Every October my kitchen kind of turns into a Halloween snack factory, and the ones that go over best are the ones my kids can make themselves. Banana ghosts, little clementine pumpkins, Oreo spiders, neon green monster rice krispie treats. Nothing fancy. Most of it doesn’t even need the oven, and a few are actually fruit, which helps me feel less guilty about the pillowcase of candy that shows up on the 31st.
Seems like every parent is planning early this year too. Pinterest searches for “halloween snacks for kids” in the US went up about 500% over the last month and were still climbing around 60% a week at the end of September 2026.
The fruit-ish ones (so it’s not all sugar)
1. Banana ghosts
Cut bananas in half across the middle and stand them up on the flat end. Mini chocolate chips for eyes, a regular chip upside down for a little “ooh” mouth. Make these right before you serve them though, bananas brown fast. A squeeze of orange juice over the top slows it down and tastes nicer than lemon, my kids won’t touch the lemony ones.
2. Clementine pumpkins
Peel a clementine, poke a short bit of celery into the top for a stem. Done. My youngest peels her own and is ridiculously proud of it, and a big bowl of them looks adorable on the table.
3. Apple monster mouths
You cut an apple in wedges and then nick a little triangle out of each piece so it’s like an open mouth, ok? Inside goes a skinny smear of sunflower seed butter (or cream cheese), slivered almonds or sunflower seeds on the edge make the teeth, and a bit of strawberry poking out is the tongue. Kinda gross. My son thinks that’s the best part.
4. Pretzel broomsticks
Cut a cheese stick into thirds, snip one end into fringe with clean kitchen scissors, push a pretzel stick in the other end. If you’ve got chives, tie one around the middle, cute but totally optional.
5. Jack-o’-lantern fruit cups
Let the kids draw faces on clear plastic cups with a black marker (outside only!), then fill them up with orange fruit, mango, cantaloupe, mandarin segments. Mine spend longer on the faces than eating the fruit, but whatever, it keeps them busy.
The sweet ones they’ll want to decorate
6. Monster rice krispie treats
Full recipe below. The one trick is using gel food coloring instead of the liquid kind, you get that crazy bright green without making the marshmallow all wet and runny.
7. Oreo spiders
Push four little pieces of pretzel stick into the cream on each side of an Oreo for legs, dab two dots of frosting on top and stick candy eyes on. Probably the easiest one on this list and the one that disappears first at school parties.
8. Ghost strawberries
These are just strawberries dunked in melted white chocolate. I let the extra drip off, lay them on parchment and pop two mini chocolate chips on for eyes before it hardens, then 15 minutes in the fridge. My daughter calls them strawbooies, don’t ask.
9. Witch hat cookies
Fudge-striped cookies, upside down, a squiggle of orange frosting in the middle, a chocolate kiss pressed on top. Ten seconds a cookie, maybe. The kids made a whole tray of these last year while I was busy cleaning up the krispie treat disaster.
10. Pudding dirt cups
Chocolate pudding and crushed Oreos layered in little cups, extra cookie “dirt” on top, and a couple of gummy worms half buried so they’re wiggling out. If we have them I shove a cookie in as a tombstone. Kids love these way more than they should.
11. Monster popcorn mix
Popcorn, candy corn, some pretzels, a handful of candy eyes, all tossed together with melted green candy melts drizzled on top. Let it harden on a tray then break it into chunks. Older kids only for this one though (more on that below).
12. Mini pumpkin muffins
Mini muffins with a swirl of orange frosting and a pretzel bit stuck in as a stem, super cute and they barely take any time. I just use my pumpkin muffins batter in the mini pan and pull them out at about 12 to 14 minutes.
RECIPE
Monster Rice Krispie Treats
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter plus extra for the pan
- 10 oz mini marshmallows 1 bag, about 6 cups
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 8 to 10 drops green gel food coloring
- 6 cups crisp rice cereal
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips melted
- 32 candy eyeballs assorted sizes
- 2 tbsp purple or orange sprinkles
Method
- Butter a 9 x 13 inch pan, or line it with buttered parchment.
- Melt the butter in a large pot over low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until completely melted and smooth, about 3 minutes.
- Take the pot off the heat and stir in the vanilla, salt and green food coloring until the color is even.
- Add the cereal and fold until every piece is coated.
- Tip into the pan and press down gently with buttered hands or a piece of parchment. Do not pack it hard or the bars turn tough.
- Let set at room temperature for 30 minutes, then cut into 16 squares.
- Pipe or drizzle melted chocolate for mouths and hair, press on candy eyes while the chocolate is still soft, and add sprinkles.
Notes
Private Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!A few tips for the monster treats
Low heat for the marshmallows, low low low. When I rush it on high they go stiff and the bars turn rock hard, like break-a-tooth hard. I take the pot off the burner before stirring in the cereal, and I press it in the pan really gently, because squashing it down is the other way you get bricks.
Melted chocolate goes in a little sandwich bag, I snip the teeniest corner off, and the kids squeeze out mouths and hair. So much easier for them than a spoon, plus way less chocolate everywhere.
If you’re doing a class party
Ask the teacher first what’s ok to bring, honestly. Tons of classrooms are nut-free these days, some want only sealed store-bought things (learned that one with a tray of homemade cupcakes I had to carry back home). No nuts? sunflower seed butter in the apple mouths. Small bites travel best so muffins, Oreo spiders and witch hats are great, no plates. I assemble banana ghosts once I get there and the fruit sits in a cooler till snack time, and I tape a little allergen label on every tray so nobody has to come find me to ask.
Quick safety note for the little ones
Popcorn, marshmallows, whole nuts and hard or sticky candy are all on the American Academy of Pediatrics list of choking hazards for kids under 4. So for toddlers I stick with the banana ghosts, clementine pumpkins and fruit cups, cut small. And after trick-or-treating, the FDA recommends going through the candy before the kids dig in and tossing anything unwrapped or torn. We do it at the kitchen table and it’s become its own little tradition.
More Halloween ideas
Feeding the adults too? My Halloween appetizer ideas have the savory stuff covered, mummy hot dogs, spiderweb dip and so on. And if you want one more sweet thing, homemade iced gems piped in orange and purple are really cute.
Stuff other parents ask me
Any healthy Halloween snacks for kids?
The banana ghosts, the clementine pumpkins, apple mouths, cheese stick brooms and the fruit cups. Basically fruit and cheese dressed up for Halloween.
Which ones can I make the night before?
I do the krispie treats, Oreo spiders, witch hats and dirt cups the night before (just leave the cookie crumbs off the dirt cups till morning). The fruit ones I make on the day.
No oven? What can the kids make?
Oreo spiders, witch hats, clementine pumpkins, dirt cups, ghost strawberries. Zero baking.
My candy eyes keep falling off, help?
A dot of frosting or melted chocolate, stick the eyes on quick before it dries. Works every time for us.
One last tip: put all the bits in little bowls, make a decorating station, and let them go wild. It won’t look like the photos, ours never does, but they get so proud of what they made and they actually eat it.
