Non-candy treat: Halloween-themed erasers

The Dollar section at Target can be a dangerous place, but Tracy's found a fantastic deal there that keeps a bit of candy out of kids' trick-or-treat bags and is cheaper than candy as well:

You know the Dollar Spot at Target... well, every year during the cycle before Halloween they always carry a 60-pack of Halloween themed erasers for $1.  We pick up a couple packs of these erasers, put 2 in every bag and voila.... a cheap, sugar-free Halloween hand-out alternative.

I found the Halloween eraser set pictured here at my local dollar store. But it contains only 12 erasers...if you can nab 60 for a buck at Target? Great deal!

Related: Another non-candy Halloween alternative: Glow sticks

Comments

[Kate]

We give Books for Treats. You can find information about the program at www.booksfortreats.org.

[kirsten]

last year after halloween I happened upon boxes of halloween 'tattoos'. at like 75% off, they were a steal. we also have several jumbo packs of tiny cans of playdoh that we stocked up on, but my kids no longer like - so it's a non-candy halloween for us, too. sometimes i wish more people did that, esp. as my son has dietary issues, but at the same time it's a bunch of junk.

[Viv]

I love Halloween; it only comes once a ywar, and while I understand wanting to budget, I wouldn't have wanted a couple of cheap erasers when I was a kid trick-or-treating! My kids would honestly rather have an apple--but again, it's only once a year, so I give out candy.

[Me]

I always wondered why the candy from Tracy's house was so chewy...

[Jeri Dansky]

I do Books for Treats, too. This will be my third year.

[Asha Dornfest]

Viv: I hear you -- someone on Twitter said something similar. In my experience, the ratio at the end of the night is 2-3 non-candy items in a full bag of candy. My kids love the novelty of getting silly skull rings or little toys, given that they also get about 10 lbs. of candy.

[Ami]

In my experience, those erasers don't actually work very well, and end up in a landfill quickly. I like to still give treats, but ones that aren't nasty chemicals from China or chocolate that encourages child-slave labor in third world countries. You can usually find bulk packages of single-serve all-natural fruit leathers at the warehouses (right now, Costco has some good ones, and then they even have all natural fruit roll ups with a coupon). Target had 30-packs of single pouch Pirates Booty on sale last week... (Yeah, I know, the single serve wrappers don't do much to solve the landfill problem. Sometimes, I just have to choose my cause/my battles. Sigh.)