Mom-agination: Leftover Halloween candy? Clever ways to make use of it!

Are you still trying to unload the uneaten Halloween candy when Easter rolls around? If so, then you must take note of these clever tips:

• Birthday and Holiday Gift Wrapping – Do you end up spending a small fortune every year on gift-wrapping? My kids and I like to create our own by wrapping birthday or holiday gifts in plain paper or purchasing plain gift bags at the dollar store. I then sit the kids down with a pile of candy and some glue and let them at it. Glue the candy onto the wrapping/bag still enclosed in its wrapper for a treat as well as a gift or unwrap the candy for a colorful, creative, non-edible wrapping. The recipients will love this unusual packaging, the kids take pride in their efforts and (my favorite part) this activity keeps the kids happy and quiet for hours!
• Decorate Cakes and Desserts – Do you bake a lot of cakes, pies or cookies, especially around the holidays? If so, then use all that Halloween candy as decoration or bake it right into the treat. My kids love to decorate cakes with their candy: M&Ms, Skittles and licorice are the best items to create words and greetings while mini-candy bars and jelly treats make a tasty and creative border. Use those leftover M&Ms and Hershey’s kisses instead of store-bought chocolate chips to bake right into your holiday cookies.
• Create a one-of-a-kind Gingerbread House – Empty any remaining Halloween candy from the wrappers, dump it into a pile and let the kids stick it all into the icing of the Gingerbread House for a colorful creation that even Hansel and Grettel could not resist. None of their friends will have one quite like it!
• Make a Christmas Countdown Calendar – Buy an inexpensive calendar or tear out the December page of your family calendar. Have the kids glue their favorite pieces of candy (in wrapper) onto each square in December leading up to Christmas Day. This is a great counting exercise as well as enables children to visualize how many days until the big day so you only have to point to their calendar when the question “When is Christmas?” is repeated over and over and over… This is also an excellent way of distributing sweets in small portions. In our house, eating the daily item from their calendar becomes each night’s dessert!
• School Lunches and Snacks – Pop a piece or two into your child’s lunch or snack for them to enjoy at school. Take care to only include one or two bite-sized pieces or, if your child is a sugar fiend like mine, that might end up being their entire meal!
• Take it to Work – A surefire method of unloading any quantity of candy (or any food item for that matter) is to take it to work and dump it in the break room. I guarantee you, no matter what it is, it will be devoured in a couple hours.
• Party bowls – If you are hosting a holiday party or any kind of party, throw a mixture of leftover candy into a punch bowl for guests to munch on. If you are more of a party guest rather than a host, fill a colorful, disposable bowl with candy and offer it as a hostess gift.

And, of course, don’t forget to let the kids enjoy their favorite treats Halloween night – trick-or-treating is hard work!