Teal Pumpkin Project

Have you heard of the Teal Pumpkin Project?  I hadn't until my sister posted about it on Facebook the other day.  She is a first grade teacher, so she is more aware of these things than I am.  According to their website, the Teal Pumpkin Project is designed to promote safety, inclusion, and respect of individuals managing food allergies.  FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) is encouraging people to raise awareness of food allergies by providing non-food treats for trick-or-treaters.  This will help make Halloween a little less scary for children with food allergies, and help keep Halloween a fun, positive experience for all.

FARE encourages people to paint a pumpkin teal, which is the color of allergy awareness, to put in front of their house along with a free printable indicating you have non-food treats available.  You can find the free printable HERE.

I love this idea!  I know several children with food allergies and can't imagine what it's like to trick-or-treat and then worry about whether you can eat the candy or not.  I loved going trick-or-treating as a kid, and can't imagine what it would have been like to not enjoy that experience.  I think providing non-food treats will help kids with food allergies enjoy Halloween a little more.  You could find many different things from dollar stores or the Target dollar section.  Here is what my sister purchased for trick-or-treaters:

I plan on heading to Target and/or the dollar store this week to get my non-food treats.  Please feel free to share any of this information on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. to help raise awareness!