Five Healthy Halloween Snacks For Kids

Don't let all the Halloween festivities be an excuse for allowing your kids to ignore their nutrition. Halloween candies and treats can be disastrous to your child's health, and can even lead to childhood obesity, diabetes and rotten teeth. Instead of having them snack on foods that aren't good for them, Halloween can be the opportune time to serve up some nutritious foods, like fruits and veggies, with a Halloween theme that will entice your kids to eat foods that they would normally ignore on their plate. Here are 5 healthy, Halloween snacks you can whip up for your kids to enjoy:

1. Orange Jack-o'-lanterns

Ever notice how an orange looks similar to a pumpkin? Instead of just carving jack-o'-lanterns for your front porch, create some mini jack-o'-lanterns out of oranges for a fun, Halloween snack for your kids filled with vitamin C.

Ingredients

• Oranges (the larger the better)
• Peaches
• Pears
• Grapes
• Strawberries

Directions

1. Start by cutting the top portion of the oranges, then carefully hollow out the insides of the oranges, while keeping the skin intact.
2. With the hollowed out orange peels, create your own mini jack-o'-lanterns by cutting out eyes and a mouth.
3. Take the meat of the oranges and mix it in a bowl of diced peaches, pears, grapes and strawberries.
4. Pour the mixed fruit back into the mini jack-o'-lanterns and serve.

2. Spooky Dark Chocolate Frozen Bananas

Chocolate-dipped, frozen bananas are a healthy snack that kids seem to love. You can add a Halloween twist to this snack-time favorite by turning the frozen bananas into spooky replicas of ghosts. These treats offer healthy antioxidants, potassium and other nutrients for a great Halloween snack.

Ingredients

• Dark chocolate
• Bananas

Directions

1. Take some peeled bananas and cut them into halves.
2. Pop the banana halves into the freezer for about an hour, or until they feel firm.
3. Melt the dark chocolate in a pot or microwave them in a microwave safe bowl until you are left with a syrup.
4. Using a knife, carve out some spooky eyes and a mouth on the end tips of each of the frozen bananas.
5. With a dropper, extract some of the dark chocolate syrup and squeeze two small drops to fill the eyes.
6. Add a larger drop of dark chocolate to fill the mouth.
7. Dip the bottom of the frozen banana halves in the remained of the dark chocolate to help them stick to the plate so that you can serve them upright.
8. Let the bananas sit in the fridge for a half-hour so the chocolate hardens, then serve.

3. Halloween Jell-O Cutouts

Jell-O cutouts are the perfect way to create low-calorie, sugar-free, edible creations for your kids. A pack of orange flavored Jell-O mix and some Halloween cookie cutters are the only things you need for this fun dish. If you want to boost the nutritional value of this Halloween snack, add some diced fruit to the Jell-O mixture before popping it in the fridge.

Ingredients

• Orange Jell-O mix (the orange is really to match the festive, Halloween color)
• Diced fruit cocktail
• Boiling water

Directions

1. Pour the boiling water into a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the Jell-O mix to the boiling water and stir until the mix has completely dissolved in the water.
3. Pour the mixture into a 13x9-inch pan, then add the diced fruit to the mix.
4. Refrigerate the mixture for three hours, or until the Jell-O is firm.
5. Dip the bottom of the pan in warm water for 15 seconds to loosen the gelatin.
6. With the Halloween cookie cutters, cut out decorative shapes and serve to your kids.

4. Egg Eyeballs

Hardboiled eggs are a great afterschool snack to serve your kids. During Halloween, you can add a festive twist by turning the eggs into creepy eyeballs. This healthy Halloween snack offers your kids the benefits of omega 3, iron, vitamin A and vitamin D.

Ingredients

• Eggs
• Black olives

Directions

1. Place the eggs in a large pot and fill it with water till the eggs are completely submerged.
2. Put the pot on the stove and heat it until the water comes to a boil.
3. Set the stove heat to LOW after the water has begun to boil, and allow it to simmer for several minutes.
4. Let the eggs sit in the pot for 15 minutes, then remove them from the pot and douse them with cold water.
5. Peel the shells from the hardboiled eggs and slice them vertically down the center.
6. Take a half of a black olive and plunge it into the yolk of each halved egg to create an eyeball.
7. Allow the eggs eyeballs to chill in the refrigerator before serving.

 5. One-eyed Carrot Critters

Your kids might not enjoy their vegetables, but maybe you can convince them to eat these tiny, one-eyed, carrot critters for their next snack. All it takes is a few carrots, some pitted, black olives and some Greek yogurt.
Ingredients

• Carrots
• Black olives (pitted)
• Greek yogurt

Directions

1. Cut the carrots into thick, cylindrical chunks.
2. Spread a dollop of Greek yogurt on the top portion of each carrot piece.
3. Plunge a pitted, black olive into the Greek yogurt for the eyeball to complete the critter and serve.