Contrary to popular belief, a Halloween party does not need to be loaded with sugar and artificial colouring. The children can have just as much fun with healthy food!
This half term we arranged some fun Halloween themed Cooking Sessions at The Canalside, Bridgwater funded by Somerset Skills and Learning. Healthy Halloween Pizza was on the menu and both adults and children enjoyed making their own dough from freshly milled spelt flour. Everyone got really creative and added lots of colourful fresh ingredients like peppers, olives, pineapples, tomatoes, cheese and herbs to make their perfect pizza! While doing this the families also benefited from learning more about the importance of eating unprocessed natural foods.
We had also a fun packed week at Wilstock Gardens Childcare with lots of cooking, physical activities and harvesting some our home grown foods. The activities were open for children aged 3 to 15. Funding from SASP meant that children on benefit related free school meals could attend for free under the 'Happy Healthy Holiday Playscheme'. The Halloween party on Friday afternoon was the highlight of the week! The children enjoyed making lots of healthy Halloween snacks. Halloween is a really good opportunity to teach the children to try new seasonal foods. We had pumpkin soup, grated beetroot and green juice and lots of different fruit and vegetables. The most popular one was the Sharon Fruit (which looks like a mini pumpkin). Many of the children had never tasted it before and were a bit skeptical but we made them into “halloween shapes” - then even the most fussy child wanted to give it a try!You may think that lots of sweets and treats make a 'Happy Halloween', but this week showed that we can make so many fun, festive and tasty Halloween treats with natural, unprocessed ingredients.
This being said it is important to remember that when trying to make a healthy Halloween party, please make sure not to overload your child with too much fruit and to much juice! Most fruit contains a natural chemical called Salisylates. Consuming more salisylates than the body can break down can give mood swings and temper tantrums. Make sure your Halloween party contains food from all the different food groups, especially healthy fats, to help the children stabilise the blood sugar and mood.
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