Many of you out there have taken your kids off sugar since learning so much more about the health consequences of a sugary diet for children. But as you know, Halloween seems to be all about sugar — candy, candy, and more candy!

Maybe the best way around this is to have a Halloween Party for your kids and their friends so they can dress up, have fun, and avoid all the sugar. Here are some suggestions to make this time of year a sugar-free success!

How about replacing those traditional candy treats with "make and take" arts and crafts sorts of things that provide hands-on real life experiences, encourage imagination and creativity and good memories of good times? Research shows that children today have hundreds more hours of watching people do interesting things on TV than actually doing interesting things themselves. Use this fact to make your party stand out.

Elect to spend time on your party and let the kids help! Don't make everything ahead. Instead, have materials and space ready and let the kids decorate, make refreshments and something to take home and create their own party. Think about what they can do best, have the most fun with and learn the most from doing.

Plan an outdoor activity — If possible, consider a trip to a pumpkin patch or apple orchard, go skating, borrow enough wagons to allow coasting down a (small!) hill, go for a short hike, collect fall leaves. Arrange them between two sheets of wax paper and iron the wax paper "sandwich" with a medium hot iron to seal the leaves in.

Make your own decorations — let the kids crepe paper the house, tie spider webs with bight colored yarn, trace or stamp designs on paper tablecloths using Halloween cookie cutters.

Let the kids help make and serve refreshments. They can mix punch from fruit juices, and serve sugar free cookies and cakes! Take a selection of recipes from the site's recipe area and use food colorings to make appropriate Halloween looks! (The "Sugar" cookie recipe at the site can be decorated to look like the cutest pumpkins!)

They'll feel like a valuable member of the group, have a great time helping and you'll be amazed at their skills and ideas — if someone will just let them use them!

See if you can add an "old-time" activity like a hay ride, apple dunking or playing pin the stem, or nose on a pumpkin or Jack O'Lantern.

Have guests come in costume. Encourage them to make their own and keep it a secret. It encourages creativity, helps develop an eye for possibilities and builds anticipation of the great unveiling.

It may all seem very old-fashioned, but it might well be the Halloween your kids remember for a long time to come. Good luck!