coveted in our house at Halloween.
Love these ideals def going to order some for trunk or treat
Trunk or treats — love that idea but no one in our area does it. But I think glow sticks are going to be on our list for this year.
Great ideas! I love them for Halloween alternatives to candy, I think I’ll look into doing this this year for our little trick or treaters.
We’re giving out glow sticks. And from responses to this post, it sounds like giving away something other than candy is a pretty popular thing to do — for parents and kids!
I LOVE OrientalTrading.com for Halloween goodies! They have tons of affordable stuff that isn’t candy. I work for a mall, and for Halloween we always give out something reflective or light-up for visibility at night and safer trick-or-treating! This year, we are giving reflective necklaces with Halloween characters.
Stacy, Reflective necklaces actually sound fun and functional. And I actually already bought our items through Oriental Trading. Isn’t that a great store?
This is fantastic. I’m broadcasting this to the world! My kids get WAY too much candy… and then I help them eat it! My kids love stickers and dress up and glow in the dark teeth… so look out Halloween… there WILL be less candy this year!
Thanks so much, Kimberly. My kids get plenty of candy, too. It doesn’t hurt for them to get some fun items as well.
This is a fabulous post and it couldn’t have come at a better time with Halloween approaching and all :o) Great tips; I love all your ideas especially because I don’t give my toddler candy! I’m pinning this now and thanks for linking up to The PINcentive Blog Hop! Hope you’re having a great Wednesday :o)
croppedstories@gmail.com
Elena, Thanks for pinning. And you’re right, alternatives are just perfect for toddlers. My boys just loved these plastic spider rings they came home with last year. It was a much bigger hit than the candy bar they ate and then forgot.
The Halloween theme ducks are hilarious and awesome. Our girls can’t collect enough rubber ducks to suit them, so I know this will make them happy!
Rubber ducks rock, right? I actually think we’re handing out glow sticks this year. Although I’m sure a bag or two will end up in the house — courtesy of my husband!
Great tips for candy alternatives!!
Thanks, Emily. Do you think you might go candy alternative this year?
I think this is a great post. I’m not a big candy at halloween fan, I think it can be kind of scary if people are putting anything into the candy. Not to mention the sugar. I think school supplies are great. Kids might have more fun with the fake teeth or fun little gadgets. Thanks for linking up with us at Wine’d Down Wednesday.
We’re going to hand out glow sticks this year and may pick another item or two to throw in the mix.
Great post! Thanks for getting us to think about alternatives for Halloween! 🙂
Bonnie — This is the first year I’m giving up the candy. Well, the boys are going to bring home plenty anyways! And the vampire teeth we’re handing out will last much longer 🙂
These are great ideas! Thank you for sharing them on our What We Love Wednesdays link up party and for taking the time to come up with all of them for us to use this Halloween! We can’t wait to see what else you have in store!
I had a blast thinking of all of the things we could hand out instead of candy. And to be honest, my boys are pretty psyched, too!
Wonderful list of alternatives. Oriental Trading online store is great for small items like this. Or $1 tree as well!
We actually ordered from Oriental Trading! Love/hate relationship with that online store 🙂
Love this! The one thing I hate about halloween is all the candy, we end up tossing half of it. I will definitely be looking at some of these options to give out this year. I’m sure the other parents will also appreciate getting something other than more sugar! haha!
My husband is a big helper in the left-over candy department! But I just want some other options in the mix 🙂
Thanks for sharing! My kiddo has some severe food allergies among other things. Halloween is our roughest time of year. Alternatives are so appreciated!
I’m allergic to nuts, so I understand how tough Halloween can be. Half of the candy I brought home every year went to my dad because I couldn’t eat it :-/
One of our neighbors gives nickels and dimes. She’s a huge hit! Another one of our son’s favorites is glow stick bracelets. Thank you for the great list!
I love hearing that she’s a hit. That actually sounds like fun. We’re going to hand out glow sticks but maybe I’ll throw in some coins for fun, too!
Because of Hurricane sandy, we opted out last year… I’m totally hoping to offer to buy the good chocolate to opt out again. I find Halloween weird but then I didn’t grow up doing it.
Thanks for hooking up to the Hump Day Hook Up
Great ideas. I will use for Ghosting. Thanks so much. Swinging by from The Mom’s Library Linky.
Thanks for visiting! Let me know how the candy alternatives go over!
Thank you for sharing these great alternatives! Most children are going to get candy on Halloween regardless. Throwing in a few healthy and fun items is a wonderful idea!
