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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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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).
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:
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 |