Food Fun for Kids’ Birthdays with a Healthy Spin

What a fun roundup this was to create! We felt sort of ‘sneaky’ surfing the web for kiddie party food ideas that look so incredibly appealing that little tykes will never guess how healthy they are. Huge thanks to the super-creative recipe developers, party planners, and moms who put both kinds of ‘good’ into these savory and sweet treats—good as in ‘yummy’ and good as in ‘nutritious’! And presented so prettily, too. So take advantage of the recipes and how-to’s included in each link, and choose some to serve at your next children’s gathering!

Savory and (Secretly) Healthy!

What’s healthy about these? Just take a look at the ingredients they contain:

• balled watermelon, roma tomatoes, cheddar cheese stars, apple stars (#1)
• chunks of butternut squash wrapped in bacon (we suggest lean turkey bacon), with fresh sage leaves tucked in (#2)
• flaked fish fillets, lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber in corn tortillas (#3)
• sticks of carrots, celery, turnips, cucumber, and broccoli (#4)
• breast fillet strips, cream cheese, grated carrots, brown bread, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes (#5)
• toasted wholemeal bread, topped with minced ham, tomato paste, and grated cheese (#6)
• a blend of cream cheese and crushed pineapple rolled in soft tortillas, with filling choices of kiwi, mandarin oranges, and coconut (#7)

Image Credits:
1 – “Reach for the Stars” lunch, from The R House; 2 – bacon sage squash bites, from Two Kids Cooking; 3 – healthy fish tacos, from Murfreesboro Macaroni Kid; 4 – veggie sticks shooters, from People.com; 5 – “Kiddie Club Sandwiches,” from Blush; 6- wholemeal mini pizzas, from Her World Plus; 7 – “Island Pinwheels” tortillas, from La Tortilla Factory

Wow! The choices and combinations sound so delish, we’d love these at grownup gatherings, too!

But what’s the secret to getting kids to dig in? Party-pretty presentation! Notice these ‘tricks’ that were used, including a few we thought of:

• mini size – Everything looks more appealing in kid-friendly dimensions.
• color, color, color – Take advantage of the bright natural colors of vegetables and fruits, plus the most festively-colored serveware you can find
• fun shapes – How can the little ones resist food presented as stars, balls, wedges, chunks, spirals, or sticks? Or form them into boats, rainbows, animals, letters, numbers, or faces!
• easy to handle – Serve the food items in individual cups, taco shells, or tortilla wraps; or on skewers, mini paper plates, or cocktail napkins.
• personalized labels – Add name cards to certain items with toothpicks, so the tots will know these were created especially for them!

Sweet and Good for You!

Clearly, serving desserts made of fresh fruits solves half of the health challenge. Children tend to like fruits anyway because of their natural sweetness, crunchiness, texture, and juiciness. Plus the colors are just great for party decorating (that’s why fruit skewers like #14 are so popular)!

The ingredients you can combine with the fruits, though, are pretty amazing as well:

• yoghurt (#8 and #10)
• ice cream cones (#12)
• melted chocolate and sprinkles (#9)—okay, you can give in just this once!
• peanut butter and pretzels (#11)
• peanut butter, granola, vegan oats, chocolate chips or raisins, coconut (#13)

Image credits:
8 – kiwi apple yoghurt smoothie, from Kiddie Foodies; 9 – apple lollies, from Rosa Rot blog (link no longer accessible) via Bored Blog Almighty; 10 – fruity frozen yoghurt cups, from Guilt-free Desserts; 11 – peanut butter banana bites, from Our Family World; 12 – fruit cones, from Where Do We Find the Time; 13 – apple sandwiches, from Oh She Glows; 14 – rainbow fruit skewers, from One Little Project

And about presentation, the images speak for themselves. Similar to the savory treats above, think bite-size, cute shapes, clever containers (like cones and cupcake liners), and again color, color, color. Whipping up adorable ‘mascots’ like that kiwi bear (#8) wouldn’t hurt either!