I always have non-candy treats in our Halloween bucket, just in case kids who can’t have candy ring our doorbell. If you want to do that too, this list of Non-Candy Halloween Treat Ideas will give you some good ideas.
For more help to make this the best holiday, check out all of our Halloween posts.
I love candy. That was my favorite part of trick-or-treating. I just wanted to go around the neighborhood with my cousins and friends and get all the free candy.
So, of course, when I’m choosing treats to hand out for Halloween, I always get chocolate. First, it’s because if there’s any leftovers, I get to eat it. And second, because I remember getting so excited over chocolate being given out when I was a kid, so I want to give that excitement to the kids in our neighborhood.
But, I do also add some non-candy Halloween treats into our treat bucks too.
Some kids can’t have candy and some kids just like having something else to choose.
There’s a whole Teal Pumpkin Project, which encourages houses to give out non-food items so kids who have food allergies have something to choose from. It’s a great idea. The project does suggest having a candy bowl and a separate bowl for non-edible items in case of really bad food sensitivities. Personally, I don’t do that, but I also don’t set out a teal pumpkin (which is the indication that you’re an allergy-friendly house).
If you want to do offer some Halloween candy alternatives this year, we have this great list of Non-Candy Halloween Treats to give you some inspiration. This list is filled with small toys and other great alternatives that are non-edible.
Because yes, non-candy could mean things like applesauce or cheese sticks. And yes, you can dress those up to look Halloween-y (we have a whole post about ghost applesauce), but I really wanted to focus this list on non-edible Halloween treats.
If you want a little more help putting together your bucket this year, check out our How To Make The Perfect Halloween Treat Bowl post.
Non-Candy Halloween Treats
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Crazy Straws
A really fun non-candy idea is crazy straws, especially since everyone is all about reusable straws right now. Kids will absolutely love getting these.
If you want to be a little extra, like us, we have a DIY Halloween Crazy Straws Gift Idea with a free printable that you can add to the straws with a cute Halloween note on them.
Glow Sticks
I love the idea of giving out glow sticks for Halloween. The kids can immediately crack them and wear them all night long. They’ll love and parents will love that they can easily see their kids bopping up and down the sidewalk with their glow bracelets on when it starts getting dark out.
If you’re feeling crafty, we have a DIY Halloween Glow Stick Party Favors post that comes with a free printable that says, “A little light for your Halloween night” that you stick the glow stick onto. It’s always a big hit with the kids around here.
Plastic Bat Or Spider Ring
The most popular non-candy Halloween treat from when I was a little kid was a plastic bat or a spider ring. They were so popular, even though they kind of pinched your finger and scratched your skin a little bit. But really, no one cared about that. We all just wanted one for each finger.
So, if you want a good idea that will delight kids, pick up a pack of either bat rings or spider rings (or both) and they’ll love it.
I actually use these to make our Spooky Soap, which I set over every year in our downstairs bathroom for Halloween. So, if you end up with extras, you can hang on to them and make the soap next year.
Temporary Tattoos
Kids get so much candy on Halloween. You know what they don’t get a lot of? Temporary tattoos. And you know what kids like more than candy? Yup. You guessed it. Tattoos. They’re so popular.
You can buy a large pack of random temporary tattoos and hand them out and kids will absolutely go crazy for them. Or, you can be extra like me and actually make our DIY Mustache Tattoo Halloween Party Favors. They’re such a fun way to hand out tattoos. Plus, it’s so easy because I actually made a free printable that says, “I (mustache) you to have a Happy Halloween”), so all you have to do is tape the mustache tattoos down.
Halloween Hide N Seek Busy Bags
When we were little kids, my aunts would always make us a special Halloween gift with a full-sized candy bar and a few small toys. So, I make sure to have special bags like that for the kids in our neighborhood who we know really well.
If you do something similar, then adding a cute Halloween Hide N Seek Busy Bag is a good idea. It has a tag on the side that shows all of the objects that are hidden within the Frankenstein fabric. This is something kids can play with long after Halloween is over.
Playmobil Halloween Figurines
Playmobil has such high quality toys for kids, which I love giving out as gifts. So I was excited to see some cute Halloween Playmobil figurines.
These aren’t something you’re going to give out to every single trick or treater, just maybe your nieces and nephews and your own kids. You can pick up either a vampire or a witch (or both). Your kids will have so much fun adding them to their Playmobil playsets all year long.
Mini Play-Doh
Play-Doh is like the slime of the ’80s. Parents may not want it in their house, but kids love it. So hand out the Play-Doh. It’s not a big deal. Honestly, it’s fine.
You can purchase Halloween-branded packs of mini Play-Doh all over. You’ll get a variety of colors in the pack and can let the kids choose their favorite color.
Pokémon Cards
Pokémon is still so popular among kids (and adult too, honestly). So I love that Pokémon has packs of Halloween-specific trick or treat cards.
If you’re a collector, you’ll be happy to know that the packs are actually filled with exclusive Halloween-stamped game cards, which have an exclusive Pikachu pumpkin head stamp on them. So they’re definitely ones you’re gonna want to add to your (or your kids’) collection.
Vampire Teeth
When I was a kid, we were so excited any time we got vampire teeth or wax lips in our treat bags. We would put them in and then go “fool” our parents into thinking those were our real lips and our real teeth.
Wax lips are pretty expensive unless you’re buying them in bulk, but vampire teeth are super budget-friendly. Plus, any that you have leftover can be used to make Vampire Doughnuts for next year’s Halloween parties.
Halloween Coloring Books And Crayons
Kids love coloring, so they’ll be super excited to see you giving out Halloween Coloring Books And Crayons.
These are so easy for you too. When you buy them in bulk, you actually get a mini coloring book and a small pack of crayons that are packaged together. So, when you get a trick or treater at your door, you can just grab the small package and put it in their Halloween bag. You don’t have to worry about finding the coloring book and then finding the crayon pack or forgetting to give one or the other to the kids.
Halloween Books
So, this one again might be one that you reserve for just the kids you know well or your own child, but a Halloween book is a really great treat. The kids can read it all year long, or just break it out next year during Halloween season. We have a great list of the Best Halloween Books For Kids to help you choose.
Quick side note, but, I usually give books for every holiday to our nieces and nephews. I’m a big fan of that. So, when Walgreens has free bookmarks, I’ll print those out and then put them in with the books that I give the older kids for their birthdays or Christmas that year. I make really funny ones (usually with Pete’s face on them) and they’re always a huge hit.
Purchase Non-Candy Halloween Treats Online:
If you want to pick up some non-food treats, like the Halloween Wood Craft Kits above, but just don’t have the time to run out to the store and shop, you can easily buy them online at the following stores below:
Be sure to double check a store’s minimum cart total to qualify for free shipping. Also, consider instore or curbside pickup to avoid shipping charges.
Which of these Non-Candy Halloween Treat Ideas is your favorite to give out? Let us know in the comments.