Halloween Candy
What do kids (2 1/2 to 8 yrs old) like best in the way of trick or treat candy/treats? We don't get many trick or treaters, but I want to see that they get what they like. My thoughts are the large size Kit Kats and bags of Nabisco Fruit Treats (those jelly drop like things flavored in cherry, strawberry and bluebery) from Costco? Anybody have any great ideas on what kids like best? Thanks!
Leslie T.
Oct 26, 2001 12:50PM
Your ideas sound good, but my 7-year-old son prefers Tootsie Roll pops.
Permalink | Reply
I'm sure it's an indivdual thing, but when I was a kid, getting the bite sized Snickers Bars in your bag was like finding gold
Permalink | Reply
If you really want to make a kid happy, give out full size candy bars, of any kind. Since you say you don't get too many trick-or-treaters, that might not be too expensive. I know someone who gives out full size candy bars and his house is the most popular on the block!
Permalink | Reply
I back the full size any kind of candy. A real luxury treat to a kid of almost any age!
Permalink | Reply
Yes, full-size candy bars are indeed the Holy Grail of Halloween candy.
Permalink | Reply
My 9 year old daughter goes nuts (indignant) when she sees the bags of Halloween candy that say "Fun size." She exclaims, "What's fun about that tiny size candy bar?" I only give out the "fun size" though, because we get so many kids at our house.
Permalink | Reply
I guess chocolate-coated cockroaches are out of the question, huh?
Permalink | Reply
I think that the Slate.com article linked below answers your question far better than I can. It is a poll of 5 kids on their favorite types of Halloween candy...
Link: http://slate.msn.com/?id=2057541
Permalink | Reply
I consider this article is null and void, because of the following sentence:
"Within this group were represented all 10 of the best-selling candies in America as ranked by the NCA, with the exception of Mentos, which I excluded because their commercials are creepy and disturbing."
That said, any name brand treat is "gold." Keep in mind that many smaller children might not be keen on nuts, so provide plenty of nut free alternatives.
When I was a kid, I would dump my entire pillowcase of booty on the rug, and separate the contents into little piles: fabulous, dependable, and yucky. The brand name chocolate-based were placed into "fabulous," tarty sugar-based (smarties, sweet tarts) and 2nd level types (bit o' honey) into "dependable," and apples, raisins, homemade treats from scary old ladies (kids don't like homemade goodies from strangers, only loved ones), dubble bubble, and gross generic chocolate foil-wrapped coins were discarded into "yucky."
As far as the fruit-based gummy things - my household wasn't stocked with the aforementioned name brand treats, so these were treasured. We were allowed fruit roll-ups, so the fruity treats weren't as special.
I love to make homemade candy, and have issues with spending money on bags of prepackaged chocolate. This isn't the issue - it's all about the kids! I would definitely stick to copious amounts of individually wrapped name brand chocolate snax. If you REALLY want to gain the admiration of the kids, slowly grab a HANDFUL and drop them into the bag. They will love you!
Permalink | Reply
My kids love it when they get cans of pop. Can be pretty inexpensive if gotten on sale
Permalink | Reply
Not to mention heavy to carry!
Permalink | Reply
You're safe with anything chocolate, "established" brands like Hershey's, Nestles, etc. We love the tiny packages of tiny M&Ms. Tootsie Pops are great, soda's a cool idea although some parents don't want their kids to drink it (maybe juice boxes?!). You might even want to have one treat that kids with peanut allergies can eat.
One guy in our building gave out one new gold dollar to each kid, because he could. Some parents now want to give out coins or something non-edible because of nervousness about current affairs (I am not one of them). If you bring lots of quarters to a supermarket you can stock up on those prizes you find in gumball-like machines for the over-3 crowd. Some people go all out and create little grab bags for the few kids that come by.
Then again you probably don't have to worry about what you give out because most parents run short of treats and use their kids' haul to recycle for other trick-or-treaters.
Dress up, have fun!
Permalink | Reply
Give out something packaged and commercial. Sadly, parents wont find anything homemade or unwrapped acceptable. The kids really like candy bars. Jolly Rancher. Reeses Cups, etc. Soda sounds like a good idea, but it is awful heavy in those bags...
Permalink | Reply
My daughter would bring home a bagful of candy, which would sit around the house and get stale, then finally disappear quietly.
A couple of years ago, as a sophomore or junior, she went trick-or-treating with a friend of hers. She could have passed as a kid, as she's 5'2" and slight. Afterwards, she was talking on the phone to her friend. Her friend said her mother went through the bag of loot and inspected each piece to make sure it was safe, as she always did. My daughter yelled this to me, and asked me why I had never done that. I replied that I had spoiled her by feeding her candy that was so high in quality that she would never even want to eat Halloween candy.
A look came over her face. She knew it was true.
"You ruined my childhood!" she wailed.
Permalink | Reply
Oh, the perils of being raised by a chowhound!
Permalink | Reply
Oh, this is the time of year to buy a sack of the large size of YOUR favorite kind of candy, because:
1) If you don't get many trick or treaters, and are going to have the candy left over, you might as well enjoy whatever you have left and
2) as stated in the replies, kids will sort through the loot into favorites, second favorites, third best, etc, and then the TRADING BEGINS. If the kid is armed with a large size candy something from you...so much the better in trading power. My daughter was thrilled with Bit O' Honeys because she knew she could sell 'em to me for a dime...JujyFruits brought fifteen cents.
Permalink | Reply