Easter Time: Ban the Bunny, Skip the Sugar Shock (Candies Galore) & Bring On Fun Toys Instead

With Easter around the corner, here's an article I wrote to help adults make this holiday a safer, healthier one for their children.

Easter: Ban the Bunny, Skip Sugar Shock (Candies Galore) & Bring on Fun Toys Instead

By Connie Bennett, C.H.H.C.

It's time for the sweet Easter bunny with the cute cotton tail to hop around, proferring colorful candies galore to non-suspecting kiddies around the nation, who will undoubtedly gorge on these sweets in obscene quantities.

It's sugar shock time. And that spells danger galore!

Parents, did you know that all those jelly beans, marshmallow treats and pastel-colored candies could turn your children into "Sugar Brats" or "Sugrats"?

In other words, when your kids overload on sugar on a holiday such as Easter (or any other day), they could become cranky, irritable, quarrelsome, spacey, depressed, hyperactive, rowdy, raging and even tantrum throwing?

And did you know that, over time, your sugar-overloading kids could develop obesity, hypoglycemia, insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes?

So this Easter Sunday (which, incidentally is the second biggest candy-eating holiday, falling just behind Halloween), don't become an unsavory, health-ignoring "Sugar Pusher."

Skip the nutrient-lacking sweets. Ditch the dangerous "treats" that could lead to type 2 diabetes and more.

Instead, honor your children's moods, health and waistlines. Let them hunt for fun, non-edible treats instead.

Here are 70 non-edible ideas, most of them low priced, which you can place in your children's Easter baskets. They're sure to bring a smile on your children's faces -- and they won't hurl your young ones into sugar shock.

1. Tiny frisbees

2. Slinky® or Slinky, Jr.

3. Small bottle of bubbles

4. Bunny-themed finger puppets

5. Movie passes

6. Video rental coupons

7. Jump rope

8. Kazoos

9. Whistles

10. Play-Doh®

11. Silly Puddy® (or pastel-colored puddy in an egg-shaped container)

12. Baseball cards or other trading cards

13. Tiny, stuffed, squeaking chick

14. Small stuffed bunny

15. Action figures (Indians, cowboys or your kids’ favorite characters)

16. Pedometers

17. Marbles

18. Balloons

19. Plastic rings

20. Plastic bracelets

21. Small notebooks

22. Lip gloss

23. Sample perfume

24. Fun bookmarks

25. Colored crayons

26. Colored pencils

27. Colored chalk

28. Magic markers

29. Colorful erasers

30. Playing cards (See the Nick Jr. ones with Dora, The Explorer or other characters.)

31. Small tube of hand lotion (available in 99 cents section of some stores)

32. Dice

33. Squeeze balls or other balls

34. Toy cars or planes

35. Game of jacks

36. Hair scrunchies

37. Hair clips

38. Packet of flower or vegetable seeds

39. Decorative shoelaces

40. Small water pistols

41. Temporary tattoos

42. Yo-yos

43. Foreign coins

44. Stickers and Stencils

45. Novelty key chains (such as key chains that light up)

46. Fun-shaped magnets

47. Paperback book

48. Tiny gift books

49. Small bike lights

50. Friendship bracelets

51.  Fun coupons that you create. You could, for instance, special “promised gifts”  for a trip to the zoo, movies or mall; a morning of sleeping in; a day of not having to clean the room; or maybe even a night or day in which your child can come home an hour later than usual.

52. Mini Tape 4-pack (Scotch Tape(®)

53. Toothbrush with a cartoon character on top (This is your chance to spoof the way Easter is now celebrated with candies that could rot your teeth!)

54. Small coloring books

55. Plastic snakes, dinosaurs, fish and other creatures

56. Collapsible cup

57. Puzzles

58. Bean bags

59. Glow-in-the-dark insects, balls, earrings

60. Bendable toys

61.  Bath bubbles (small packet)

62. Play sunglasses

63. Floating bath toys

64. Lighted spin tops

65. Game of paddle ball

66. Pen with bunny ears

67. Plastic watches

68. Magic Grow™ Grow Capsules (which turn into shapes)

69. Wacky Water™ Snake

70. Notes To-Go pocket game

If you'd still like to put some food in your children’s Easter baskets, you can select healthy treats such as:

1. Baby carrots (After all, bunnies like to nibble on them.)

2. Small apples

3. Almonds

4. Sunflower seeds

5. Pistachios

6. Pumpkin seeds

7. Soy nuts

8. Raisins

9. Colored hard-boiled eggs

Parents, if you're unsure about bumping blood-sugar bouncing candies entirely from your kids’ Easter baskets, then at least introduce non-edible alternatives this year and phase out candies next year or the year afterwards.

Don't you feel like a more loving, caring and forward-thinking parent by planning Easter fun that won't trigger obesity, hypoglycemia or type 2 diabetes?

Here's wishing you and your kids a more fun, healthier Easter than ever before.

Connie Bennett is a former sugar addict and author of SUGAR SHOCK! (Berkley Books), with Stephen Sinatra, M.D. Kicking sugar and refined carbs 10 years ago (in 1998) banished her brain fog, headaches and heart palpitations and gave her more energy, enthusiasm and and zest for life. Connie is now a Sugar-Liberation Expert, who helps thousands to break free of their debilitating sugar habits. She is host of the Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio Show (on BlogTalkRadio.com); founder of the SUGAR SHOCK! Blog, the free KickSugar group; and the Stop SUGAR SHOCK!  Diet™. Connie is a certified holistic health counselor and an experienced journalist, who has contributed to eDiets.com, The Los Angeles Times, and many more media outlets. To find out if you've been brainwashed to become a sugar addict, take the fun, simple SUGAR SHOCK! Quiz at www.SugarShockBlog.com. © Copyright, 2008, Connie Bennett, www.SugarShockBlog.com

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