Elevate Your Health Colorado Halloween Candy & Play Time

With Halloween right around the corner, many parents can worry about how to let their families enjoy the fun of the holiday without suffering some of the more unsavory after-effects of extreme candy consumption.  While we all know that “everything in moderation” is a great rule to live by, it’s sometimes hard to follow at times like this.  Well one of my patients came in the other day with one of the best ideas I’ve heard in a while.  She told me that she always has a hard time letting her kids be as indulgent as they want when it comes to their Halloween candy, so this year she decided to get a little creative. 

She sat down with her three boys a few weeks ago and they created a Halloween candy contest of their own.  She asked them all what their favorite candies were and how much they thought would be an acceptable amount for them to be able to eat.  Then she asked them how much extra energy they would have to play from eating the sugary treats. See where this was headed?

Between them, they came up with a reward system using the extra “energy” from the candy as extra time the boys could spend playing basketball, running with the dog and playing out in the yard.  As the candy started coming in, she had them split it up into containers for different activities.  Three small candy bars? 20 minutes of basketball! A candy bar and a bag of chips? 30 minutes out playing catch with the dog.

As the candy rolled in, the boys started stockpiling extra “play time” into the categories of their choice.  I thought this was such a fun way to take that extra “energy” and make it a great reward!  So as the candy rolls in this year, try to think of what you’re going to use your extra play time energy for. 

Happy Halloween!