Budget Candy for Large Halloween event

[happily single]

I am excited to be participating in my town’s annual trick or treating event in the town common. I will have a table set up for kids/parents to come by. Normally I buy candy for our house that I know my kids will enjoy. Sometimes we get 10 kids, sometimes we get 100 kids.

So I need something that is budget friendly, allergy friendly (no nuts) and appeals to a wide variety of kids. I’m also open to small items (stickers, etc) to kids not interested in candy.

Any ideas?

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

What do you consider "budget friendly"--what price per item?

We no longer give out candy, instead handing out bouncy balls, foam airplanes, stampers, stickers, etc. Our (now adult) kids were unable to eat most candy due to milk and soy allergies. If you'd like to still hand out candy and think beyond just peanut/nut allergies, Dum-dums are the safest choice. Just keep them separate from any other type of candy.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I'm at the opposite spectrum...while I have a dairy allergy, I trash "junk" stuff my kids get (with 4 kids, I don't need another 50 pencils or 12 spider rings) and only keep the treats. If it were me giving budget candy, I'd have alternatives - last year, I did Hershey chocolate bars and Lays potato chips, the year before I did Skittles, Twix, and Snyder's Pretzels...I like having an option to meet every need, including sugar-free and dye free.

So, if I were you, I'd get individually packed Swedish fish (240 for about $10 - right now, it's $13.99, but I've seen it lower https://www.amazon.com/Count-SWEDIS...t=&hvlocphy=9008130&hvtargid=pla-493178475585) and then mini bags of pretzels (right now, 70 for $8 -https://www.walmart.com/ip/Utz-Halloween-Pretzel-Treats-Bat-and-Pumpkin-shaped-salted-pretzels-50-oz-70-count-Barrel/116882017?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227100729970&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=233118878601&wl4=pla-438330682287&wl5=9008130&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=116882017&veh=sem&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk5zQnLjx5AIVCWKGCh3fQAg-EAQYBCABEgLW5fD_BwE) ...and have something every kid could eat, and actually keep vs junking...

 

[happily single]

Thanks for the replies. I wasn’t even thinking dairy allergies. Love the pretzel idea

 

[RangerPooh]

I'm at the opposite spectrum...while I have a dairy allergy, I trash "junk" stuff my kids get (with 4 kids, I don't need another 50 pencils or 12 spider rings) and only keep the treats. If it were me giving budget candy, I'd have alternatives - last year, I did Hershey chocolate bars and Lays potato chips, the year before I did Skittles, Twix, and Snyder's Pretzels...I like having an option to meet every need, including sugar-free and dye free.

You sound like me, lol. With 4 kids I'm often collecting the junk and tossing it. It's only a matter of hours before it's littered across my house and broken. While it's a nice thought rarely does it get used. Pencils are about the exception, but they often aren't good ones. Along with junky trinkets we also trash jaw breakers and gum. Both are hard/stale and break teeth. Plus I don;t enjoy scraping gum out of carpet.

I will often add Tootsie Rolls (yes they can be hard but soften easily enough) and Laughy Taffy. But you can often pick up huge containers of pretzels and cheesepuffs this time of year. Like 90 to a container for around $10 at Sam's, by Utz. Rice Crispy Treats and fruit snacks are my other go too. Not sure if any of this is nut free, but are certainly alternatives to chocolate.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Child's Play is a selection of Tootsie candies and it is gluten and tree nut free. Bag weights 3.8 pounds and will have about 100+ pieces in the bag. DumDums are allergy free and have about 110 pieces in the bag and it weighs about 1.7 pounds. Both run close to $10 per bag. We get about 1000 kids come by our house on Halloween night so I usually have a large tub of candy (candy bars, peanut butter cups, usually the big bags that run about $18-20 each) and a smaller one of gluten and nut free candy. We usually spend about $300 on our Halloween candy.

 

[Dakota731]

We also do the pretzel, fritos type treats. My grandson doesn't like candy so we got some great deals at Amazon and Walmart for the 40 pack cases.

 

[disneychrista]

If you are concerned about allergies. You should have options. Nothing will be "safe" for all kids. Pretzels will eliminate those with gluten allergies.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

the last few years we have bought coupons for Mc Donald's they seem to go over well and they are $1.00 a page of 12 .. if someone has an allergy then the mom can use it
the coupons were all different milk, apples, burger, ice cream

 

[tvguy]

We had a College Intern with severe food allergies and she said she didn't go trick or treating as a kid because most candy bars were ticking time bombs for her food allergies. Milk, eggs, nuts and CHOCOLATE. If you have food allergies, maybe trick or treating isn't for you.
We've been in our house 37 years and we went from 120 kids 37 years ago to maybe a dozen the last 15 years. We buy candy we like.

 

[JaxDad]

Just don't serve Loser Candy...

 

[_19disnA]

Walmarts and even the grocery store will have a dedicated candy aisle this time of year with lots of choices. You can't possibly know every allergy of the kids who come around on Halloween. We give out what we like to eat so if there is any left over, we can enjoy ourselves. As some others have said, the number of kids going around varies wildly from one year to the next perhaps due to bad weather or what other events may be going on that evening. We always buy the same amount of candy and turn off our lights if we happen to run out. Several of our neighbors also do the same.

 

[Carrie Ellis]

I like the McDonald Coupon idea. I am not a McDonald's fan but I do visit in a pinch! I am so tired of the waste of holidays and events. I think kids get so much that they do not appreciate anything. My kids are grown but I was the same with "stuff", it was goodwilled or thrown away quickly.

 

[SharonZ]

I second the Child's Play assortment.

 

[serenitynow]

Sam’s Club has the Utz Halloween mini cheese balls with 60 snack bags per each barrel, 2 barrels for 14.98. So 120 individual snack bags for $15.00, plus the 2 cute plastic plastic barrels to keep.

They also have the Halloween pretzel bag barrels, 70 bags for $6.96.

 

[DuskKodesh]

Targets have a little allergy section with special snacks in halloween pouches. Surf Sweets gummies are always there as well as organic lollies. Yum Earth maked things too, and Pirate Booty makes allergy friendly cheeseballs. If you have a Trader Joes they also sell nice tubs of all natural suckers. Skittles, Starburst, and Mike and Ikes are also good for some of the more common allergies. Just don't give out the kind of things kids despise. No pennies, no Smarties, no raisins, no apples.

For toys this year I have skull necklaces and individual slimes. It's like 2$ for a bag of eight slimes here.