Let's Reconsider Halloween Traditions: Healthy Halloween Ideas

Irina Ra
Oct 30
3 min read

Dear Parents and all adults caring for children,

In anticipation of the popular holiday of Halloween, we’d like to invite you to reconsider the traditional trick-or-treating activities. Why?

Candy and commercial sweets are, in essence, toxic for growing bodies and minds. They’re filled with sugar, corn syrup, artificial colorings, and GMOs — ingredients that science has long linked to weight gain, dental problems, inflammation, heart disease, kidney issues, and even cognitive decline. These effects might not appear right away, but they accumulate gradually over time.

We remember once, during a family vacation to the Smoky Mountains, we were educated about bears. We were told never to feed them human food, especially sweets, because it leads to diabetes and other health problems. And we thought — if this is what happens to bears, what do you think happens to humans? Most health issues that appear in adulthood stem from what we ate and how we lived as children.

So, let's ask ourselves: What kind of foundation and future do we want to build for our kids?

Some parents say, “My kids are used to it. They expect candy on Halloween.” This is perhaps the most common argument. But this is exactly where our role as parents comes in — to guide our children, not just to satisfy the habits we may have helped them develop. Children are very impressionable and can quickly get attached to harmful things. It’s our responsibility to help them understand, to teach them to make healthier and more conscious choices.

Just because we’ve always done something doesn’t mean we shouldn’t change it. Change is natural — it’s how we grow. We come into this world as helpless babies, and as we grow, we evolve. Our behavior, our thinking, our needs all transform. We graduate from school to school, maturing along the way — so shouldn’t our habits and taste preferences evolve, too? Especially when we now have so much knowledge and research showing us better ways...

If your children are still young, it’s quite easy to replace unhealthy treats with healthier ones. If they’re older, talk to them, have an honest and earnest conversation. Explain why sugar and artificial foods are harmful, and how these choices affect their future health and well-being. It might actually work. Team up with other parents. Get your kids' friends on board.

Our traditions don’t have to remain the same forever. We don’t need to follow what the commercial world dictates to us.

Some say, “We don’t eat the candy, we just give it away.” But that creates a double standard — if we know it’s bad for us, why give it to others, even if they’re less fortunate? We can’t call it kindness if we’re passing harm along. Remember, what goes around, comes around.

Others say, “We don’t eat it, we just collect and throw it away.” We did that once when our older son was little — went trick-or-treating, collected candy, and threw it all out. It made a statement, yes, but we realized it didn’t truly solve anything. It still creates demand for candy production and wastes Mother Earth’s resources.

It’s simply better to stay away from the candy business altogether.

Instead, let’s have fruit parties! Kids love fruit — make it fun! Arrange fruit in creative ways, get them involved, invite friends.

It’s much better to spend money on fruit than on toxic, hazardous substances.

You can even make healthy vegan or raw vegan treats, free from sugar and gluten, using natural colorings like turmeric, beet powder, or blue spirulina.

And truly, there’s no need to pretend to eat fingers, eyeballs, brains, or other body parts — this practice is opposite to light and kindness. Let’s be mindful of what we introduce into our own and our children’s consciousness — because everything we feed our minds shapes our future reality.

Let’s create new family traditions — ones rooted in health, compassion, and awareness — and help our children make choices that reflect wisdom and love. 🎃🍎