Halloween quickly became my least favorite holiday after learning about Jimmy’s allergies. My anxiety went into overdrive. How am I going to keep all the candy and sweets away from him while still making sure he felt included?! And that’s just one of the reasons. He’s not even two. How will he know how to articulate that he can’t have (insert anything with dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, wheat, or soy). I mean, he doesn’t even understand he has them yet.
Then I learned about the Teal Pumpkin Project. What a great movement! FARE, the world’s largest private funder of food allergy research, started the campaign. From their website,
“The Teal Pumpkin Project is a simple way to make trick-or-treating safer and more inclusive for the one in 13 children living with food allergies, and many others impacted by intolerances and other conditions. Placing a teal pumpkin on your doorstep signals that, in addition to candy, you offer non-food trinkets and treats that are safe for all trick or treaters.”
This small, simple, effort can truly be the difference between a night where some feel isolated and lonely to one where they can feel included.
I plan on handing out teal bags of non-food treats to give to the houses we will visit on Halloween. This way I know Jimmy can walk up to the door and they will have something for him. I’m also going to leave some bags at my daughter’s school so that other families can learn about the Teal Pumpkin Project and hopefully provide some non-food treats to their trick-or-treaters! I made some templates for labels and flyers that I’m happy to share! I’ll link the labels I bought so it should be pretty simple to just download and print!
Thank you for reading and I hope you will add a teal pumpkin to your doorstep and offer some non-food treats to those that want them. Happy Halloween!
Here is the link to the teal bags.
Here is the link to the labels I put on the bags.
Here are some links to teal pumpkins and other decorations to show you will have non-food treats available!
Teal pumpkin buckets - perfect for keeping non-food treats free of cross-contamination
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