BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE

OCTOBER 23, 2022

Halloween can be tricky for young families, with scary amounts of sugar and monsters tapping at the door, but do not fear!

Your under-five’s favourite characters are here to celebrate Halloween the fun way.

Superstars like Bluey, Peter Rabbit and Peppa Pig have their very own Halloween-themed books, and thanks to Penguin Random House, we’re giving one KindiCare reader these 6 spook-tacular titles:

• Bluey: Let’s Get Spooky! magnet book
• Peter Rabbit Tales: Trick or Treat board book
• Peppa Pig: Peppa’s Happy Halloween board book
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Halloween Trick or Trick board book
• Spot’s Spooky Fun board book
• Roald Dahl: Trick or Treat board book

For your chance to win, just tell us in 25 words or less, which trick or treat your child is looking forward to this Halloween.

Send your entry to competitions@kindicare.com by 24 October 2022*.

 Of course, Halloween isn’t complete without something to eat, and if you’re keen to keep things healthy, then some spooky fruit snacks will work a treat.

Here are 5 fruits that can be dressed up for Halloween, then gobbled down by your mini-muncher:

1. Apples

Apples are grrrr-eat for October 31.

You can make them into mummies by peeling off selected bits of skin or wrapping them in crepe paper ‘bandages,’ and if you’re feeling fancy, apple monsters aren’t too tricky.

Just cut a green apple into quarters, chisel out a mouth in each one, smear on some peanut butter, then add a strawberry tongue and some sunflower seed teeth.

Edible eyes complete the look, and if you don’t have sunflower seeds at hand, then almond slivers or yoghurt raisins also cut it as teeth.

2. Mandarins

Mandarins make perfect pumpkins, and the easiest way to transform this juicy fruit into a Jack O’ Lanterns is by drawing a face on the skin with a black marker.

You can also peel your mandarin and poke a celery and parsley stalk into the top.

3. Bananas

It’s easy to draw ghoulish faces on bananas too, or weave your marker magic with spooky spider-webs, but to start Halloween right, why not serve some boo-nana ghost pops for breakfast?

To make this frozen delight, simply slice a banana lengthways, then crossways (while the peel is still on), then freeze the unpeeled fruit for a couple of hours.

Next, dip your fruit pieces into vanilla yoghurt, add raisins (or choc chips) for the eyes and mouth, finish them off in the freezer, then wait for the “Ooooo!” when eaten.   

4. Kiwi fruit.

This fruit’s fuzzy brown skin and bright green flesh is perfect for Halloween, and to make Franken-fruits and mini-mummies, you just need to remove selected areas of skin and add some cute edible faces, like so.

5. Grapes

If you’re happy to throw a couple of marshmallows and choc chips into the Halloween mix, then a bunch of grapes makes a great monster.

Just pour some green grapes into a clear, plastic cup, add two marshmallow eyes with choc-chip pupils, then sprinkle a few more grapes on top.

Draw a funny monster mouth on the cup with your handy black marker, then add a forehead scar and spiky hair for Frankenstein’s style.

And now for some Halloween housekeeping…

Whether you’re serving marshmallow eyeballs, raisin teeth or grape gizzards, it is important to remember that choking is no joke.

Before your young child starts snacking, make sure you cut up any fruit or other pieces that might pose a problem for them.

You can learn more about choking risks and prevention here, and we wish you a healthy and happy Halloween!

*Competition opens on 23 October 2022 and entries close 11:59pm AEST on 24 October 2022. The winner will be chosen based on the most original or creative entry and notified by email within 3 days of judging. The total prize is valued at $84.94. Entry is open to all Australian KindiCare readers, with a limit of one entry per person. This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by Instagram or Facebook.