When I was a kid, we went trick-or-treating with a pillowcase in tow. Often, we returned home with more candy in that pillowcase than we could possible eat in a year. I personally don’t allow my daughters to have more than one piece of candy per day. That means that two months after Halloween, I end up throwing away the leftover candy. Fortunately, there are a few alternatives parents can utilize to keep from wasting mounds of Halloween candy.

Turn your extra Halloween candy into cash. We have a local orthodontist that buys collected Halloween candy at $2.00 per pound. This is a great way for children to earn a few spending dollars, while being reminded of the damage candy can do to their teeth.

Donate the Halloween candy to charity. Homeless shelters, women’s abuse organizations, and food pantries are all great charities to donate your excess Halloween candy to. Not only will your children be saving their candy from the trash, they will be putting a smile on the face of someone less fortunate than themselves.

Create art with the Halloween candy. Younger children can glue the candy on a paper plate to make a mosaic type craft, while older children can images out of the candy they have. Human skeleton models, plant diagrams, and images of ancient artifacts can all be made out of pieces of unused candy.

If you cannot dispose of your extra candy in any of the above fashions, you can always pass it along to another child. You can even offer it for free to anyone on Freecycle. The candy should never be wasted or tossed out as long as there is someone in the world that can make good use out of it.