{"id":1860,"date":"2012-10-23T09:45:29","date_gmt":"2012-10-23T16:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tisbest.wordpress.com\/?p=550"},"modified":"2023-09-25T12:18:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T19:18:10","slug":"sweet-free-halloween-craft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tisbest.org\/posts\/sweet-free-halloween-craft\/","title":{"rendered":"Benny the Benevolent Bat: A Sweet-Free Halloween Craft"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By Karli Larson<\/strong>, TisBest Charities and Communities Manager<\/em>
\nHalloween can be a tricky time for parents.<\/strong> Although we want our children to enjoy a carefree night of terrorizing the neighborhood, we’re not always thrilled with the buckets of sweets that come home. This is especially difficult for parents who, like me, are not big treat-buyers in general. After an evening of moderated gorging on Halloween night, I whisk away their candy-stuffed bags and slowly ration it out over the next few weeks. This does not please them, but at 8 and 10 years old they’re used to me swooping in and ruining the fun (recently overheard in my kitchen: “Mom, can you hand me that big knife so I can carve my pumpkin? What? NO FAIR!”).
\nThe thing is though, it’s not just the piles of processed sugar and chemicals that bother me on Halloween. I cringe every time a holiday rolls around and well-meaning folks ply my children with armfuls of unnecessary stuff<\/em>. Although we do give and receive gifts on birthdays and Christmas, I always try to impress on them that it’s the time we spend together, and the memories we’ll share, that are important. But despite my best efforts, Halloween has never become anything more to my children than the promise of a sticky, chewy, gooey, chocolatey, sugar-coated bonanza.
\nSo this year, I decided to throw a little something different into the mix.
\nAs the Charities and Communities Manager at TisBest, I witness firsthand every day the creative ways people choose to use our charity gift cards. Inspired by the generous and imaginative uses for TisBest cards, I decided to create a fun Halloween craft that might get my kids to think about something other than sweets this year. Here’s what I came up with.<\/p>\n

Benny the Benevolent Bat, a sweet-free Halloween craft<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Follow along with the steps below to create your own Benny the Benevolent Bat!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\nMaterials needed:<\/strong><\/p>\n