With Halloween right around the corner, its time to put out your teal pumpkin! Many Halloween treats contain allergens that aren’t safe for kids with food allergies. While some parents may opt to let their kids “trade in” their candy at the end of the night for safe treats or alternative toys, many neighborhoods have chosen to adopt a more inclusive Halloween strategy: the Teal Pumpkin Project. The Teal Pumpkin Project is a worldwide movement started by FARE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to food allergy research and education. Teal Pumpkin Project was started to promote a safe, more inclusive Halloween for all kids. Hinted at by its name, the teal pumpkin movement encourages all families to put out a teal pumpkin for Halloween, with teal being the national color for food allergy awareness. By doing so, families are pledging to provide a separate, non-food treat bowl for trick-or-treaters. While most kids still enjoy regular candy, kids that may have food allergies, food intolerances, celiac disease, feeding tubes, eosinophilic esophagitis, other conditions, or just a dislike of candy will be appreciative of non-food treats and trinkets. Joining the Teal Pumpkin project is as easy as two simple steps: provide non-food treats for trick-or-treaters and place a teal pumpkin in front of your house to indicate that you offer non-food treats.
Stumped for non-food treat ideas? Try these:
- Glow sticks
- stickers
- whistles or kazoos
- bouncy balls
- Halloween trinkets like plastic spiders and fangs
- bubbles
- mini art supplies
- bookmarks
- small figurines
- necklaces, rings, tiaras, or bracelets
- yo-yos
- small stuffed animals
- pencils and pens
- rubber ducts
- small crafts
- Slinkys
- fidget toys
- plastic sunglasses
For more information on how to get involved in the Teal Pumpkin Project, please visit the source behind this article: https://www.foodallergy.org/our-initiatives/awareness-campaigns/living-teal/teal-pumpkin-project
Food Allergy Allies 