Inside: Making healthy choices is fun with this spooky Halloween bento lunch for kids! Sponsored by Nestlé® Pure Life® .
Halloween Bento Lunch for Kids
Halloween is more than just a day — it’s a season!
The girls and I love decorating for the occasion and cooking Halloween-themed recipes during the entire month of October.
I created this Halloween Bento Lunch as a surprise for my oldest laughter, who brings a lunch to school every day.
Not only is this Halloween-themed lunch fun to look at, kids will love to eat it too! There’s protein, fruit, veggies, and of course a spooky treat! Plus, there’s an extra-special Halloween surprise from Nestlé® Pure Life®.
Halloween Themed Kids Lunchbox Supplies
- 2 slices bread
- 2 tablespoons sunflower seed butter
- 1 tangerine, peeled
- 1/2 stalk celery, chopped
- 1 single-serving cup of chocolate pudding
- 1 chocolate sandwich cookie, crumbled
- 2-3 gummy worms or Wonka Sluggles
- 1 tablespoon raspberry or strawberry jelly
- 2 edible eyeballs
- 1 Nestlé® Pure Life® limited edition Halloween water bottle
Mummy Sandwich
Use a large circle cookie cutter or other round object to cut out the middle of two slices of bread.
Cut one circle into 5 strips, setting aside one strip with your other bread scraps.
Tip: We save our bread scraps to make bread pudding or pumpkin French toast sticks!
Spread 1-2 Tablespoons of sunflower seed butter on the circular piece of bread.
Arrange the remaining 4 bread strips on top of the sunflower seed butter, allowing a little bit to peek through.
Use a small dollop of sunflower seed butter to attach edible eyeballs to the top of your mummy sandwich.
As a finishing touch, we added a tablespoon of raspberry jelly to the small middle compartment of our bento lunchbox for dipping the sandwich.
Tangerine “Pumpkin”
Peel a small tangerine and chop 1/2 stalk of celery into small slices about 1/4″ thick.
Line one lunchbox compartment with celery slices, keeping one slice aside.
Use this one remaining celery slice as your pumpkin “stalk,” pushing one end of the celery into the middle of the tangerine.
Creepy-Crawly Dirt Pudding
Fill one bento compartment with chocolate pudding and top with a crumbled chocolate sandwich cookie.
Tuck gummy worms into the pudding — or try Wonka Sluggles, which are assorted creepy-crawly gummies.
Related: Check out this easy recipe to make our stand-alone Halloween Dirt Cups too!
NESTLÉ® PURE LIFE® Limited Edition Halloween Water Bottles
The 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that both adults and children primarily consume zero-calories drinks, especially water. However, according to a 2017 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), almost one-third of US children consume two or more sugary drinks every day.
Even more worrisome, another recent study found that about 25 percent of kids report not drinking any water on two consecutive days!
Replacing just one sugar sweetened beverage with water each day for a year can cut more than 65 cups of sugar from one’s diet — that’s a lot of sugar!
Simple switches make a big difference, but it’s often a choice that children won’t think to make on their own.
A 2015 survey conducted by Nestlé® Pure Life® shows just how important it is for parents to model and encourage positive choices. The study showed that kids who drink 4 or more glasses of water every day are more likely to make healthy habits a permanent part of their life, including:
- Getting their own water when thirsty
- Eating fruits and vegetables at meal times without reminders
- Requesting healthy food and beverage options for school lunches
How do you encourage your kids to make healthy choices? Share in the comments below!
Follow Nestlé® Pure Life® on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more tips on making healthy choices for your family plus holiday ideas and recipes!
More fun lunch ideas for kids:
- Mini Ham Star Sandwiches
- Zoo Themed Lunch for Kids
- Healthy Soccer Themed Kids Lunch
- Gluten Free Cornbread Lunchbox Muffins
Grab a free printable copy of this Halloween Bento recipe:
Halloween Bento Lunch
Ingredients
- 2 slices bread
- 2 tablespoons sunflower seed butter
- 1 tangerine peeled
- 1/2 stalk celery chopped
- 1/2 cup chocolate pudding
- 1 chocolate sandwich cookie crumbled
- 2-3 gummy worms or Wonka Sluggles
- 1 tablespoon raspberry or strawberry jelly
- 2 edible eyeballs
- Nestlé® Pure Life® limited edition Halloween water bottles
Instructions
Mummy Sandwich:
- Use a large circle cookie cutter or other round object to cut out the middle of two slices of bread.
- Cut one circle into 5 strips, setting aside one strip with your other bread scraps. (We save our bread scraps to make bread pudding or pumpkin French toast sticks!)
- Spread 1-2 Tablespoons of sunflower seed butter on the circular piece of bread.
- Arrange the remaining 4 bread strips on top of the sunflower seed butter, allowing a little bit to peek through.
- Use a small dollop of sunflower seed butter to attach edible eyeballs to the top of your mummy sandwich.
- As a finishing touch, we added a tablespoon of raspberry jelly to the small middle compartment of our bento lunchbox for dipping the sandwich.
Tangerine Pumpkin:
- Peel a small tangerine and chop 1/2 stalk of celery into small slices about 1/4" thick.
- Line one lunchbox compartment with celery slices, keeping one slice aside.
- Use this one remaining celery slice as your pumpkin "stalk," pushing one end of the celery into the indentation in the tangerine.
Creepy-Crawly Dirt Pudding:
- Fill one bento compartment with chocolate pudding and top with a crumbled chocolate sandwich cookie.
- Tuck gummy worms into the pudding, or try Wonka Sluggles, which are assorted creepy-crawly gummies.
Notes
Nutrition
Sources:
1 Kenney EL, et al. Prevalence of Inadequate Hydration Among US Children and Disparities by Gender and Race/Ethnicity: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2009-2012. Am J Public Health. 2015 Aug;105(8):e113-8.
2 Stookey JD. What is the cell hydration status of healthy children in the USA? Preliminary data on urine osmolality and water intake. Public Health Nutr. 2012 Nov;15(11):2148-56.
3 Drewnowski A, et al. Water and beverage consumption among children age 4-13y in the United States: analyses of 2005–2010 NHANES data Nutr J. 2013; 12: 85.
4 http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nestle-pure-life-kicks-off-the-ripple-effect-movement-to-encourage-healthy-hydration-habits-among-kids-300143584.html
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Nestlé® Pure Life®. The opinions and text are all mine.
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