by Candace Williams

Created on: October 08, 2010

Desperate parents have been know to create a healthy alternative to Halloween craziness by avoiding the whole thing and hiding out till it is over for another year. But that's not necessary. There are lots of ways to make Halloween a bit less damaging to your children's health and to yours as well as those who call at your house this year! Try to set some limits. Create some interesting things to look forward to besides candy. Also add in some

healthy choices you can be proud of as the focal point of the festival. Then you can smile through the holiday instead of dreading the eat yourself sick syndrome you have not managed to avoid in the past!

Fruit

Much of the candy kids and adults love is fruit flavored. So instead of fruit flavor try fruit. Apples are a mainstay and although there have been fears of apples filled with razor blades you don't really need to fear that in your own home. So polish some apples to a nice gleam and then fill a bowl with them and put them out as a centerpiece letting the children and adults know they are welcome to help themselves to one any time they want one. If there must be a sweet addition then have some caramel dip ready and an apple corer/sectioner. And apple cut up and dipped in caramel will be less sugary and more healthy than a piece of candy and will satisfy the sweet tooth at the same time. Another way to add a little twist to this is to encourage putting some peanut butter on the apple slices. And if you want to take it a step further you can add raisins to the peanut butter so it's a version of ants on an apple. Make available other fruits too. Bananas or grapes and even berries and slices of melon can be good treats to offer the kids at your house.

Dried fruit can be a good treat to offer to your own children or to those coming to visit you. Some is available in small packages. Raisins, craisins, cherries, apricots, dates, are some of the most popular and can be a good treat to give away. Apple chips, slices of dried mango, or bannana are just a few of the chips now being marketed to this generation which can make great treats without the drawbacks of a candy bar. Some are available in small packages.

Vegetables

Cut up raw vegetables can be an easy treat for you to offer. You can either do the cutting up yourself or purchase them already cut up and just put them out perhaps with a dip to go with them. The simplest raw vegetable of course is baby carrots which don't even need to be cut up at all. Many kids and adults

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