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You are here: Home / Blog / Teal Pumpkin Project Aims to Make Halloween ‘Safer, Happier’

Teal Pumpkin Project Aims to Make Halloween ‘Safer, Happier’

October 12, 2016 By Kelly Youngblood

Raise awareness of food allergies and promote inclusion of all trick-or-treaters throughout the Halloween season by painting a pumpkin teal and placing a sign (like the one below) outside of your home!

By Kelly Youngblood

Halloween is supposed to be a scary time of year, but for families of children with food allergies it can be downright frightening.

That’s why the Teal Pumpkin Project got started three years ago- to raise awareness in communities about food allergies and to encourage people to offer non-food items for trick or treaters.

The Teal Pumpkin Project

To participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project, all you have to do is paint a pumpkin teal (the color of food allergy awareness) and set it outside with one of these free printable signs. Then have a bowl of non-food items ready to hand out to any trick our treater who has a food allergy.

Examples of inexpensive, non-food items include pencils, stickers, erasers, spider rings, vampire teeth, etc. Some non-food items do contain allergens such as wheat (found in Play Dough) or latex. For a more complete list of non-food items that are safe to hand out, go to this link.

Amy Jessup of Mahomet is an APN and leads the Carle Food Allergy Education Program. She is also a mom who has had experience managing her son’s peanut allergy. Jessup said being the parent of a child with a food allergy can be anxiety-provoking on a regular day and even more stressful during the holidays.

“The risk of reaction is much higher when you’re out of your norm. When you throw a holiday in there, that’s when you see a lot of accidents happen,” she said.

Jessup says the Teal Pumpkin Project is a visual reminder that “shows families that they’re not so isolated and people are understanding and trying to support them and their efforts to keep their kids safe.”

tpp-sign

Jessup said about 1 in 13 children have a food allergy.

The Teal Pumpkin Project is not intended to replace the tradition of handing out Halloween candy- it’s just a way to make trick or treating more inclusive for all children. To make the experience safer, keep candy and non-food items in separate bowls.

Fore more information about The Teal Pumpkin Project, go to http://www.foodallergy.org/teal-pumpkin-project.

For more information on Blue Pumpkins and tips for making Halloween inclusive for all, see our post.

Filed Under: Blog, Halloween, Health, Holidays Tagged With: Amy Jessup, blue pumpkin, Carle Food Allergy Education Program, food allergies, food allergy awareness, Halloween, Teal Pumpkin Project

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