I agree. I don’t mind the candy (and my husband loves it!) but I just wish there were some other things mixed in.
Good idea! My kids eat way too much candy on Halloween!
My kids always overdose on sugar, too! I don’t really mind the candy but I’d like to hand out something different this year.
This is so great. My husband and I were just discussing when we were going to take our son trick-or-treating. He’s only eight months old now, and we were thinking “At what age will he be able to have some of that candy?” Frankly, we still haven’t decided. I wish more people gave out fun stuff like supplies and toys.
– April
April — Personally we waited until our sons turned one to have sugar and cake. I think that’s how their love of vegetables started. (Yes, the highlight of dinner is picking out which vegetable they’re having!) Let me know what you end up handing out for Halloween 🙂
Yay! Thank you so much. I hope more people see this. My kid’s favorite items every year when we go trick or treating are the non-candy items! It is often cheaper and easier to buy a bag of candy, but with so many food allergies in kids out there, these alternatives are a great idea!
That’s interesting that your kids love the non-food items. One person said they were afraid to get egged if they didn’t give out candy! And you’re right about the allergies. I’m allergic to nuts, so I understand the issue with Halloween candy.
Awesome list! I always feel bad handing out candy on Halloween, but I’ve never been sure what else to do. Thanks so much!! 🙂
From people’s comments, it looks like glow sticks are a sure way to go! Let me know what you end up handing out this year.
This is a great list! I have always thought if you don’t give out candy, you run the risk of getting your house egged! Haha! But there are some really great ideas here that kids will love! Plus, it will be some thing fun and different and I think you might actually get some bonus points for giving out something fun! I will be pinning!
Ha! Carli — stay away from those terrible popcorn balls and boring apples and I think you’ll be safe from getting egged 🙂
You have offered some great ideas for non-candy alternatives.
Let me know if you decide to go that route! I’m always curious what people’s experiences are. This is our first year going candy alternative. But the boys will still bring home plenty of candy home for a good sugar buzz 🙂
What great ideas! My husband and I don’t have children yet, but next month we are moving to a neighborhood where Halloween is HUGE. We’ve been told to prepare for hundreds of trick-or-treaters. I don’t like the idea of spending big bucks on huge bags of candy, but a trip to the dollar store for a few of these fun items might be a big help for us. Thanks for these ideas! I would not have thought of them otherwise 🙂
April — Have fun handing out on Trick or Treat night. Even before kids I always enjoys all of the kids in their costumes 🙂
Love these! One time a neighbor handed out fingertip flashlights – my daughter played with it for months after the other Halloween candy disappeared! I think that was the best treat that year
Fingertip flashlights! I haven’t seen those!!! thanks for the tip.
This is a great idea…I wouldn’t have thought of any of these! Candy, candy, candy…I mean, really, how much can you eat? Well, if it’s up to my kids, pounds and pounds of it! This sounds like way more fun, too!
My kids will get plenty of sugar without me handing it out myself. But the leftover glow sticks will be a huge hit 🙂
This is great! I love the costumes & parties at Halloween but don’t always like all of the sweets. We have given other items instead of candy (or w/ candy at times). It is a great alternative. I plan to bookmark this for use next month. Thanks again for taking the time to put this all together. It looks like it took quite a bit of time.
My kids will get plenty of sugar at Halloween. So it’s easy to hand out something else this year 🙂
This is a great post. I love the idea of giving kids the bubbles instead of candy, stickers and pencils are great as well.
We all could use something other than candy at Halloween. I know my kids will get their sugar fix and then they’ll have something to play with from my hand-out bin.
Thank you thank you thank you! I am an avid Halloween lover and I love to let my kids go door to door for candy and other items but I loath bringing home all that candy! We never finish it all, ever. In fact sadly I think we still have leftovers from last year. Handing out other options like the fake tattoos is a great idea. My girls would go gaga over those.
Let me know how the tattoos go. We’re going to hand out glow sticks… and I know my boys will love any leftovers.
These are great suggestions! My daughter doesn’t even like candy, so I’ll be keeping some of these in mind for Halloween this year!
We’re going to hand out glow sticks and I know my boys will love the leftovers.
Great list of alternatives.
We get so few kids in our neighborhood that I’ve stopped buying anything and turn the light off. I got to the point that I was buying candy we like because we would have it left over. But we don’t need it either! lol
It is strange how some neighborhoods get tons of kids and others don’t. We’ve gotten lots of new families on the block so I think this year will be busy!
