Switch Witch: What to Do With Leftover Halloween Candy

It’s November 1st, and we’ve made it through the whirlwind of Halloween. Costumes are in the laundry (unless your toddler also insisted on wearing theirs again today), the carved pumpkins are going to compost, and the skeleton decorations are getting packed back into storage. Also, if your family is anything like mine, your kids came home with pounds of Halloween candy from trick-or-treating, class parties, and spooky parades. And likely some of us overbought estimating for more trick-or-treaters than stopped by our doors and are wondering what to do with the leftover Halloween candy.

We all know that having that much sugar lying around isn’t ideal for kids—or parents like me who are easily tempted by a sweet treat. So if you’re wondering what to do with the extra Halloween candy, there’s one new Halloween tradition making the rounds on social media—the Switch Witch. Here’s what to know about the trend, as well as 10 other creative ways to use or repurpose that extra Halloween candy without overdosing on sugar!

The Switch Witch is a Halloween tradition great for toddlers, young kids, and kids with allergies who still want to participate in trick-or-treating.

Kids put their buckets or bags of candy outside their home—or at a chosen location indoors. Then they wait for the Switch Witch to arrive. At some point, the “Switch Witch” (i.e. a parent, grandparent, neighbor, or friend) swaps the candy for another type of treat like a small toy, book, or other non-candy goodie. Kids still get to participate in trick-or-treating on Halloween, but get a different kind of treat from the Switch Witch.

Parents have been sharing their Switch Witch traditions on social media, like dad Brett Green (@dadgotbars). In his video, Grandma is the Switch Witch and his daughter looks delighted!

Switch witch is a great way to ensure your kid doesnt eat all of their Halloween candy immediately after trick or treating. 10/10 recommend

Official letters from the Switch Witch make it easy for parents to create a little extra post-Halloween magic. Here are some of the cutest Switch Witch printables.

A quick search will turn up tons of recipes to incorporate Halloween candy, from Monster cookies to brownies to candy bar bark. Additionally, you can add M&Ms to a homemade trail mix recipe to enjoy alongside healthier snacks like pretzels, nuts, and cereal.

Choose their least-favorite candy picks (I’m looking at you Smarties and mystery candies) to create glued works of art on cardboard or construction paper.

If your family counts down to Christmas with an Advent Calendar or creates a countdown to the holidays or winter break calendar every year, consider DIY’ing your own with a piece or two of candy for each day.

Use the extra Halloween candy stash as décor for gingerbread houses! Sweet Tarts, MilkDuds, Nerds, M&Ms, Twizzlers, candy corn, and mini candy bars make fantastic decorations. Keep them stored in a bag to reemerge come December.

Set up a “candy bank” where kids can “cash in” pieces of candy. Maybe one candy bar gets them stickers or extra screen time. While multiple pieces of candy will earn them bigger experiences like a trip to the movies or the museum. It’s part learning experience, part fun!

A lot of chocolate-based candy freezes well. Toss it in a freezer bag, label it, and save it for any number of uses later in the year. You could use the extra Halloween candy for holiday baking, ice cream toppings (chop up candy before you freeze it!), or to have an emergency chocolate stash.

Wondering where to donate extra Halloween candy? Many local organizations welcome wrapped candy donations:

Before I had kids, I loved when the parents in the office brought in their excess Halloween candy to share with our team. Child-free adults like candy too!

Being thoughtful about Halloween candy consumption can also be an opportunity to talk to kids about why moderation is important for our health. Kids can pick which candies they’d like to keep and which they’d like to give away, swap, share, or repurpose using one of these ideas above! Hopefully, these ideas spark a little creativity, make that extra Halloween candy feel a little more manageable, and maybe even inspire some fun new traditions in your family!

A mom of two, Kathy is passionately committed to sharing the honest, helpful—and often humorous—stories of motherhood, as she navigates her own everyday adventures of work, marriage, and parenting. She honed her creative and strategic skills at advertising agencies in Detroit and Chicago, before pivoting from marketing to editorial. Now instead of telling brand stories, she’s sharing her own, with articles published across popular parenting sites—including hundreds of stories on The Everymom.