There are plenty of good reasons not to give away candy this Halloween, the largest of which, quite literally, is the growing obesity epidemic in American children. But what should you give to your neighbors, your girlfriend’s hyper brood, or your nieces and nephews?

Here are 5 great non-candy items to give away to the little Princess Leia or Shrek that wind up at your door:

1. RAISINS: Okay, so maybe you avoided the little red Sunmaid boxes like the plague when you were a kid, but at least if you have these in your candy bowl, you won’t be tempted to overeat on Reese’s, right?

2. GOLDFISH CRACKERS:  Who doesn’t love those smiley Goldfish crackers?  You can even get the whole grain variety in single serving bags and feel good about giving these away to the youth of America.

3.  PLAYDOH:  You can easily find little containers of the colorful sculpting clay to handout on Halloween.  Just make sure the really little ones know that it’s to play with and not to eat.

4.  PRETZELS:  Like the Goldfish crackers, it’s getting easier and easier to find single serve bags made for trick-or-treaters.  If there’s any leftover, you’ve got a great addition to your brown bag lunch too.

5.  DOLLAR TREE TOYS:  I don’t know what it is about the cheap plastic rings, stickers, fake tattoos and other trinkets you can get bags of at the Dollar Tree, but kids just love them.  Buy a bag for a buck and throw them in with one of the other non-candy treats for a fun mix.

You may not be known as the Willy Wonka of the neighborhood, but the parents of your neighborhood will thank you when you pass on the candy and pass out these treats instead.  If you get egged, you can blame me.

Pic courtesy of www.mordantorange.com