The Healthy Halloween pilot program has launched in 28 New York City high schools (+ 7 others nationally) where students, teachers and local artists are producing artistic projects to be displayed at the Tompkins Scare Park Halloween Festival on Saturday, October 27th.

Healthy Halloween includes creative projects and a new vision for trick or treating. In these 35 schools students, teachers and community members are collaborating on Halloween themed arts projects. Healthy and educational product companies are creating Trick or Treat Trail Stations that will offer a variety of goodies to educate children and their parents on other options for Halloween treats.

Healthy Halloween is intended to grow throughout the US and overseas as other countries adopt the holiday. Helping parents fight the scourge of childhood diabetes and obesity, Healthy Halloween demonstrates how this wonderful holiday can be rethought to help children and adults develop their creative skills and substitute healthier treats and artistic/educational gifts for processed sugar candies.

Healthy Halloween envisions a future where kids collect healthful treats, educational toys and art instead of sugar candy, where parents go online to locate other community members participating in the Healthy Halloween trick-or-treat trail, and where people decorate their homes as fun and interactive photo/video backdrops to give memories instead of products.