Our school district still allows sweet treats for school parties, but a healthy snack is also required. Not surprisingly, the healthy snack is often ignored by the kids in favor of the sugary treats. So Katherine and I decided to make some healthy fruit Halloween snacks the kids would want to eat. But we also needed to make sure the snacks could survive the trip home from school in a backpack, would be easy to send into school or to a party ahead of time, and could be made free of the top eight allergens.
Katherine and I scoured the Internet for inspiration, and found so many fun Halloween food ideas online (Here are some!). But most of them are not portable. For example, I love the popular banana ghosts and clementine pumpkins snack idea made with Enjoy Life chocolate chips, but it needs to be served and eaten right away before the fruit turns brown and dries out. Apple monsters pose the same problem.
All seven of the Halloween snacks we came up with are fruit-based, prepackaged–either in wrappers or in their natural skins, portable, and can be made ahead of time. In addition to being served at parties, these healthy fruit Halloween snacks can also be packed in lunch boxes for a fun surprise.
Supplies for Making These Fruit Halloween Snacks
Kids can help with almost every aspect of decorating these virtuous treats. Just be sure they’re wearing old clothes and are working on a protected surface before you let them loose with the permanent markers. I also recommend using craft glue instead of hot glue. That way heat won’t damage the fruit, the plastic packaging, or children’s fingers!
Here are the simple craft supplies we used to make these healthy fruit Halloween snacks:
- Googly Eyes (various sizes, if desired) – We have a large supply of various colors and sizes of googly eyes, but we went with all black ones for these crafts.
- Black Sharpie -There are other permanent markers, but Sharpies are my favorite. I carry them everywhere.
- Craft Glue – Aleene’s Orginal Tacky Glue is my favorite and has been for years. It’s non-toxic and doesn’t contain latex, gluten, or any of the top eight allergens.
- Gauze Bandage Roll – I wasn’t able to find narrow gauze, so I cut gauze similar to this in half lengthwise for the Mummy Apples. Be sure to use plain gauze and not gauze tape that will stick to the apples.
- White Stretch Athletic Tape – This stretchy tape adheres to itself, making it a quick and easy cover for Mummy Applesauce Pouches.
7 Healthy Fruit Halloween Snacks
All of these fun, adorable snacks are vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free, and allergy-friendly. They’re even suitable for grain-free and paleo households.
Jack o’ Lantern Clementines
These fruits might be our favorite of the bunch. So easy and so cute! Simply draw jack o’ lantern faces on clementines with a Sharpie. The clementines do need to be at room temperature for the marker to adhere. Let the ink dry and serve.
Minion Bananas
Minions aren’t really Halloween characters, but they’re yellow and they love bananas, so Minion Bananas seems like a perfect fit for a festive healthy snack. On the top third of each banana, draw Minion hair, goggles, and a mouth. Glue one or two googly eyes on the goggles. Let dry and serve.
Jack o’ Lantern Mandarin Orange Cups
Draw jack o’ lantern faces on the tops of mandarin oranges cups packed in fruit juice. We used Aldi Lunch Buddies Mandarin Oranges in 100% Fruit Juice from Concentrate. Serve with spoons.
Minion Unsweetened Applesauce Cups
I originally saw these Minions made from pudding cups, but we used unsweetened applesauce cups instead. Turn the applesauce cups upside down. Draw hair on the bottoms of the cups and goggles and mouths on the sides. Glue googly eyes on the goggles. Let the glue dry and serve with spoons. We used Aldi SimplyNature No Sugar Added Granny Smith Applesauce cups, which are available seasonally. Aldi Lunch Buddies Unsweetened Applesauce cups are available year round and would work well, too.
Mummy Unsweetened Applesauce Pouches
Wrap each unsweetened applesauce pouch in white stretch athletic tape. The tape adheres to itself so no glue is needed to fasten the tape. Glue googly eyes to the front of the pouches. Let the glue dry and serve. We used Aldi SimplyNature Unsweetened Apple Squeezable Fruit Blend.
Frankenstein Applesauce Cups
This recipe was originally made with green gelatin cups, but we used Mott’s Pear Applesauce instead. This applesauce is free of the top eight allergens, but it does contain corn syrup. If you are dealing with a corn allergy or need corn syrup-free, you can use Mott’s Unsweetened Granny Smith Applesauce – it just has a lighter green hue. Turn the applesauce cups upside down. Draw Frankenstein hair, eyes, mouth, and a scar on one side of the cups. Serve with spoons.
Mummy Apples
I saw mummy apples that were made by removing sections of the apple peel and then adding candy eyes. So cute but not long lasting. I liked this variation better. As I mentioned above, the rolled gauze we used was 2-inches thick, so I cut it in half lengthwise before using. After washing and drying the apples, wrap each apple in a 1-inch wide strip of gauze that’s approximately two-feet long, depending on the size of the apple. Tuck the ends of the gauze in. Glue two googly eyes on the front of the gauze. Let dry and serve, making sure children remove the gauze before eating.
6 Comments
I am so in love with these ideas. I am definitely not the artsy type, but even I could potentially make these things look cute. Ha! My kids would LOVE finding these in their lunch or snack….or even for after school treats. LOVE!
Trust me, they are not difficult! My kids have had such fun taking these in their lunches–and it looks so funny to see these little faces peering at you from inside your lunchbox or the fridge.
Oh goodness I absolutely love these ideas! The dietitian in me is screaming yes yes yes!!!
Haha, thank you so much, Liz!
Jack-o- Lantern Cuties have been a favorite for my youngest to give out until last year when a few kids weren’t very nice. She still wants to do them this year though. I’m going to show her these other ideas just in case!
Aw, I hate that kids were unkind about her snack idea! For what it’s worth, my kids have been taking these in their lunches, and the mummy apples have gotten the best responses from their lunch tables.