Post by Lunches + Littles

These days, Halloween parties aren’t just for adults. Kids of all ages can dress up, gather with friends and have fun. Think: simple DIY games, painting pumpkins, and dancing to the Monster Mash! For food, the adults and kids alike, can also enjoy a festive Halloween feast that is all sorts of spooky, edible fun! And… The best part? – Parents can pull together a Toddler (or Kid’s) Halloween Party spread without it being too dreadful to plan! Our easy, and dare I say, spooktacular Toddler Halloween Party Menu and simple instructions for each item in the lineup, is below!

Mummy Dogs

What you need: 

• Hot dogs
• Crescent roll dough (we used @pillsbury brand)
• Googly eyes
• Honey

How to make them: Unroll crescent roll dough and cut it into strips of varying sizes. Wrap hot dogs with strips until the dog is mostly covered. Line “mummies” on foil-wrapped pan and bake at 375 degrees for approximately 15 minutes or until “mummies” are lightly browned! Once slightly cooled, attach eyes using a drop of honey on the back of each one. Serve warm with a side of ketchup or mustard for dipping, if desired.

Bowls of Zombie Brains (Macaroni & Cheese with Broccoli)

What you need:

• Macaroni and cheese (we used @annieshomegrown Organic Classic Macaroni and Cheese)
• Fresh broccoli (1 head of broccoli per 1 box of macaroni)

How to make it: Prepare macaroni and cheese as detailed on package. While macaroni is cooking, steam chopped broccoli. Once steamed, run under cool water, then shake off as much excess water as possible. Using a food processor or blender, fine chop/blend the broccoli until it reaches a very fine consistency. Once macaroni and cheese is fully cooked, scoop broccoli into the same pot as the macaroni. Stir until broccoli and macaroni are well blended. Add salt and pepper to taste. Fresh grated parmesan cheese and a few eyeballs were a couple of fun optional extras for this side!

Oreo Spiders

What you need:

• Oreo cookies
• Pretzel sticks
• Candy for eyes (we used mint @mmschocolate)
• Icing or honey

How to make them: Cut pretzel sticks in half with kitchen scissors. Push pretzel sticks into the cookies; 4 half sticks per side, for legs. Using a drop of icing or honey attach two small candies per cookie for eyes.

 

Dipped and Decorated Caramel Apples

What you need:

• Medium-sized apples
• Caramel and or chocolate for dipping
• Various toppings

How to make them: Prepare/melt caramel and/or chocolate. Dip apples into melted caramel/chocolate and let excess drip off. Once coated immediately top with various toppings (we used sprinkles, chopped almonds and nonpareils). Let dipped apples set in refrigerator for approximately 1 hour before serving. (For some of our youngest guests, we cut additional apples into thin slices, and dipped and decorate those, as seen below).

String Cheese Witch Brooms

What you need:

• Mozzarella cheese sticks (we used @horizonorganic brand)
• Pretzel sticks
• Chives

How to make them: Cut string cheese into 2” strips. Insert a pretzel stick into one end of the string cheese. Carefully pull or cut the bottom half of the string cheese into little strips. Tie on a chive as seen in photos to finish.

 

The Ooze (Punch)

What you need:

• 1 large bottle of green sports drink OR a large bottle of Hawaiian Punch Green Berry Punch
• 3 cups lemon lime soda
• 1 cup orange juice
• A few scoops of sherbet ice cream

How to make it:Prepare green sports drink as directed on package. Then, combine sports drink or Hawaiian Punch, soda and orange juice in a large punch bowl and stir. Add sherbet prior to serving. We also added in some ice cubes that had frozen plastic spiders in them. Spooky!

This Toddler Halloween Party spread is hauntingly simple. The Oreo Spiders, Dipped and Decorated Caramel Apples, and String Cheese Witch Brooms can even be made a day ahead of time! For added variety, we also sliced up some strawberries and bananas and served them alongside some blueberries on a spooky fruit platter, as seen above. And, we used some of our extra melted chocolate and extra apple toppings to transform plain Oreos into festive, chocolate-dipped treats, and even a few little spooky monsters (all you need is Oreos, melted chocolate, candy shred and the same googly eyes used for the mummy dogs)!

Your guests will get all wrapped up with their mummy-inspired hot dogs, and other fun food! … Just beware! All the little goblins will want seconds so make sure you make enough! Happy Halloween!

Special thanks to The Land of Nod for supplying the fun Halloween decorations and plates & utensils!

Lunches + Littles focuses on quick, healthy and fun meal options for little ones. One of the goals of Lunches + Littles is to share practical tips and tricks on how to make meals fun, all the while keeping things simple. A lover of colorful plates, and an advocate for getting kids in the kitchen, Lunches + Littles is also a great resource for parents of picky eaters, parents looking for healthy family and toddler recipes and those mamas (dads too!) who are short on time. A mantra of sorts: Making meals fun doesn’t have to be hard! With 3 little ones (3 and under) it can’t be! Follow @lunchesandlittles for all of the above… And more!