What is your favorite Halloween candy?
I am always sneaking Mr. Goodbars, Snickers and Reece’s Peanut Butter cups from my kids candy bags (don’t tell on me). While that’s fun for me, sifting through the peanut-y Halloween candy is a nightmare (no pun intended) for parents of kids with allergies.
And while peanuts take the heat for allergies most of the time, there are lots of other reasons why parents might need to modify or restrict their child’s diet making trick-or-treating more well, tricky, than fun.
The Teal Pumpkin Project was launched in 2014 by FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) to ensure a fun and safe trick-or-treating experience for kids with allergies.
To participate, take the Teal Pumpkin Pledge and pick up a non-food treat to hand out to trick-or-treaters: stickers, matchbox cars, bubbles, yo-yos… whatever you can find or think of that trick-or-treaters might enjoy.
Then, paint one of your halloween pumpkins teal to tell families that you are participating in the project (you can also find some great stuff on their website). To reach out to families and help them find safe places to trick-or-treat, you can add your home to the crowd-sourced map on their website.
If you love handing out candy, you can still pass it out, just keep your non-food items in a separate bowl and be sure to ask parents and kids which bowl they’d like to pick from.
Richmond parents of kids with allergies… according to the Teal Pumpkin Project map there aren’t ANY homes participating from Richmond! Get your neighborhood involved and help make Halloween safe for all Richmond kids.
Find out how to get more people involved in the Teal Pumpkin Project on their website. You’ll also find great ideas for non-food treats and more information about FARE.
The TEAL PUMPKIN PROJECT and the Teal Pumpkin Image are trademarks of Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE).
