Spending time together as a family is one of the most enjoyable times of the week, and movie night is a low-key, easy way to gather the family together. Having a treat or two while you watch makes it even more fun for kids — especially when they’re themed.
Although recreating some of the fantastical foods you see movie characters eating would be a challenge, there are plenty of recipes inspired by your children’s favorite movies that are so simple, they can help you make them.
'Big Hero 6'
Movie snacks aren’t often healthy, but they don’t always have to be sweet, either. Baymax might approve of these rice balls — known as onigiri in Japan, where they come from — which are made in his image.
All you need is some rice, a little salt and thin sheets of seaweed called nori for decoration. It’s quick, simple and the recipe makes it easy to avoid allergens: the rice balls can contain whatever filling you like or none at all. Make several small ones for tiny hands, or a larger one for rumbly tummies. The original recipe, created for Fiction Food, can be found here.
'Finding Dory'
If you’ve seen the movie before, you’ll likely remember the chatty clam that Nemo and his Dad meet. Recreate it in cookie form for a fun food project you can all do together or easily put it together yourself before you press play on the remote.
You can buy or make clam-shaped cookies as the shell, then simply stick them together with colored frosting (piping optional!) The finishing touch is a pearl-like candy. They’re so effortless to make, you could also use them for other underwater movies: "The Little Mermaid" springs to mind. Mess for Less has more great tips to make them cost-effective, too.
Lego movies
With Lego-themed movies frequently coming out, having a Lego-related snack ready to go at a moment’s notice might be a life-saver. Something that will fit any of the movies are these Lego brick cheese and crackers.
A healthier snack than many, particularly if served with fruit, the assembly can be done together with your child (prep involves sharp knives). They’re quick to make and only require two ingredients, plus you can mix it up with different types of cheese slices and crackers (including gluten-free crackers, if need be). Find out more on Create-Celebrate-Explore.
'My Neighbor Totoro'
Studio Ghibli is known for its beautiful animation, heart-warming stories and cute characters. You can find many ways to create Totoro himself out of food, but these cookie pops make perfect soot sprites — and they also double up as snacks for another Ghibli movie, "Spirited Away."
This recipe is a little more involved, so it’s more suited to making in advance, but imagine the surprise you can give your little ones! The basic method involves putting sandwich cookies on sticks and using black candy melts to coat them before decorating them with a few candies. You could also use this method, from Fiction Food, to cover cake pops.
'Star Wars'
There are more Star Wars movies than you can shake a lightsaber at, which means that these sweet TIE Fighter cookies will appeal to all ages.
This is another one that children can make with a bit of adult supervision — just stick two wafer cookies onto a marshmallow using melted white chocolate. You can easily make a small fleet of them, making it a recipe perfect for viewings in larger groups. This, and more Star Wars snack ideas, can be found on Clean and Scentsible.