Halloween gets a bad rap sometimes because for kids, it often seems to be all about the candy, and how healthy is that? But we forget sometimes that we moms can change the tenor of pretty much most events — for younger children at least — simply by changing some of what goes on on a particular day or at a particular event. And Halloween’s no different.

Here are a few things you can do to enjoy a healthier Halloween with your family:

1) Focus on the fun of trick-or-treating. Half the fun of Halloween is just plain going door-to-door, getting treats the likes of which you don’t know until you get there and seeing other folks in your neighborhood do the same. Special events are about more than just food, and Halloween is one of the most fun holidays there is!

2) Create a fun, spooky atmosphere. My son is still too young to appreciate scary stuff, and I tend to like the cheerier spooky stuff myself, so we stuck mainly to pumpkins for our decor. But there are so many options for creating a great Halloween atmosphere in your home that require little time or expense. Consider adding a soundtrack to your decor, such as Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” At most local department stores, I’ve seen Halloween CDs available in the Halloween decor section. Growing up, we had a fabulous Disney album full of spooky sounds, but it’s sadly only available on vinyl (used) and is probably considered an antique by now. :)

3) Make rules about candy and avoid arguing. I recommend limiting the amount of candy your child can eat to, say, 2 pieces on Halloween night and 1 piece for the next few nights at most. Moms of older kids swear that you can throw out most of the candy without your kids even noticing, but I’ve not tried it. In my household, we’re not having any candy because of our food allergy issues, but I’ll be making healthy cookies for our Halloween treats and decorating them with cute Halloween-themed cat pop-ups on toothpicks (available at Target and craft stores) — adorable and isn’t bad for you in the slightest.

4) Instead of giving out junk food yourself, get creative. This year, we’re giving out several things, depending on the age of the child. We’re new to the neighborhood as well, so I’m not sure how many visitors we’ll get. Some of what we’ve bought to give away are Halloween pencils and notepads, boxes of organic raisins and glow-in-the-dark bracelets. (I believe I got this idea from Dr. Fuhrman’s newsletter, and it’s a great one!) We ordered our glow-in-the-dark items a few weeks back, but I saw them sold at Michael’s just this week when looking for other supplies for one of our household’s costumes.

5) Fill yourself and the kids up on healthy food before you go out trick-or-treating. Unlike adults, most kids just plain do not eat when they’re not hungry — at least not much. So fill up your kids’ bellies (and your own!) with a hearty meal. I recommend something very filling like a vegetarian chili or stew, as well as a healthy dessert such as my Banana Oatmeal Cookies. As a treat, some apple cider that’s been simmered with a few cinnamon sticks would be warming without being very unhealthy.

6) Create events to take place on Halloween that aren’t about food. I haven’t tried this yet for Halloween because my son is so small, but it has worked for other holidays quite well. You can create family traditions that are non-food-related by coming up with fun games to play, telling ghost stories, going for a drive to see Halloween decorations in neighborhoods farther afield … The possibilities are endless! But the basic concept is to come up with fun things to do that don’t revolve solely around food. One of the biggest challenges many of my coaching clients come to me with is how to deal with holidays and special events, and in reality, you have full control over so much of how your family’s time gets spent.

If you’re doing special stuff for Halloween that’s healthy that I’ve overlooked here, shoot me an email to share your ideas. I’d love to hear them!