Lovely childcare

Ghosts and pumpkins too! A collection of bento box ideas perfect for Halloween

10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminderkepiko
Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked for 10 years as a kindergarten teacher and for 7 years as an after-school childcare instructor, then took a post as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I also engaged in activities that shared Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational play, working with many children. Afterwards, through freelance writing, planning, and editing work at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and conveying ideas. Leveraging the perspective cultivated in educational settings and my experience as an editor, I aim to deliver practical information—focusing on fields related to music and children—that values both input and output. Hobbies include instruments, singing, handcrafts, toys, drawing, traditional play, the outdoors, books, DIY, and crafts. Special skill: spinning-top tricks.
lighterutatane
A person from the melodic hardcore boom generation who loves music, photography, and eating. I’ve been going to live houses for over 20 years. I’m at the age where summer festivals are starting to feel tough physically. I sometimes try shooting live photos and videos for MVs. I’m not great at English, so I often listen to straightforward Japanese rock that hits directly, but if someone recommends something, I’ll listen to anything—Western or Japanese—broadly and casually. I like cooking while listening to music; it’s a nice way to relieve stress.

How about making a bento that’s perfect for Halloween?A bento featuring Halloween-only motifs like pumpkins, ghosts, and black cats will put both kids and adults in a festive mood the moment they open it.With a little creativity, familiar ingredients like nori, cheese, and sausages can be transformed into a wonderful Halloween bento!If you brainstorm ideas together with the kids as you make it, the time spent making the bento will become a special memory, too.Here, we’ll introduce Halloween bento ideas that are cute to look at and easy to make.

Ghosts and pumpkins, too! A collection of recommended bento lunch ideas for Halloween (11–20)

Ghost Cheese Meatballs

[Halloween] 5 Cute Side Dishes for Halloween!

Ghost Cheese Meatballs

Round, easy-to-eat, and delicious meatballs transform into spooky ghosts! Just place a slice of cheese on warm meatballs and use sesame seeds or nori to make the ghosts’ eyes and mouths—done! You don’t have to make the meatballs from scratch; ones you only need to pan-fry or microwave are perfectly fine and super convenient.

The key is to add the cheese while the meatballs are still hot.

Let the heat from the meatballs melt the cheese slightly so it molds to their shape.

Add the eyes, mouth, and cheese right when they start to soften a little.

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Lollipop-style candy side dish

[Bento Side Dish] Bite-sized and easy to eat ♪ How to make cute lollipop candy-style side dishes [obento]

Lollipop-style candy side dish

A lollipop-style candy here means a swirl lollipop.

Let’s pack some cute candy-style sides in your bento! First, use a peeler to slice fish sausage thinly.

Cut sliced cheese to the same width as the fish sausage.

Arrange the cheese on top of the fish sausage.

Warm it lightly in the microwave, and when the cheese is slightly melted, roll it up tightly and let it cool.

Shape cut ham into a bow and secure the center with a toothpick—when you stick the toothpick into the “candy,” it looks extra cute.

Give it a try!

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Franken Onigiri

[Bento Side Dishes] Easy and Cute: 8 Bento Side Dishes Perfect for Halloween — Great for Kindergarten Lunches Too! [obento]

Franken Onigiri

Kids would probably love a Frankenstein this cute.

You might wonder how to make the Frankenstein rice ball with a distinctive green face and a scar on the cheek, but there’s a seasoning called “Deco-Furi” that you can mix into rice to add different colors—why not try using that? It’s sold in small single-use packets, even at 100-yen shops.

Decorate the hair and eyes with nori, and you’re done! If pumpkins and ghosts feel like something’s missing, invite Frankenstein to join the party too!

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Real-looking finger sausage bento

[Harassment Bento] The final Halloween bento is a “real finger” sausage bento.

Real-looking finger sausage bento

It’s a truly horror-themed bento: you eagerly pop open the lid, stomach growling with anticipation, and there inside… a blood-soaked finger! The concept went viral from a blog and was even made into a film titled “Today’s Harassment Bento,” sparking a boom in so-called “harassment bentos,” a kind of character bento—so isn’t this exactly that? But the contents are all popular bento staples: omelet rice pilaf, spaghetti with meat sauce, and sausages.

The finger’s wrinkled cuts and the red paprika “nails” look very realistic, but it’s sure to taste delicious!

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Gyoza Skin Ghost

[Bento Side Dishes] Easy and Cute: 8 Bento Side Dishes Perfect for Halloween — Great for Kindergarten Lunches Too! [obento]

Gyoza Skin Ghost

Even if you’re not good at making character bento, this one is easy and highly recommended—it’s a little ghost made with gyoza wrappers.

Cut a single wrapper into a comma-shaped magatama piece.

On the base wrapper, place cheese and a piece of nori cut to a similar shape, then top it with another wrapper in which you’ve punched out eye and mouth holes using a straw.

Moisten the edges to seal well, and toast for about 3 minutes—done! You can fill the inside with whatever you like, which makes for lots of variations.

Just be careful not to burn it in the toaster.

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Monster Castle Wiener Bento

Halloween Castle Bento Recipe: How to Make a Cute and Easy Halloween Castle Character Bento

Monster Castle Wiener Bento

It’s a bento inspired by a Halloween castle where monsters and witches might live—cute and delicious while still giving off a spooky Halloween vibe.

The night sky is represented with nori, and the castle is made by slicing sausages and arranging them on top of rice.

The flag-like “HALLOWEEN” logo made from nori, cheese, and alphabet pasta is a nice touch, too.

Add pumpkin-shaped carrot cutouts and little skulls made from quail eggs, and you’ve got a bento that really brings the Halloween spirit to life!

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Ghosts and pumpkins too! A collection of recommended bento ideas for Halloween (21–30)

Halloween bento of Chiikawa and Usagi

Dressed in a pumpkin costume with long rabbit ears, this Chiikawa bunny bento is an adorable Halloween lunch that will make yours stand out.

Sprinkle soy-based soup seasoning (mentsuyu) over the rice and mix, then shape the face, body, and rabbit ears in a balanced way.

Once arranged in the lunch box, place a tamagoyaki with slits cut at the edges over it to form the pumpkin hat and the body’s costume.

Fix the rabbit ears in place with toasted pasta, and add three-dimensional detail by decorating with snap peas and ham.

It’s ready to serve!

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