Zach is a vampire this year, Zachula. My name not his. It's going to be easy for Zach to trick or treat. He doesn't have any food allergies. He might not like the taste of a surprise coconut candy bar, but it won't cause an allergic reaction.
But there are a lot of kids with allergies. Nuts, gluten and dairy are the hardest to deal with on Halloween. Some adults joke about all the kids with special dietary needs. It minimizes the problem. No, these kids are not just being picky. They have real health problems that need to be taken seriously. Enter the Teal Pumpkin Project.
http://www.foodallergy.org/teal-pumpkin-project/about
It was started last year. All they ask is for people to have non-candy items to offer trick or treaters. If you can, place a teal pumpkin outside to let parents and kids know you have non-candy items for the kids.
Here are some ideas:
Stickers
Pencils
Tiny play doh (Target and Kohl's have packs with a bunch of goody bag sized play doh)
Erasers
Generally anything non-candy that you can put in a birthday party goody bag. Actually, a lot of people do that already. Long before this project started. When the child obesity epidemic became newsworthy, a lot of people started offering non-candy treats.
I remember one year a little girl's grandma came to the door. She told us her granddaughter has a lot of allergies. She gave us a pre-wrapped bag to offer the little girl when she came to trick or treat. Child, mom, and grandma were thrilled to hear we had non-candy options.
A parent should never have to do that. It is reasonable to ask for something non-candy to be an option at each house. As this catches on, kids like that girl will know which houses to go to and which houses not to.
I saw some fake teal pumpkins at Target. It's also as easy as painting a real pumpkin with teal paint. It's fun for kids and adults. No pumpkin. Here's a clip art sign. Print it out and hang it on your door.
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