Creepy hands, healthy Halloween treats

Let’s face it, when it comes to Halloween, kids love candy.

But with the increasing rates of obesity and diabetes among children in America, it’s important to consider ways to improve the health of our kids. We all know there will be plenty of candy passed around on Halloween, so why not add some variety to the mix with a few less-sweet treats or non-edible goodies?

The ideas are as endless as your imagination. A variety of items or selections that suit any age are your best bet. Discount stores are a great place to find goodies.

Below are a few ideas that kids will love, followed by a how-to for making a creepy treat, Popcorn Hands:

▪  Pretzels

▪  Goldfish Crackers

▪  Teddy Grahams

▪  Peanut butter crackers

▪  Sugarless gum

▪  Corn nuts

▪  Pumpkin seeds

▪  Sunflower seeds

▪  Mini boxes of raisins

▪  Trail Mix

▪  Stickers

▪  Temporary tattoos

▪  Spider rings

▪  Pencils

▪  Small puzzles

▪  Play Dough

▪  Crayons

▪  Travel games

▪  Small bouncy balls

▪  Popcorn hands

How to make popcorn hands

Did you know that popcorn is a whole grain? You may not want to make the popcorn more than a few days ahead of time so it does not taste stale, preferably air popped or low-fat microwave popcorn.

A list of what you will need: Popcorn, large spoon, clear plastic nonlatex gloves, candy corn, plastic spider rings, something to tie off the end of the glove at the wrist.

Take a glove and drop one candy corn in each finger, pointy end first, then take a large spoon and scoop some popcorn into each finger of the glove then fill the rest of the hand of the glove with popcorn. Leave enough room, then tie off at the wrist. Apply a spider ring to one of the fingers.

Happy healthy treating!

This story was originally published October 28, 2016 at 12:21 PM with the headline "Creepy hands, healthy Halloween treats."