Allergy-friendly Trick or Treating – What does a Teal Pumpkin mean?

Love it or loathe it, trick or treating has made its way over the Atlantic from the US and is now the Halloween highlight in most kid’s year. It doesn’t take teenagers long to realise that having cute little kids in tow substantially ups their success rate. And for younger kids, a big part of the excitement is being allowed out in the dark with their older siblings and no parents. But how can you be sure that an evening of trick or treating isn’t going to result in a food-related eczema flare up or worse? This is where the Teal Pumpkin Project comes in. 

• Teal coloured pumpkins denote houses with allergy friendly, non-edible trick-or-treating options.
• In the UK there is no national sponsor for the Teal Pumpkin project. Instead they are usually publicised via local social media groups.
• Want to take part? The party bag gift section in your local supermarket or craft store is a good place to start looking for non-edible treats. Noisy toys like party blowers and party poppers give a similar instant gratification to food. Glow sticks are also popular. Be prepared for the kids without allergies to want the noisy toys as well!

What is the Teal Pumpkin Project?

Started in the USA by FARE in 2014, The Teal Pumpkin Project aims to make trick or treating safer for kids with food allergies. By displaying a teal coloured pumpkin outside your house, you are telling local kids that you have non-food treats available for kids with food allergies. 

How can I find my local Teal Pumpkins?

Unlike the USA, there is no national sponsor for the Teal Pumpkin Project in the UK, so finding your local Teal Pumpkins (and publicising your own) is going to be a case of local organisation. Your local Facebook or school WhatsApp groups will be a good place to start. Some areas already have pages set up specifically for local Teal Pumpkins. Food allergies are increasingly common so it’s likely that you’ll be able find plenty of willing participants in your local area.

If your child has allergies, you may want to provide your neighbours with suitable pumpkins. Be sure to provide plenty of non-food treats as policing which treats are taken by hordes of over-excited children can be tricky.

Making a Teal Pumpkin

It really is as simple as painting a regular pumpkin teal. We find that acrylic paint has the best coverage. Give your pumpkin a good wash to get rid of any mud and allow it to dry before you start. If you’re planning on carving your pumpkin, do that first and rinse off your pumpkin before you start painting. 

There are lots of ideas online if you want to get creative. You can also find printable signs here.

What to use a non-food treats

The party bag gift section in your local supermarket or craft store is a good place to start. When we checked earlier this week, our local branch of The Range had a huge variety available. 

Things that can be used immediately like glow sticks, party blowers and party poppers give the same instant gratification of eating edible treats. Noisy toys are always especially popular.

Keeping Halloween safe (and fun)

• To avoid possible mix ups, make sure your child’s bucket is clearly different from those of their friends. There are plenty of teal trick or treat buckets available on Amazon. Make sure you buy a teal one, the blue buckets denoting autism can look similar on a screen. 
• While ‘no eating while trick or treating’ is a great concept in theory, getting over-excited, children to stick to it is unlikely to be 100% successful. Instead think about filling your child’s bucket (or pockets) with allergy friendly treats before they leave the house.
• If your child has been prescribed an epipen, make sure it is both in date and with them when they go out. Ensure someone in the group knows how to use it properly – a responsible teenager will be honoured to be trusted with the task. Any teenager doing DofE will have completed a first aid course recently.