How to Make Halloween Safe for Kids With Food Allergies

Halloween is a candy-fest for children, but if your child suffers from a food allergy, an innocent piece of candy can pose a serious, life-threatening reaction. Here’s some alternatives to candy and a way to alert trick-or-treaters that your home is allergy aware.

If your child has food allergies, they don’t have to feel left out during treat-based holidays like Halloween. Through the Teal Pumpkin Project, households are displaying signs and teal pumpkins to show trick-or-treaters that their home is allergy-friendly.



Spearheaded by the Food Allergy Research and Education group (FARE), the movement encourages homes to have a separate bowl with non-food or candy items as an alternative to the sweet stuff.

Some ideas for a candy-free Halloween include:

• Glow necklaces
• Stickers
• Bubbles
• Temporary tattoos
• Pencils
• Party-sized play dough
• Mini note pads
• Hot chocolate or apple cider packets
• Pretzels
• Mini-bags of microwave popcorn
• Juice boxes
• spider rings
• necklace beads
• bouncy balls