Non-candy Halloween Ideas

  There are growing number of children who have food allergies, in addition not all parents want their children to have candy.  For these reasons I am very excited about  having options for trick-or-treaters. The teal pumpkin project by the Food Allergy Research and Education organization helps parents find homes that have a non-candy option for their children with food allergies.

This year our family has decided to join the teal pumpkin project and provide options to those that visit us on Halloween. It cost only $7 at the dollar store and the picture is of some of the things we got. It should be enough for 50 kids.

For those who would also like to provide options but don't know what to get here are some ideas.


Non-Food Ideas
1. stickers (96 per pack)
2. army men (30 per pack)
3. glow sticks (3-7 per pack)
4. bracelets (3-5 per pack)
5. pencils (12 per pack)
6.bouncy balls
7. toy cars
8. rubber ducky
9. spider rings
10. bubbles 
11. yo-yo
12. kazoos
13. playing cards

 Non-Candy Ideas
1. string cheese
2. granola bars
3. rasins
4. dehydrated fruit
5.fruit cups
6. popcorn
7. pretzels

 You may choose to have candy as well as some of these other options. What ever you do, I invite you to join the teal pumpkin project. Also let me know any other ideas you may have.

October Family History Challenge

     Fall is in the air and the leaves are changing color. As a result I have been thinking about family history activities that I can do and the Find a Grave project came to mind.

   Find a grave is an online database that contains records of graves and pictures of the headstones allowing individuals the opportunity to search for the resting places of their ancestors. Also this site is free. The reason that this site is able to provide this information for free is because volunteers go to the cemeteries near them and gather the information to add to the database.

  With this in mind and Halloween as my inspiration I have developed my October Family History Challenge. The challenge is to help Find A Grave by going to the site and finding a cemetery near you that needs to be added. Next take a tip to the cemetery of choice, then spend some time taking pictures and collecting information. When you are ready to upload your information here.

  This last Saturday my family, accompanied by a friend, had the opportunity to gather the information on over 50 graves. We will be uploading all the photos and information during the week. However, we saw something that made us very sad at the cemetery. In the tree line we found a pile of discarded headstones. We don't know why they were there, but we hope they were just old headstones that had been replaced. Regardless we gathered the information that we could and will be adding it as well.

Okay, now your turn! After you have completed your challenge leave a comment and let me know how it went.