What To Do With All That Halloween Candy?

My kids are pretty young so we usually let them trick-or-treat up and down two streets and then we are done. This year we let them do four streets. You wouldn't think that would add up to much, but my goodness they got a lot of candy!! Their buckets were full. I am sneaking as much as I can to save their teeth from all that sugar (aren't I a loving mother?). But what else can you do with the candy? Here are some good ideas:

1. The Switch Witch. We have some friends that tell their kids they can either keep their candy or pick out 10 pieces and then leave the rest in a bag on the porch on Halloween night. During the night the Switch Witch takes the bag of candy, and in exchange she leaves a special gift such as a board game or an action figure set that they've always wanted. For a fun and elaborate story to excite them, see the story at the bottom of this list. You can change it as needed to fit how you play the Switch Witch, of course. Then you (ahem, the witch) can take that candy to do #2:

2. Sell your candy back to a dentists office. Yup. Some dentists will buy back Halloween candy by the pound. Visit the Halloween Candy Buy Back program to find a participating dentist near you. The candy is then sent to the US Military deployed in harms way. Some dentists will pay you cash (~$1 a pound), some will pay with coupons (partnered with other businesses) or free services. Check it out.

3. I have heard of people using the candy to make gifts or decorations for Christmas
                  -make wreaths
                  -gingerbread houses
                  -ornaments
                  -stockings

4. You can put it in a plastic baggie or food saver bag and put it in the freezer to save it for other holidays like Valentines day or Easter.

5. Save it for your kids school parties or birthday parties
                     -Gift bags
                     -Pinatas
                     -Prizes

6. Make a Thanksgiving or Christmas advent calendar with it.

7. Donate it to a nursing home or children's home or other place in need of a little Halloween cheer.

8. Bake with it.

The Switch Witch Story
The Switch Witch lives in Hallow Heights which is a little island in the sky by the moon. The Switch Witch loves candy.  All witches love candy, but the Switch Witch loves candy the most and she has the biggest candy stash of all the witches.  Do you know how the Switch Witch gets her gigantic candy stash?  The Switch Witch gathers most of her candy for herself and all the witches and cats on Halloween night. (Did you know that witches’ cats love candy too? They only eat milk chocolate though as it has delicious milk in it! –this is true only for witches’ cats though!).  So, here is how the Switch Witch gets her candy: late Halloween night, when all the children are sleeping, she visits the houses of children who choose to switch their candy for a toy. How does she know which ones are switching their candy in? A child puts a piece of candy on the door (of their room or house) to let her know that they want to switch.  The Switch Witch flies from building to building on her broom, with her black cat Corn (as in Candy Corn) on the back. They come in through a window. They fly in through the window with magic- the window does not need to be open.  She takes all the candy the child puts out and puts it into a sac that Corn holds open for her in his mouth.  Then she ties the candy bag to the end of the broom.  She takes out a shiny black bag that is full of toys. She leaves one toy for the child to thank them for the candy.  Then she leaves just as quickly as she came: on her broom, out to visit other children and perform more switches. By early morning, she and Corn return home to Hallow Heights where she sorts all the candy into large glass jars. That night, all the other witches come to visit and the Switch Witch doles out the candy they want.  They eat their candy with her, share stories of Halloween, hear about what toys she brought to the children and come back night after night for a treat.  You know how most pictures of witches are flying near the moon?  That’s because they are on their way to Hallow Heights to visit the Switch Witch and share in her gigantic candy stash.  By next Halloween, the Switch Witch has run out of candy and goes back out to do her switches.
(Seen on A Child Grows in Brooklyn: http://www.achildgrows.com/2009/10/21/the-switch-witch-what-to-do-with-halloween-candy/)

Happy Halloween!