Planning a kid’s party can be overwhelming. After all, there is so much to do! It seems like you have to organize a gazillion details, from the invitations, decorations, and activities to snacks, dinner, and cake. Sometimes, it feels like there’s no end in sight!
And a lot of times these parties are filled with delicious foods and drinks, but they tend to be kinda unhealthy. But unfortunately, this is how the life of a parent goes — as much as you try to get your child to like healthy food, they always go for the sweets, the carbs, and the processed foods. But don’t fret! There are plenty of nutritious and delicious party foods you can serve at your next shindig that will make both you and your child smile (and don’t worry, a paleo-vegan birthday cake isn’t on the list).
Here are some of our favorite suggestions, tips, and tricks for serving nutritious and delicious foods at a kids party.
Use bright, natural colors
When decorating for a party, experts suggest sticking with three main colors in your decorations. When it comes to food, there’s nothing wrong with embracing every color of the rainbow. Of course, anything you serve that looks bright and vivid probably has a ton of artificial colors and flavors in them. Throw the candy and cookies away and try to make your food spread as colorful as possible with natural fruits and veggies! And if you serve fruit as a source of natural sugar, the children won’t even notice they’re missing any other sweet candies or chocolate! Okay, maybe that’s wishful thinking, but you can still try.
Make your own popsicles
There’s a lot of excess sugar in the popsicles you buy at the store, so simply make your own popsicles if you’d like a frozen treat. Just take sugar-free juice, throw in some frozen berries, and you’re done. Alternatively, mix up your favorite healthy smoothie recipe, pour it into popsicle trays, then let it freeze overnight.
Healthier grill favorites
On average, Americans eat burgers about more than four times a month, but all this meat can be incredibly fatty and high in calories. So instead, choose some healthier favorites you can grill such as grass-fed beef, lean chicken breasts, pineapple, even vegetables. Instead of greasy burgers and hotdogs, serve up healthy kabobs featuring lean meats, tasty veggies, and grill-friendly fruits.
Savory dips
No child’s party is complete without a bunch of finger food, but instead of the usual fried foods, go the route of savory dips. We’re talking hummus, peanut butter, and guacamole. You can serve with pretzels, corn chips, vegetables, and crackers.
Customized drink bottles (video by Mom’s a Mess)
Eliminate soda altogether by creating customized water bottles for the kids to drink from. Better yet, have a decorating station where they can be involved in the process of creating their own masterpiece. This is a fun party craft, and they will love that they each have their own bottle with their name on it to take home.
Put everything on a stick (video by HGTV Handmade)
Like we’ve mentioned before, children love when their food is presented in interesting ways. No matter what’s on the menu, see if you can put your meal on a stick. In addition to kabobs, some fun ideas include cheese and apple slices, chicken bites with vegetables and roasted potatoes, and fruity dessert stations.
These six tips and tricks are all you need to incorporate healthy food into your next kids party without having a headache. We promise, your kids will love them and you will too!
