Gosh, it seems like the school year is just flying by. I’m about 5 weeks in, and it’s already almost October! That means Halloween is coming up. The holiday is a little bit scary for people with allergies, but I personally love Halloween. It seems like there are more and more things to accommodate people who have food allergies too, such as the Teal Pumpkin Project and the Switch Witch. In my next few posts, I will be talking about these things, as well as other peanut free things I do for Halloween, to give everyone an idea of how to make their holiday season safe.
The first movement that I would like to talk about is one that gained momentum relatively recently. The Teal Pumpkin Project. The Teal Pumpkin Project was originally an awareness campaign run by the Food Allergy Awareness Community of East Tennessee, but launched as a national campaign by FARE in 2014. Last year, there were Teal Pumpkin houses in all 50 states and a total of 14 different countries, and the movement is still gaining momentum.
Essentially, the Teal Pumpkin Project is a movement to have non-food items as an option to all Trick-or-Treating children with food allergies. By putting a teal pumpkin by your house, you are advertising to children that non-food items are given. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t also give away food items to children without allergies, but it is recommended that it is done safely and separately.
There are many non-food treats that are just perfect to give out to children with food allergies. The FARE website suggests glow sticks, stickers, necklaces, bracelets, bouncy balls, Halloween erasers, etc. Of course you don’t even have to go to the store to get that stuff. Simply by going to FARE’s website, you can order a food free “Halloween Essentials” kit, filled with fun toys to pass out during Halloween.
Another great source for inexpensive non-food treats is The Oriental Trading Company.
It isn’t that hard to do that little bit extra for kids with food allergies. This Halloween, make sure to think of the Teal Pumpkin Project when you are ordering your treats. Then go online and register your home as a Teal Pumpkin house. You could make a little kid’s day! I would have been so excited when I was little if the Teal Pumpkin Project had been around.
Here are a few links to help you get started.
This is the link to the Oriental Trading company, which is a great place to get all sorts of fun Halloween toys.
http://www.orientaltrading.com/
For those of you who don’t want to paint a pumpkin teal, here are a bunch of printable flyers, posters, and more advertising your house’s teal pumpkin status.
http://www.foodallergy.org/teal-pumpkin-project/download#.V97yNFsrLrc
Here is the website where you can register as an official Teal Pumpkin house.
http://www.foodallergy.org/teal-pumpkin-project/fever-map#.V9711FsrLrc
Finally, this is the website where you can purchase a Halloween Essentials package, full of safe toys.
http://store.foodallergy.org/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=TP6EK
Until next time!
Gary