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 ideas for Halloween (21–30)

Chiikawa Wizard Bento

Let’s spice up Halloween by making a one-of-a-kind cute Chiikawa wizard bento! Put rice in plastic wrap and shape the base for Chiikawa.

For the body and head, prepare nori with small cuts at the edges, wrap it around, and use the plastic wrap to smooth and form the shape from the outside.

Before adding the side dishes, place the Chiikawa base in the lunch box to secure enough space.

For the parts, use toasted spaghetti as the core to attach the arms, legs, and hat—pin them in place so they won’t fall apart.

For the wizard’s wand, use a star-shaped toothpick to decorate it cutely.

For the signature rosy cheeks, use slices of ham to finish it off adorably.

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Hanamaru Ghost

Hanamaru Obake, a Sanrio character, is a cute ghost perfect for Halloween that gives you a flower-mark for your hard work.

Place rice on plastic wrap, add your fillings, then shape it into a triangle to form the body.

Make the ears, hands, and feet with rice and secure them with toasted pasta.

Finally, use imitation crab sticks to create a red “pen” for drawing the flower mark, adjust the shape, and attach the facial features like the eyes and mouth to finish.

Drawing the cheeks with ketchup makes Hanamaru Obake even cuter.

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Hello Kitty character bento

@sn00py0501
Hello Kitty, Halloween versionHalloween bento How-to video #CharacterBento Bento #HALLOWEEN2023 #halloween Simple character bento Hello Kitty Hello Kitty #HelloKittyBento Go viral
♬ Halloween · cute horror song – PeriTune

A super-popular Hello Kitty bento for the Halloween season.

Put rice in plastic wrap and shape the parts separately: the face, ears, and hands.

Attach the ears to the upper left and right of the face and secure them with the wrap so they blend in.

Stick nori (seaweed) with slits cut at the edges onto the Kitty base.

When attaching it, the key is to position the cut-out section so it sits at the center of the face.

Place it in the bento box, add side dishes around it, punch out pumpkin shapes from boiled carrots, attach the hand parts, and it’s done.

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Halloween bento with sausage rice balls

@tomochu15
Halloween bento with sausage rice balls 🎃Halloween bento #CharacterBento #OnigiriBento Seria #halloween #bento
Halloween · cute horror song (191109) – PeriTune

These rice balls are made extra appetizing with aromatic, pan-seared bologna sausage.

Use bologna, which is thicker than regular sausages, and slice it into rounds.

Cut out shapes like pumpkins and ghosts with cookie cutters, then use a straw to punch holes for the eyes and mouth.

The trick is to flatten the straw to make it oval.

Pan-fry the shaped bologna slices.

Stick nori (seaweed) on the back of the bologna, then place it on top of the rice balls.

These easy ghost-themed sausage onigiri are simple to make—give them a try!

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Also great for Halloween! Hachiware bento

https://www.tiktok.com/@momokyaraben/video/7289029833768668423

Let’s make a Hachiware character bento with a hairstyle shaped like the auspicious number “8,” which is said to bring good luck.

Mix red and blue decorative furikake separately into portions of rice to create Hachiware’s hairstyle and ear parts.

Changing the colors boosts the Halloween vibe.

Once you place Hachiware’s face portion into the bento, attach the hairstyle and secure the ears with toasted pasta.

Create the facial features with nori and stick them on to finish.

For the cheeks, cut ham into shape and attach them as well.

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Halloween bento side dishes

http://www.lemon8-app.com

This tomato side dish is perfect for filling small gaps in a Halloween bento.

Attach face parts made with a nori punch to cherry tomatoes to make them.

The key is to stick the nori onto the tomatoes so they look like jack-o’-lantern faces.

Nori punches are sold at 100-yen shops, too.

It’s quick and easy, so it’s handy when you’re preparing a bento during a busy time.

If you can get orange or light-green cherry tomatoes, they’ll look just like real jack-o’-lanterns.

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Nakajima Junko

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Cute with cookie cutters! Halloween Omurice Bento

A Halloween omurice bento made with cookie cutters and cheese is perfect for the season.

Let’s make little ghosts by cutting them out of hanpen.

By slicing the hanpen into three layers, you can adjust the thickness so it’s easier to tuck inside the omurice.

Pour beaten egg into a frying pan, place the hanpen ghosts on top, and cover to steam.

Once the egg is set, remove it from the pan and wrap it around the rice.

Add facial features to the ghosts with ketchup to finish.

Try decorating cucumbers and sausages with faces too for a fun, festive Halloween bento.

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