Easter has many different meanings to different people. For children, the holiday is often defined by the eating of lots of jelly beans, speckled eggs, and chocolate bunnies.
Inevitably, the day after Easter you’re left with an oversized bag of more candy than you ideally want your child to eat between now and next Easter.
While your child is thrilled with his bounty, you’re left wondering how to deal with it in a way that doesn’t result in tears or disappointment.
Here are four ways to create a happy ending for everyone.
1. Let Them Eat It: One option is to just keep it in perspective, realize this is a special occasion, and let them happily eat it as they wish. If you feel like there’s just way too much candy for you to be comfortable with this option, rethink how you do things next year.
Plan an Easter that includes an amount of candy you’re comfortable with. Supplement with other non-candy items you can use as gifts or even include in the plastic eggs for an Easter egg hunt.
Allowing your child to eat his candy can be a way of giving and teaching him about responsibility. Set rules about the time of day it can be eaten to help establish good eating habits, remind him that when it’s gone, it’s gone, and let him decide whether his candy will last a day or a month.
Some kids will eat way too much in a day and learn a lesson, some kids will eat their favorites in the first few days after Easter and then lose interest in the rest.
Either way, use this Easter to plan for how much candy you’ll make available to them next Easter.
2. Encourage Selling Some Candy: This is a common option during Halloween, and can also be used during Easter.
Maybe you’ve just allowed more than you’re now comfortable with your child eating this year, or maybe your child has participated in a church or community Easter egg hunt(s), making it impossible to control how much candy they end up with.
You can offer to buy a certain portion from them, an appealing option especially to older children. Ask your child to separate what she really loves to eat from the things she can live without and name your price.
You can also set a price per piece and see how that motivates your child.
If she’s a really tough sell, you can require that she part with a certain number of pieces, but remind her of some of the things she’ll be able to buy with the money she gets in return.
The only issue this option leaves is what to do with the candy. You may have to follow some of your own rules about how much you allow yourself to eat!
3. Offer a Mystery Trade: Fill a jar with small pieces of paper that have activities your child enjoys written on them. “Charge” your child, for example, 3 pieces of candy to draw a slip of paper from the jar.
In exchange for the candy, the child gets to do whatever is listed on the paper he draws out.
Make these things that appeal to your child. They don’t have to be big things.
Going to the park, an extra book before bedtime, their choice for dinner that night (within reason of course!), 30 minutes of time with you doing whatever activity they choose, a week off from cleaning the bathroom.
You know what kinds of things will make your child forget about those three pieces of candy.
Oftentimes just the fun of playing this game appeals to them. It’s also a great way to create more opportunities for you to spend special time out of your busy day with your child.
4. Donate to Your Local Food Pantry or Shelter: This can be a great option for your wrapped candy. It can also make your child feel really good if you share with them how it could impact the life of a less fortunate child.
Some food pantries deliver during the holidays, and love to receive items that go beyond the necessities for the children in the families they service.
You may want to call around to your local food pantries and other agencies that provide meals and support to those in need to find one that can really use and appreciate this gesture.
Donating can serve as a great lesson to your child, and can make him feel much better about all that candy than he’ll feel after he eats it!
As with many things, the Easter candy issue is most effectively dealt with by doing a little advance planning and trying not to end up with much more than you’re comfortable with, or at least, by having a plan for what to do with the extras.
Easter is a good reminder that kidspartycharacters.com is more than just your birthday party headquarters. Did you know we also have an bunny costume that makes appearances at Easter time?
Check out our full selection of over 200 characters that can make your special event at any time of the year that much more fun and unique. Whatever the occasion, let kidspartycharacters.com help you take the stress and uncertainty out of planning your next party or event.
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