10 Simple No-Bake Fall Snacks to Make in the Classroom

Making snacks with your students throughout the year can be a lot of fun and include a lot of learning! Reading a recipe and, maybe, writing one. Math with measuring ingredients. Or, even, some science or social studies, if creating a food model or discussing where the food came from.

Since most classrooms aren’t equipped with ovens or other cooking acoutrements, it’s best to have simple, no-bake snacks when making snacks with your students. With the first day of fall coming up, I’ve compiled a list of snacks perfect to make in the fall with your students!

1. Applesauce in a Crock-pot- Put your crock-pot to good use and bring it into your classroom for a day to make applesauce. Have students write the recipe and take it home to share with their family! Here is a recipe from Crystal McGinnis and more at Kindergarten Creations.

2. Apple or Pumpkin Pie in a Cup- This recipe from the Printable Princess is made with apple pie filling, but you could easily switch it out for pumpkin and you could substitute the cinnamon for pumpkin pie spice. A couple great books to read with this are The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall and Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins by Dianne Ochiltree.

3. Apple Taste Testing- Have each student bring in an apple. Hopefully, you’ll get a variety of colors. However, you may want to have a couple green and yellow ones on hand, just in case. Cut up the apples and let your students have a chunk of each color of apple. Then, discuss which apple color is their favorite and graph the results. Here is a free graph to record the results from Teachers Pay Teachers.

4. Leaf Cookies- This is one you’d make the cookies at home ahead of time and, then, bring them to your classroom for students to decorate with frosting and icing. You can dye white frosting orange, red, and yellow for spreading on the cookies with the back of a plastic spoon or plastic knife. Then, students can use black/brown icing to make the veins on their leaf. Here is a recipe for sugar cookies from All Recipes and a link to Hobby Lobby’s leaf-shaped cookie cutters. (Note: I am not affiliated with Hobby Lobby, but do love shopping there!)

5. Fire Truck Graham Crackers- October is Fire Safety month! Check out these cute fire trucks from the Printable Princess.

6. Pumpkin Patch Dirt Cups-Just like the classic dirt recipe you had as a child, but with Mellowcreme Pumpkins and green Sour Punch Straws. Your students can crush the Oreos in a zip-top bag and help make the pudding. A great snack for making in small groups. Make this snack at the end of a unit on pumpkins! This one comes from I Can Teach My Child.

7. Spookley the Square Pumpkin- You can make Spookley from the book The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano with just a few easy-to-find ingredients. Here is what you need, how to make them and some Spookley activities from Kindergarten Smorgasboard.

8. Wild Things Snack Mix- I made this with my preschool class because at one of the schools I worked at we could not celebrate Halloween. Instead we read Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and had a “Wild Rumpus”. During our “Wild Rumpus” we had a pajama day, made Wild Thing masks to dance to music, and made a Wild Thing snack mix. Before Wild Thing Day, I sent out a sign up for parents to sign up to bring in snacks we wanted in our mix, such as pretzels, Goldfish crackers, M&Ms, candy corn, and more. Choose whatever snacks you would like to include in your mix. Then, on the day, I brought in a large bowl and everyone added in some of the snacks and took turns mixing it with a large spoon. Then, everyone got a scoop in a zip-topped bag to either eat or take home. Another way to do this activity is to place the snacks in separate bowls and the students count out a certain amount of each to place in their bag.

9. Witches’ Brew- With just a handful of ingredients and a punch bowl, you and your students can whip up a fantastic witches’ brew! Students can contribute by pouring in ingredients by the cupful, taking turns stirring, and adding gummy worms or candy eyeballs to their cups when the drink is served. Make it more fun by listening to Hap Palmer’s “Witches’ Brew” song while you make it. Here is a recipe from Easy Budget Recipes.

10. Oreo Spiders- For this recipe, I would switch out the chocolate chip melting and use a dab of chocolate frosting. It comes from Build Your Bite.

When making snacks in the classroom, there a few things to remember. Always know what food allergies your students have! One year a colleague had a student who was allergic to apples. You do not want to serve anything that will cause a student to have an allergic reaction. Check with your school nurse and/or your students’ parents before bringing any food into your classroom.

Another thing to remember is cleanliness. Make sure your students wash their hands thoroughly before handling any food. Also, be sure any surfaces you are using are sanitized before food touches them and the dishes/utensils you are using are clean. When finished, wipe down the surfaces again and, perhaps, sweep (if your custodians are just eh!) to keep the bugs at bay. You don’t want any uninvited guests showing up!

Lastly, almost all of these snacks while delicious, are not healthy. Be sure to point out to your students that these are sometimes snacks and that even though they taste good, they are not meant to be eaten all the time.

I hope you and your students enjoy these simple, no-bake fall snacks! Check out my post A Round-Up of FREE Fall Activities for more Fall fun!