Halloween: Healthy Snacks for Kids

An important part of being healthy is being safe! During COVID, if a gathering has unpackaged, self-serve food and drink options, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends precautions such as ensuring diners wear masks when serving themselves, limiting bare-hand contact with serving utensils, or assigning someone to monitor self-serve stations.

Treats for class parties

For in-person class parties, the safest bet would be to offer individually wrapped treats. These festive snacks are easy to package, transport, and share.

• Granola bar mummies

  Drizzle melted white chocolate on granola bars like mummy wrap, add candy googly eyes, then package in cellophane bags once the chocolate sets. Get the recipe on food blog Fork and Beans, including recipes for healthy no-bake granola bars and vegan googly eyes.

• Apple sauce monsters

  Disguise applesauce cups as Frankenstein and Dracula by dressing them up with googly eyes and construction paper. Get the recipe and free templates from Dallas mom blog The Nerd’s Wife.

• Jack-o’-lantern oranges

  Using a black food coloring marker, turn mandarin oranges into little Jack-o’-lanterns by drawing triangle eyes and toothy smiles on the peels. See Armelle Blog’s Halloween Playdate post for inspiration.

Treats for at-home parties and playdates

Create fun and tasty food displays with these snacks — your kids won’t even notice they’re not eating candy!

• Yogurt banana ghost pops

  Dip banana halves on sticks into vanilla Greek yogurt, add two chocolate chips for eyes, and freeze on a parchment lined sheet pan for two hours. Get the recipe on MidgetMomma.com.

• Witches’ broomsticks

  Make lengthwise cuts into string cheese for the bottom of the broom; insert a pretzel into the uncut side as the broom handle, then bind the top of the cheese with a piece of chive. Visit Mom Foodie blog for the recipe.

• Spiders on a log

  Spread peanut butter on celery stalks, place raisins or chocolate chips on your “log,” then squeeze melted chocolate out of a piping bag to make legs. See how it’s done at onmykidsplate.com.

• Haunted pizza

  Spread pizza sauce on whole wheat dough or English muffins. Cut ghosts from a block of reduced fat or skim mozzarella cheese using a ghost-shaped cookie cutter. Add olive pieces for eyes, then bake. Visit everydayhealth.com for the recipe.

• Spider sandwiches

  Turn a PB&J or turkey and cheese sandwich into a spider by cutting circles into the sandwich using a cookie cutter. Insert four pretzel sticks into opposite sides, then use peanut butter to secure chocolate chips as eyes on top of the sandwich. Go to activekids.com for inspiration.

Have your cake and eat it, too, with these better-for-you recipes.

• Persimmon Jack-o’-lantern cookies

  Trade those pumpkin sugar cookies in for this sweet, nutritious alternative! JoAnne Saito, mother, grandmother, and former dietician, makes persimmon cookies every fall. “Persimmons are very high in vitamin A and C; it’s a good way to get vitamins into a dessert,” Saito told Mom.com. Decorate cookies with Jack-o’-lantern faces using melted chocolate squeezed out of a piping bag. See a classic persimmon cookie recipe on pinchmysalt.com.

• Graveyard ghost cups

  Replace the classic dirt and worms pudding cups with this Greek yogurt-based treat. Gummy worms are swapped for an orange and a banana, which pose as a pumpkin and a tombstone, and Oreo Thins can be used in place of the original Oreos. Get the recipe from Registered Dietician and food blogger, Holly Grainger.

• Pumpkin oat muffins

  For the cupcake lovers, try this fiber-packed muffin topped with a Greek yogurt-based cream cheese frosting. Find the recipes for both at Everydayhealth.com.

Have fun with your kids while preparing these cute and silly treats together.

• Dark chocolate covered apples

  Swap caramel and candy apples for this recipe from mother-daughter food blog Crowded Kitchen. Slice apples into cross-sections or wedges and insert lollipop sticks. Let your kids dip the slices into melted dark chocolate, and decorate with toppings like chopped pistachios, almonds, or coconut. Refrigerate on a parchment paper-lined tray until solid.

• Ghost fruit kabobs

  Stack jumbo marshmallows and your child’s favorite bite-sized fruits on a skewer, then use a black food coloring marker to draw ghostly faces on the marshmallows. Visit design shop onesimpleparty.com for inspiration.

• Halloween fruit bat

  Take two plums — leave one whole for the bat’s body and cut the other into halves. Use a round cookie cutter to shape the plum halves into bat wings, and cut two small triangles from the ends for ears. Attach the ears and wings using toothpicks, insert two candy googly eyes, and use a heart sprinkle, cut in half, for fangs. See how it’s done on kitchenfunwithmy3sons.com.

A note about gathering
As you gather with friends, please honor CDC guidelines. Though capacity limits are not specified, it is the host’s responsibility to ensure that the event space allows guests to remain at least six feet apart when indoors, and that outdoor spaces allow guests to avoid sustained close contact. Wearing masks is also recommended.

Have a happy, healthy, and safe Halloween!