make the kids work for that sweet tooth

it's the day after Halloween, and we have piles of candy. the mommy tax was in full effect last night and i am learning that too much taxation without representation leads to a tummy ache. but while i waited for the sugar crash to dissipate enough to sleep last night, i decided to take up a great activity a friend passed along. her kids came up with the idea of going on an Easter egg hunt with their candy-collecting pumpkin buckets. genius! and since we have a bunch of the little plastic eggs from last Easter (that i could actually find in the garage), i decided to take up the idea for a post-Halloween candy hunt!

make the kids work for those sweets!

1the pint-size nature of Halloween candy lends itself well to this. smaller candies work best, like individual Starbursts, but you'd be surprised what can fit in even the smallest plastic egg. mini candy bars, flavored Tootsie rolls, and smaller sweets taken out of the box -- like Dots and Junior Mints -- fit great too.

2to continue keeping the girls' candy stashes with their respective owners (mommy privileges notwithstanding), i color-coded the hunt. Sweet One's are all in yellow eggs. Little One gets a mix of purple and pink, since i didn't have enough of any one color besides yellow.

3i'm doing this candy hunt in stages as i feel the girls need a distraction (and won't be hurt by a little bit more sugar). for the first round, we're sticking to the kitchen and making the hiding places ones where they'll discover them in the course of daily activities, such as emptying the dishwasher, grabbing a bib or spoon from the drawer, a cup from the cupboard, etc. Little One already found her first egg in her favorite hiding place for the things she pilfers (little klepto).

this is an easy way to slow the rate of consumption with younger kids.

later, with Sweet One – and for any of your older kids out there – you can switch to making the big pile a lesson in decision-making as suggested by A Mom With a Lesson Plan, who also compiles a list of some other ideas for addressing The Pile. candy art, anyone?