Perfect post for upcoming Halloween! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Daou. Sometimes we just need to remember there isn’t just candy at Halloween. (Although I’m going to be sure to get my share of candy, too!)
I remember getting a box of raisins or an occasional apple as a kid, but I always loved the candy most.
Stacie — I always thought the apples were lame, too. We’re going to hand out glow sticks this year. And my boys will be psyched for the leftovers!
Awesome! I don’t like candies but just seeing your post makes me drool. I’ll buy candies for this coming halloween. Thanks for this one.
Great ideas. I like having alternative to candy this Halloween.
I usually hand out candy. But on a selfish note I just don’t want extra candy in the house this year!
I’m a magazine Editor, and I’m working on a story designed to provide tips, tricks and party ideas for Halloween. Thank you SO much for this post! Lots of cool ideas to jumpstart my brain. I wanted to include a small section on alternatives for costumes – how cool to find alternatives for candy! 🙂
Glad to give you some inspiration. Let me know if you need a source to quote 🙂
Love this list! I am always looking for creative little items to use instead of candy and this list has tons! Thank you, Mary
Glad the list inspired you. Let me know what you end up handing out!
I LOVE the idea of alternatives for candy! I’ll admit, when I was a kid I enjoyed getting little treats like a toy or sticker way more than candy. I think even then I knew they’d outlast a piece of candy, so I appreciated it. I’ve passed out cute pencils and stickers to our trick or treaters in the past, I think I’ll do it again this year.
Thanks for sharing.
Glow sticks and spider rings are at the top of my list, right now. And my boys will LOVE the leftovers.
You had some awesome ideas on here. I think it would be great to incorporate both candy, healthy snacks and toy novelties for your Trick or Treaters. And I try to also remember each year that it is a treat. My kids don’t gorge themselves with candy all year long…although I’m sure they’d love that LOL.
It’s nice when my girls have a mix of toys, pencils and candy treats on Halloween. They really enjoy it. And I let them have their candy fill (4-5 pieces usually) and then call it a night. I often take a lot of the leftover candy to work for my co-workers. And I might snag a few pieces for myself as well 🙂
My husband is going to adopt all of the leftover candy. I wanted to hand out something other than candy this year. I know my boys will get a blast out of the glow sticks and spider rings I’m handing out.
Great ideas! I have never gotten anything aside from candy so I think this would be great if more people implemented it. Not everyone, though. I love Free Candy Night. Lol
Ha! Tiffany, my husband is all about the candy, too. We can give out whatever we want as long as the kids bring home some candy.
This is a great list. I plan to share it with my daughter too.
Jean, I’m so glad you like the list and that you’ll be sharing it with your daughter. Readers who have commented on this post have said that if they handed out glow sticks last year, they were a huge hit.
Great ideas! We’ve given out glow sticks for the past 3 years instead of candy and the kids are always super-happy to get them because they’re different and fun. And I feel better b/c leftover glowsticks sure have fewer calories than leftover candy after the last trick-or-treater is gone!
Natasha — I agree. I don’t want that leftover candy staring at me just waiting to be eaten.
Thanks for all the great ideas. :] I remember being very underwhelmed by apples as a kid, but I would have loved little toys, probably. It was almost a game with my sister and I to make our Halloween candy last until Christmas, and I have to admit, my kids still have candy in the cupboard from last year. :]
Jennie, Apples were the worst, weren’t they. That and those homemade popcorn balls, which we weren’t allowed to eat anyway because they weren’t prepackaged.
I’m impressed your kids still have candy from last year! My husband would have gladly taken care of their candy for them 😉
Oh boo, I don’t celebrate Halloween.
But I could see this list useful for birthdays and other holidays! And I appreciate your desire to promote healthiness to children, we are alike there.
My son was born before Halloween so I bought extra candy alternatives to hand out at the party. He’s thrilled!
Thank you for the suggestions! I must admit though, I’ll probably hand out candy. 🙂
Ha! I love your honesty, Rhonda. I think my husband is on your side with that one.
Although I remember only being interested in the chocolate candy as a kid at halloween, as the parent, I like these ideas.
Ha! Jenn, I would agree with you 🙂 I was ALL about the candy. But I remember my sons going gaga over the spider rings they got last year. I think I’m headed in that direction.
I love these ideas. Would be a great alternitive.
