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Our kids love to Trick or Treat. They love going to the little Trunk or Treat’s at their school and church and they can’t wait to walk around our neighborhood for the real deal. 🙂 However, when they come home with pillowcases full of candy, my teeth hurt just looking at it! Thanks to Firefly® for partnering with me today to share these fun alternatives and keep our children’s teeth healthy.
A bag of candy along side cups of fruit on a table with text above it.

Today I wanted to give you advice on how to keep your children’s teeth and bodies healthier. I’m not saying to toss it all, but don’t let them go crazy and eat as much as they want.

 

Hands holding candy with more candy on the table.

One thing I let our kids do, every year, is buy a new toothbrush the day before Halloween. I started this because we were talking about how so much candy is bad for their teeth and can cause cavities. Our 6-year-old, at the time, said “We need a good toothbrush to get rid of the candy. We should get a new one, right mom?” I was going for something like “We shouldn’t eat as much candy” but I loved how his little mind found a solution instead of having to give up the candy. Hahaha!!

That afternoon, we went to the grocery store and they picked out new (fun) toothbrushes.

Here we are, five years later, and still doing the same thing. This year the kids all picked out their toothbrushes a week early, because we had some Trunk or Treats that were happening sooner. They each grabbed a Firefly® toothbrush, because they have bright colors, flashing lights and popular characters such as Hello Kitty, Star Wars, My Little Pony, among others. They wanted Anti-Cavity Fun Pump Rinse, too. 🙂 We picked ours up at Walmart, but you can find them at Target, Walgreens and Kroger, too, among others.

A variety of unopened tooth brushes and rinse sitting on a table.

I was happy that they picked Firefly because as a leader in children’s oral care solutions, they not only clean teeth, but they help minimize mess. The Ready Go toothbrushes have suction cups on the bottom, so they stand-up on the counter top. Even the Anti-Cavity Fun Pump Rinse features a no-mess pump, correct dosage cup and storage within the base of the bottle. Our kids love that they can do it themselves and I love that it fights cavities, strengthens tooth enamel & is sugar free & alcohol-free.

A hand pumping Anti cavity rinse into a small cup.

Firefly® helps turn brush time into playtime with bright colors, flashing lights and popular characters such as Hello Kitty, Star Wars, My Little Pony, Spider-Man, Finding Dory and others. You can see our choices in the picture above.

NOTE→> On Firefly’s Facebook page from noon on Oct. 31 until noon on Nov. 1, the brand is picking 13 winners every hour to win Firefly goodies that’ll help scare away cavities.

My favorite part? It times the toothbrushing for your kids! Take the Star Wars toothbrush, for example: with the press of a button, the lightsaber sounds and flashing lights will turn on for one minute so little ones know just how long to brush each row of teeth (one minute for each row of teeth).

A boy brushing his teeth.
Beau loves it because of the real movie character voices. I like it because the cap keeps the toothbrush clean and germ free (he likes that it looks like a lightsaber when the cap is on).

A boy holding a light saber themed tooth brush.

It also lights up when he is brushing, to let him know how long he needs to brush. We both love that feature. It’s perfect because they know that when the light goes off, they need to switch rows. When it goes off again, they can stop brushing and move onto the rinse.

The My Little Pony toothbrush does the same thing:
A little girl brushing her teeth.

Now that their teeth are clean, they still need to think about ALL of that candy. Here’s how we handle it…

The first day: Go crazy. We let them each have a few pieces. Ok, Ok… we ALL have a few pieces.
The second day: One piece of candy after each meal.
Third day:
When our kids were little, we did a Halloween Fairy: Let your kids pick their 10 favorite candies and then leave the rest in their bucket. That night the Halloween Fairy comes to take the candy and replaces it with a small toy or book for each child. The Halloween Fairy takes this candy to all the little girls and boys that didn’t have the chance to get candy this year. The kids love it! The kids still get to join in on the fun of trick or treating and eating SOME candy. It’s a great way to teach kids about sharing, moderation and even making choices.
Now that they are older: We either do a “trade-in” event at a place like Earth Fare or our dentist, or we ship candy to our troops, or we send it into the school for their treat-jar.

