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What to Do with Leftover Halloween Candy

9/13/15 - By Anna Fader

After Halloween last year, I was astonished at the amount of candy my kids got, especially when I counted up the total calories. It really made me think twice and we ended up taking five pounds of candy and selling it to the dentist the week after Halloween. This year we found a healthier alternative to giving away candy for Halloween and it seems like there are lots of people feeling the same way because I keep reading about all kinds of things to do with your leftover Halloween candy besides eat it, from donating it to soldiers to using it to make a gingerbread house. Read on for some of the best ideas of what to do with all that leftover Halloween candy.

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Donate It: There are lots of charities that will take your extra Halloween candy whether you'd rather give it to a soldier or children or the hungry. We've got an entire post dedicated to ways to donate your candy.

Reuse It: I love this idea of repurposing Halloween candy to make your holiday gingerbread house from ParentHacks.

Get Crafty With It: If you want to take the repurposing a step further Alphamom has some beautiful ideas for making things like an advent calendar, a harvest tree or a turkey pinata with leftover Halloween candy.

Trade It: Lots of people seem to like the idea of just convincing their kids to trade the candy for a new toy or book, whether you call it the Halloween or Candy Fairy or the Switch Witch.

Photo credit: Flikr, Fred Rockwood.

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This post originally published in November 2009.

About the Author

Anna Fader

Founder of Mommy Poppins

A fourth-generation Brooklynite, Anna started Mommy Poppins in 2007 to help families find the best things to do with kids in NYC, with a particular emphasis on sharing activities that are free, affordable, and enriching. The site, used by millions of families, has grown to become the ultimate resource for parents in the major US cities, plus travel guides for 100s of destinations.

Anna is a believer in the magic of summer camps, traveling with kids, and that you can raise kids on a budget and still have a rich life full of amazing memories. Anna's first Mommy Poppins book, The Young Traveler's Journal and Activity Book, published in 2025 and co-written with her daughter, Amelia Eigerman, brings that ethos to life, in addition to this website.

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