I know people love the candy but offering something different never hurts 🙂
Yes! Yes! Yes! Love this! Last year we gave out organic lolipops and glow in the dark bracelets. The kids loved them! Great ideas! Thanks!
The bracelets are on the top of my list this year 🙂
Good list! Might be a good idea if you’re on a diet and don’t want to tempt yourself with all of the leftover candy in the house too. he he 😀
Jane — That is the exact inspiration for coming up with the candy alternatives. But now it’s become a fun game in the house of what we can think up!
Each year we try to move farther and farther away from the trick or treating. This year we are doing a scarey movie night with healthly snacks at home.
I think as the kids get older it will be easier to not do the trick or treating. But when they’re in elementary school it’s THE THING to do. But when my kids were younger, they were completely freaked out by trick or treating.
As a kid, I only went trick or treating twice. I had to beg to do that. We don’t give out candy either. I will def pass these ideas along to friends and neighbors because they are too cute not to share.
Awww. Thanks for sharing. 🙂 We always went trick or treating as kids. But as a grown up, my kids bring home so much candy I just didn’t need extra in the house!
You do have some great ideas. When children are young, it just seems mandatory to do the trick-or-treat halloween things. I am happy to say that now I really don’t participate at all, we don’t get any trick or treaters, and the cats refuse to wear costumes. Life is good!
Ha! Many of my friends would say get that cat into a costume! Some of the best photos I get around Halloween are with pets in costumes. 🙂
These are fun. I remember as a kid that I hated getting pencils and pennies 🙂 Our neighborhood is lame and we don’t get any trick-or-treaters, but when I have friends with kids over, I always have bowls of activity kits, finger puppets, stickers and crayons. It really makes it more fun than sitting around with the adults, though we all sometimes get into it to 🙂 I love the idea of bubbles, so maybe if some new people move to our neighborhood and we get any little ones coming around, that will be my new alternative!
You’re right. Pencils and pennies are lame. (However, a woman down the street handed out dimes and I guess the kids went wild.) We’re handing out glow sticks, spinning tops and vampire teeth. It should be fun handing them out. This is the first year we’re going candy alternative!
Honestly, I have really not looked into Halloween stuff….I come from a country where the celebration is different…and here I have not had a reason to look into that stuff….Last year I had some candy out..but the kiddos did not show up–the neighbors had warned that kids do not show up on that street……
Every street is different. When I lived in downtown Chicago we NEVER got kids. Up here we get some but they go into the more crowded neighborhoods.
Great list! I remember when my kids were in school, they needed pencils all the time and the seasonal ones are really cheap. I like giving out those along with candy. The kids like the candy, the parents like the pencils LOL
Glow sticks and vampire teeth are going to rule our house, this year!
O joy’…this is great and a bummer all at the same time. You’re crafty and that’s awesome. I love visiting blogs that show their crafty side. I always go seeking out other help once the holidays come up. But of course that means that the holidays are rapidly approaching!! Ugghh. love them and hate them all at the same time. My favorite part of this post are the suggestions for the healthy snack.
-FS-
We’ve decided to go completely food free this year and hand out glow sticks and vampire teeth. Honestly, I just hope there are some left for us!
Some great stuff in here – I always worry about my kids and them getting carried away with Candy at Halloween, so thx v much! Thanks so much for linking up to the Parenting Pin it Party this week as well 😀
It’s so easy to OD on candy at Halloween. I figure they’re getting more than enough so we’re giving out a number of candy alternatives this year.
PHENOMENAL post, Jenny! Super pin-able! 🙂 Pinning this now! XO
Thanks, Ellie. I hope it inspires you to figure out your own candy alternatives this Halloween 🙂
Thank you so much for not actually listing any place these items could be found. ..made this so much more useful. *groan*
Diane — You can find many of these items at dollar stores, Target, Walmart. I bought mine online through Oriental Trading Company. Hope this helps!
A fab list of ideas!
Thank you so much for sharing these with me on The Purple Pumpkin Blog!
This will be the first year that I have actually been able to hand out “treats” for Halloween, thanks to my daughter joing Girl Scouts and her troop participating in a trunk or treating event. I opted for a non-candy item to give out and so far have decided on pencils. Hopefully it goes over well in our area and the kids are happy with what they get!
We’re handing out glow in the dark vampire teeth (we have older boys in the neighborhood), styrofoam planes and whirley whistles. From the reaction of my own boys, I know they’ll go over well. This is the third year I’m handing out non-food items.