Also keep the guidelines from your state in mind as you purchase or make treats for your child’s classroom from Halloween all the way to Valentine’s Day:

* Check with the classroom teacher and the school first about foods that should not be brought into school. Some children have extreme allergies, such as to peanuts, and can react to minimum contact like touching a door handle that had been previously touched by someone handling something with nuts. Any food can cause an allergic reaction, but milk, soy, eggs, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish allergies are some of the most common. If purchasing a snack, read the ingredients list carefully, and double check it against the allergy list provided by the school.

* When preparing the foods – or shopping at the grocery store – make certain the foods you’ll be taking to the classroom don’t come in contact with foods that are barred from the school. This includes washing pots, pans and utensils thoroughly before blending ingredients when baking at home.

* If your child has been diagnosed with a food allergy, consider making special treats he can enjoy without worrying about the snacks containing the foods he’s allergic to. Also develop an allergy action plan with your child’s doctor, teacher and the school nurse.  A free asthma/allergy action card is available from AAFA on the State Honor Roll website, which helps you outline what foods to avoid, what medications to keep (an epinephrine auto-injector is the best first-line emergency treatment), what to do in case of emergencies, who to contact and more. The AAFA site also has many other pages of free information and tips about food allergies.

As the holiday parties start up this season, encourage your children to have fun, but also be mindful that some foods can cause their classmates to have serious reactions. And keep food allergies at the top of your thoughts when you’re asked to bring treats for a classroom party. It will help make the celebration much more fun – especially when the child with the allergy doesn’t have to worry about the foods she’s eating.