Happy Halloween! I hope that you all had a wonderful Halloween full of trick-or-treating! During Halloween there are tons of tempting treats out there and if you want to see a dance treat, be sure to check out some of the Halloween dances bekiw that I thought were quite amazing! Also, I have provided some recipes for healthy Halloween snacks for your kids and yourself, so that you can have some candy and then some healthy treats, all in moderation right? I hope that you enjoy your Halloween and keep on dancing! You know you're a dancer when your go to costume is dressing up as a dancer or ballerina :) Not going to lie I've done that a few years myself hehehe :) Happy Halloween and have a safe and delicious one!
Of course I had to add in the infamous "Thriller" music video by Michael Jackson! A classic Halloween treat that has proved to be the one of the first videos incorporating dance into music videos, as well as being one of the longest, most expensive, and only music videos at the time to be a movie trailer. This of course created a trend, with many people copying, leading to more frequent dance music videos and of course people learning the "Thriller" dance. In fact, this year for Halloween my dance teacher taught us the shorter 2 and a half minute version of "Thriller" (as the original is an 8min dance). It's amazing to watch them dance in this video and from my brief amount of exposure I learned alot about how to move in a unique way. Also beware that this video may not be appropriate for everyone and view at your own discretion. It may scare younger children or those who become scared of zombies, werewolves, etc. Also if you have religious beliefs against Halloween, I would advise to not watch it! Although if you aren't in the above category then feel free to watch it and enjoy! Be especially aware of Michael's movements in particular when he becomes a werewolf, it's quite spectacular! :)
"Thriller" by Michael Jackson. Source: YouTube (Vevo)
This is one of my favourite scenes from the movie "13 Going on 30" and if you haven't watched the movie you should definitely watch it ASAP. It's a romantic comedy with Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Ashle Benson, and Judy Greer from 2004. With one of the scenes leading the entire cast into the famous "Thriller" dance. Be sure to check it out and see how they did!
"Thriller Dance Scene in 13 Going on 30" Source: Youtube
I remember as a kid watching my favourite TV show at the time "Wizards of Waverly Place" and in particular remembering this dance scene with Selena Gomez, Bridget Mendler, Jake T. Austin, and David Henre. A classic scene where they battle against zombies from the Wizard World to leave their Zombie Prom. A milder version for sure that is perfect for younger children :)
"Zombie Dance Battle" from Wizards of Waverly Place. Source: YouTube
Check out this neat spoof trailer that Lifetime made for the reality TV series, "Dance Moms" called "Halloween Horror", as it prepares for a sixth season in January. A two minute trailer that seems almost as if it was meant for a stand alone movie, be sure to watch it!
"Dance Moms: Halloween Horror (Spoof Trailer)" by Lifetime. Source: YouTube
Check out this neat Halloween dance from the TV show "Dancing with the Stars". It's a neat twist with music from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and more!
"Dancing with the Stars: Halloween Dance". Source: YouTube
List of Healthy Treats for Kids you can give them for their lunches at school and Halloween parties:
1. Banana Ghosts
Ingredients:
-Bananas
-Raisins/Chocolate Chips/Cheerios
-Popsicle Sticks
-Knife
-Yogurt
Step 1: Pick out your desired amount of bananas, keeping in mind that each banana is worth 2 servings.
Step 2: Then peel all of your bananas and use a knife to cut each banana in half. Then put some vanilla yogurt in a bowl and dip half of the side of each raisin/chocolate chip/cheerios into the yogurt.
Step 3: Then put two raisins/chocolate chips/cheerios on each half banana to represent the eyes and 1 for the mouth.
Step 4: Then simply grab out your popsicle sticks and stick it into each half banana from the area you have cut the banana in half, and voila you have your banana ghosts!
2. Orange Pumpkins
Ingredients:
-Mandarins
-Celery Sticks
-Knife
Step 1: Peel all of your desired amount of mandarins and put them aside.
Step 2: Wash your celery stalks. Cut your celery stalks into 4 pieces and then cut each piece into 4 pieces lengthwise, and then each of those pieces in half.
