Chocolate Covered Pretzel Bats: Halloween Snack

My daughter is very into “themes.” We were discussing a play date and I mentioned that we would have some Halloween crafts for her friends. “What about snacks?” I had been thinking fruit salad and cheese puffs. “Can’t we make Halloween snacks?”

So, we decided on chocolate-covered pretzel bats and spider cracker sandwiches, despite last year’s banana ghost debacle. Chocolate-covered pretzels are a favorite treat around here. We also enjoy learning about bats–the kids are fascinated by these flying mammals and their echolocation.

Ingredients for Chocolate Covered Pretzel Bats:

• mini twist pretzels
• one package of semi-sweet chocolate chips or baking chocolate
• crisped rice cereal or white chocolate chips or cinnamon candies (for the eyes)
• waxed paper

Directions:

1. Arrange pretzels on wax paper (on top of a tray makes it easier to move later) in pairs so that they are just touching each other.

2. Melt the chocolate. (We used about 1/2 of the package of chocolate chips.)

3. Dab a teaspoon of chocolate where each pair meets.

4. Add your eyes.

5. Let sit or pop in the refrigerator to cool more quickly.

Make like Ozzy Osbourne…but less icky and more delicious.

Educational Connections:

• Science: What happens when chocolate is heated? What happens once the chocolate cools again? Discuss the states of matter.
  
• Science: Introduce the term “nocturnal”. Identify other nocturnal animals.
• Science: Bats are the only flying mammals (unless you count humans who use machines to fly). What makes a bat a mammal? Other mammals can glide but only the bats actually fly. How do bat wings differ from bird wings and insect wings?
• Science: People use the expression “blind as a bat” but bats are not really blind.  Still, sight is not the main sense they use when hunting for food. Bats use sonar, or echo-location, to fly through the dark night.  How does sonar work?  What human inventions use sonar?
• Ecology: Why are bats so important to our ecosystem? What do bats eat? Why are bats in need of protection?
• Field Trip: Find out if there is a place near you (or along your next vacation route) where you will be able to see bats on the wing.
• History and Culture: What are some popular images of bats? If bats are rarely dangerous and are actually useful, why are so many people afraid of them? Why are nocturnal animals often associated with Halloween?