You wake up on November 1st ready for action. Halloween costumes cleaned and packed away. CHECK. Halloween decorations removed and boxed up. CHECK. Halloween clearance items purchased at 90% off. CHECK. Now looms the giant bags of Halloween candy your family acquired last night. Trick-or-treating seems like a good idea until you realize that you have enough candy now to roof your house. Not sure what to do? Here are some ideas other families have tried.  See what works for yours.

• Collect and distribute
  • Once trick-or-treating is done, have everyone pour their candy into one big bowl or bag. Then dole out the candy at your discretion.
• The eat-as-much-as-you-can-in-one-hour method
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• Have a visit from the Candy Fairy
  • Like the tooth fairy, the candy fairy collects candy and leaves a toy or book in its place.
• Money Trade
  • Allow them to keep a few pieces and then trade in the rest to you for a quarter each.  Then off to the toy store or dollar store! (This method can be used all month-long or even all year-long.)
• Activity Trade
  • Offer your kids the choice to trade in all their candy for a trip to the batting cage, arcade, or somewhere fun they like to go.
• Ship your candy off to the troops
• Halloween Candy Buy Back Program
  • Find a local dentist who participates in this program.  They will give you something in exchange for the candy and also ship it off to the troops for you!
• Reduce by recycling
  • If you have a birthday or other party coming up, offer to use your candy to fill up goodie bags.
• Donate your candy to…science?
  • You can do lots of great candy experiments at home using Skittles, Lifesavers, Starbursts, M&Ms, and more. Plus, you just might want to see what happens when you leave a gummy bear in water.
• Use them in a yummy recipe
  • Tootsie roll fudge? Snickers caramel cheesecake cookies? Nutter Butterfinger bars?

How do you usually handle your family’s Halloween candy?