Step 3: Now that you have your celery sticks prepared simply stick a celery stick into each mandarin, put it on a decorative plate, and there you have it, your very own orange pumpkins!
3. Mummy's Toast
Ingredients:
-Bread (white, whole wheat, organic, or whatever you fancy :))
-Cheese Slices
-Tomato Sauce
-Olives
-Toaster oven
-Spoon
Step 1: First cut your cheese slices lengthwise into strips of cheese about 4-6 strips per slice depending on the size of your cheese slices. Then cut your olives in half lengthwise. Then put both the cheese strips and the olives aside for later.
Step 2: Take out your desired amount of slices of bread, then spread your favourite tomato sauce with a spoon onto each slice of bread.
Step 3: Then criss cross your cheese strips in a mummy manner and add on top two slices of cut olives for the eyes. Then simply, put it into the toaster oven for 2.5 min depending on your toaster oven, and voila you have your very own mummy toast!
4. Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients:
-Fresh pumpkin seeds from your Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin
-Your Favourite Spices
-Oil/Butter/Margarine
-Oven
-Pan
Step 1: Take out the seeds that you have separated from your pumpkin into a separate bowl and then use water to rinse out the pumpkin guts from your seeds. Then here you have two options:
Option 1 (Add your spices and directly put them in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, voila pumpkin seeds)
Option 2 (Dehydrate or bake your seeds in the oven at the same previous temperature until they are dry, then add about 2 tablespoons of butter/oil/margarine depending on the quantity of pumpkin seeds, add your seasoning salts and spices, then put htem into a frying pan and saute them on medium high heat until they turn brown, and voila pumpkin seeds :))
5. Caramel Grapes
Ingredients:
-Chopped Nuts (Walnuts, pecans, peanuts, you name it )
-Grapes
-Caramel
-Toothpicks
Step 1: Prepare your caramel in a pot over the stove to a high temperature and once it has slightly cooled then put it into a bowl, to make it easier to dip your grapes into.
Step 2: Wash your grapes and dry them with a paper towel, then dip your grapes into the caramel sauce, and then dip them into a bowl of your chopped nuts, place a toothpick into the top of each grape, and place them onto your plate for serving. Yay! Healthy mini caramel grapes :)
6. Broomstick Cheese String
Ingredients:
-Cheese String
-Pretzel sticks
-Knife
Step 1: Cut your cheese strings in half and then pull them in thick strands to resemble a broom stick but leave a gap of about 1 inch from the top of the broomstick.
Step 2: Stick a pretzel stick into each cheese string, and voila Broomstick cheese strings!
7. Apple Teeth
Ingredients:
-Apples
-Strawberry/ Raspberry Jam
-Sliced Almonds
Step 1: Wash all of your apples. Then core them with either a core cutter or other means. Then cut each apple into quarters and then cut an opening out of each of the quarters large enough to represent a mouth.
Step 2: Then spread your jam on the inside of the apple quarter and add slivered almonds for teeth on the insides, as you would see in your real mouth. And there you go, apple teeth for everyone!
8. Fruit Witch/Fairy Wands
Ingredients:
-Cantaloupe
-Blackberries
-Knife
-Kabob Sticks
Step 1: Wash all of your fruit and cut your cantaloupe into squares.
Step 2: Alternate with blackberries and cantaloupe by sticking them in the kabob sticks, and voila you have fruit witch/fairy wands.
9. Dipped Peanut Butter Apples
Ingredients:
-Peanut Butter
-Chopped Nuts
-Apples
-Kabob Sticks
Step 1: Wash all of your apples. Then drizzle homemade peanut butter/organic peanut butter on top of each apple and sprinkle chopped nuts on top.
Step 2: Break each kabob stick in half and make sure there aren't any slivers of wood. Then insert each stick into each apple and remember to remove the apple stems and voila!
10. Jello Bats and Ghosts
Ingredients:
-Jello Packet
-Cookie Cutters in Halloween Shapes
Step 1: Prepare Jello according to the package, and pour your liquid jello onto a square/rectangular long pan.
Step 2: Using your cookie cutters push them into your jello, pull thme out and voila Jello creations!