Fun & Healthy Halloween Treats: 17 Nut-free School Party Ideas that Kids (and Parents!) Will Love
| October 11, 2012 | Posted by Stacy under Healthy classroom treats, Recipes |
With Halloween right around the corner, it’s officially time to start planning those school parties. And I certainly don’t need to tell you that the last thing our little ghosts and goblins need is more oooey-gooey sugary desserts. I’m excited about this list of fun and healthy Halloween treats, and I hope you will be, too! (For those of you who can only bring store-bought food to school functions, you could do the Clementine Jack ‘o Lanterns, Mummy Popcorn Cups, Pumpkin Pie Parfaits and Bat Cheese and Full Moon Crackers–provided you’re allowed to assemble the food at school prior to the party.)
Dark chocolate apples I made these at home on a whim a few weeks ago, and my kids thought they were a great treat. They were really easy to make, too! Look for the smallest apples that you can find (preferably organic). Twist the stems off the apples and stick a popsicle stick in the core of each one. Melt dark chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler. Dip the apples in the chocolate, then place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Place in the refrigerator or freezer briefly until the chocolate sets. As you can see, mine have that imperfect homemade look, but I’m pretty sure the kids didn’t care.
Clementine Jack ‘o Lanterns Use a black permanent marker to draw a Jack ‘o Lantern face on clementines or small tangerines or navel oranges. Alternatively, you could cut out the shapes on a black adhesive craft paper and and stick them on the orange. Either way, you should be sure to wash the orange thoroughly first to remove any oils and residues from the peel.
Mini pumpkin muffins These were a hit at my twins’ preschool party earlier this month. To make them really festive, use a fun Halloween cupcake liner and add a cupcake topper.
Banana Ghosts To make these ghosts healthier, I coated the bananas with organic vanilla Greek yogurt (Oikos) instead of white chocolate. I then tested them on my not-always-so-open-minded boys (ages 6 and 4). The verdict: Two thumbs up! I used about 1 ounce of Greek yogurt for every banana ghost. Be sure to freeze the banana on the stick before applying the yogurt. Another fun option is to roll the yogurt-covered bananas in coconut.
Bat cheese on full moon crackers For this, I used a mini bat cookie cutter (which came in a set of six fun Halloween cutters) to make cheese slices that look like bats. Then, I placed them on Carr’s Whole Wheat Crackers. The cheese was Organic Valley Vermont cheddar.
And 10 more fun and healthy ideas from around the web:
Popcorn mummy cups To make the cup, I just squirted on a little glue then wrapped it white crepe paper and stuck on a couple googly eyes. So easy! Then I filled it with homemade microwave popcorn mixed with a drizzle of olive oil, sea salt, pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries. To keep it even simpler, just stick googly eyes on a bright orange cup.
String cheese witches brooms, spider eggs and more wholesome ideas from Foodlets!
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies Make these kid-sized by using a small– or medium-sized ice cream or cookie scoop (and be sure to reduce the cooking time!).
Fruit kabobs in a pumpkin Paint a funny face on a pumpkin, then use it as a stand for fruit kabobs. The kabobs look like crazy hair!
Pumpkin dip Homemade dip presented in a pumpkin shell and served with crudite, thinly sliced baguette or whole wheat pita chips.
Roasted stuffed pumpkin A sugar pumpkin filled with quinoa, corn, black beans and avocado. Yum!
Graveyard sandwiches Cut sandwiches to look like tombstones or use tombstone cookie cutters. You could use just about any filling: chicken or egg salad, turkey and cheese, or SunButter and jelly.
Green goblin smoothies A fun and super healthy green smoothie made with spinach and frozen fruit.
Pumpkin Pie Parfait Layers of pumpkin puree and vanilla yogurt topped with granola.
Salty bones These fun breadstick “bones” are made with refrigerated breadstick dough—it doesn’t get much easier! You also could make them with homemade dough, of course.
Spooky ghost pizza A pizza with ghost-shaped mozzarella…it doesn’t get much cuter!
Do you have any healthy Halloween treat ideas to share? I’d love to hear them! Leave a comment in the box down below.
I created this blog to raise awareness and start a dialogue about the various issues involved in school food. By writing about it, I hope to provide parents and educators with ideas and inspiration for making healthy changes in their own schools. Since healthy eating habits start at home, I also address common feeding challenges faced by parents.
Thanks so much for including my Pumpkin Whoopie Pies in your roundup! What great company to be in!
You’re so welcome! The Pumpkin Whoopie Pies are such a fun idea. Love your blog!
[…] Banana Ghosts - Cut the banana in half and coat the bananas with organic vanilla Greek yogurt Use about 1 ounce of Greek yogurt for every banana ghost. Be sure to freeze the banana on the stick before applying the yogurt. Add 3 chocolate chips or raisins for the eyes and mouth! […]
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Thanks for your post, I’m using the banana ghosts with yogurt for a preschool snack. They’re cute and healthy!
[…] Healthy Halloween Treats: 15 school party ideas that kids … – Dark chocolate apples, banana ghosts, and other fun and healthy Halloween treats for your child’s school party […]
[…] Healthy Halloween Treats: 15 school party ideas that kids … – Dark chocolate apples, banana ghosts, and other fun and healthy Halloween treats for your child’s school party. School Bites. … and my kids thought they were a great treat. … Healthy Halloween Party Snacks « mysuperfoods October 25, … […]