Now onto the swap this for that cart, so you can really get a sense of what you are eating and what you COULD be eating instead.

 

I hope that was helpful! Be sure to brush well & rinse often! 🙂 Teaching your kids a few simple rules now will benefit them (and their teeth) for a lifetime.

 

Happy snacking!

Candy Amount Calories Same as 
Bazooka gum 1 pc 15 2 cups iceberg lettuce
Dubble bubble 1 pc 15 3 raisins or craisins
Hershey kisses, almond 1 pc 23 1/2 cup green beans
Jolly Ranchers 1 pc 23 3 cups baby spinach
Dum-dum pops 1 pop 25 3 medium dill pickes
Smarties 1 roll 25 1 cup asparagus
Hershey kisses 1 pc 26 2/3 cup broccoli florets
Whoppers minis (tube) 1 tube 30 2 tbsp black olives
Sweet tarts (chewy or not) 1 pack 32 1 cup cherry tomatoes
Milky Way bite-size 1 pc 38 15 goldfish crackers
Starburst fun pack 1 pack 40 2 cups raw eggplant
Twizzlers fun pack 1 pack 40 1/4 cup chex mix
Dove promises, minis 1 pc 42 1 cup sliced red pepper
Hershey mini bars (mixed) 1 bar 42 1/2 medium grapefruit
Snickers bite-size (squares) 1 pc 42 1 plum
Reeses mini cups 1 pc 44 1 medium kiwi fruit
Blow Pop 1 pop 50 1 light string cheese
Hot Tamales fun pack 1 pack 50 5 stalks celery
Junior Mints fun pack 1 pack 50 1.5 cups zucchini
Mike n Ike 1 pack 50 1 cup strawberries
Nerds, mini box 1 box 50 1.5 cups yellow squash
Twix (snack size) 1 bar 50 1 medium cucumber
LifeSavers Gummies 1 pack 52 2 tangerines
Milk Duds 4 pcs 52 1 cup sugar snap peas
York peppermint patties 1 fun size 53 1 cup chopped carrots
Raisinettes fun pack (yes, people still give these out. much to my older sister’s dismay) 1 pack 56 1/2 cup sweet peas
Tootsie pops 1 pop 60 1/3 cup edamame
Three Musketeers (fun size) 1 bar 64 1/8 cup trail mix
Hershey bar, fun size 1 bar 67 1/2 medium sweet potato
Candy corn 11 pcs 70 1/2 cup black beans
Kit Kat minis 1 pack 70 1 cup blueberries
M&M snack pack (pretzel) 1 pack 72 1/2 medium potato
Fall candy corn mix 11 pcs 74 3 tbsp hummus
Tootsie rolls 3 pcs 76 2/3 cup soy milk
Almond Joy fun size 1 bar 80 1 medium apple
Milky Way fun size 1 bar 80 1/2 cup seedless grapes
Skittles fun size 1 pack 80 2 servings lite tofu
Mounds, snack size 1 bar 83 1 stick string cheese
Baby Ruth fun size 1 bar 85 12 “quakes” mini rice cakes
Butterfinger bite-size 1 bar 85 78 pumpkin seeds
Snickers fun size (bar) 1 bar 85 2 pretzel rods
M&M snack pack (plain) 1 pack 88 12 almonds
M&M snack pack (pb) 1 pack 90 5 dried apricots
M&M snack pack (peanut) 1 pack 93 1 medium ear of corn
Lemonheads 1 oz 100 1 banana
Whoppers fun pack 1 pack 100 1/8 cup walnut pieces
Pixie stix, regular size 1 stix 110 1/3 medium avocado

 

Hi there!

I’m Becky, a former elementary school teacher turned certified child development therapist and blogger. I work at home with my husband and together we are raising (and partially homeschooling) our four children in the Carolinas. I love diet coke, ice cream, and spending time with my family.

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