Afraid you’ll be dealing with an excess of Halloween treats until long after Valentine’s Day? Here are some ideas for enjoying the evening’s haul responsibly and getting rid of leftover candy:

• Let each child keep enough candy to have one or two pieces a day for one or two weeks ‒ long enough for the excitement to wane. Throw away, donate or repurpose the rest.
• When your child asks for a piece of candy, pair it with a healthy snack: an apple, a banana, some nuts or celery with peanut butter.
• “Buy back” candy from your child with money or tokens they can trade in for a fun activity: a day at the zoo, an afternoon playing at the park, ice skating or a day at the pool.
• Some dentists’ offices have buy-back or trade-in programs, too.
• Save it for holiday baking.
• Save it to fill the piñata at the next birthday celebration or give out with Valentine cards.
• Use it in an arts and crafts project or to decorate a holiday gingerbread house.

Have no fear – you got this! Let’s make Halloween fun, spooky and a little healthier, too.

Ideas f0r places to donate candy:

Donate excess candy to a homeless shelter, children’s hospital or care package program for troops overseas. A familiar sweet treat from home can be comforting at the holidays.

There’s an organization called Soldiers’ Angeles Treats for Troops that will take what you don’t want and send it to military members, VA hospitals and military units worldwide. To find a site where you can donate your candy, click here. It is too late to become a collection site, but next year you can register and choose where the candy will go on the Treats for Troops website.

You can also make up candy bags that can be sent to the Treats for Troops organization which will then be sent to deployed military, VA hospitals or other military facilities. For more information on that program, click here.

If donations aren’t your thing, and you would rather get creative, then head to the kitchen and start stashing the candy away for later dates!

How to store the different types of candy & sweets your little ones get on Halloween:

Virginia Tech looked into it and found that most commercial candies are safe for months after Halloween.

Virginia Technew.vt/…23halloween candy expert states the shelf life depends on the type of candy:

• Dark chocolate – one to two years if wrapped in foil and stored in a cool, dark, dry place, such as a pantry or basement.
• Milk and white chocolate – 8 to 10 months.
• Hard candy – up to a year when stored at room temperature or a cool, dry location.
• Jellied candy – 6 to 8 months if opened, but away from light and heat, keeping it at 70 degrees or so; 12 months if not opened.
• Candy corn – 3 to 6 months if opened; 9 months if unopened.
• Gum – 6-9 months if sealed. To maximize freshness, keep chewing gum packages in a cool, dry place and out of any direct sunlight.
• Caramel – 6 to 9 months if stored covered and away from heat and light, keeping it at room temperature. Could last up to 12 months in some cases.
• Homemade Halloween sweets, though, are best enjoyed shortly after concocted in the kitchen, such as caramel- or candy-coated apples, crispy rice treats, fudge, and more.

“For items that are fully cooked to their crunchy and sticky best, these usually last at room temperature for anywhere from four to seven days,” food science assistant professor Alexis Hamilton said. “Coated apples are a risk if partially eaten and not kept in the fridge. These can be safely enjoyed for up to four days after partially eating them and storing in a refrigerator. If you want to enjoy a candy apple on a stick, consider waiting to insert the stick until right before you intend to eat them or (if making in advance), store them in the refrigerator. Of course, these storage recommendations are only a factor if these aren’t gobbled up before they even make it to a container.”