Will Kids Like Healthy Birthday Snacks?
Birthday cake, cookies, candy and ice cream are what birthdays are all about, right? Not necessarily. Kids these days have many choices when it comes to unhealthy snacks and foods. Why not make your next birthday party fun, memorable and healthy – all at the same time?

You might be worried that if you serve healthy snacks at your child’s birthday party instead of the chips and dips that everyone’s used to that kids won’t be interested. You’d be surprised, though, at how tasty and fun healthy foods can be with a little creativity.  Remember to ask your party goers parents about any food, dairy, or drink allergies that you need to be aware. 

Get Creative With Healthy Birthday Party Food
Let your birthday child help you prepare fun, healthy snacks like celery and peanut butter (remember to ask parents if any of their kids have nut allergies) or an assortment of fruits like apple and orange slices and granola. Arrange the snacks on paper plates in fun patterns or construct elaborate displays of fruit with toothpicks.

Involve Partygoers in Birthday Snacks
Another birthday party idea is to let your child and guests participate in making healthy snacks.

Younger kids may be able to do simple cooking, like combining their favorite nuts and fruits to make their own specialized trail mixes.  Anybody remember Knox Blocks?  Make these in a variety colors and flavors in ice cube trays of different sizes and shapes a few days in advance.  Let the kids build block animals with toothpicks and then eat them as snacks!

Take the party out to a nearby smoothie bar and let everyone choose their favorite fruits to be blended into a delicious drink. If you’d rather stay home, set up your own smoothie bar in your kitchen with a blender, a variety of fresh fruit, yogurt, etc. 

Letting the kids get involved in their snacks will make sure that everyone gets what they want – and they might even learn something about nutrition in the process!

Avoid Soda at Your Birthday Party
When buying supplies for your party, you may automatically reach for sodas as beverages. This is one area where you can easily cut out a lot of the sugars and sweeteners.

Instead of serving soda at your birthday party, offer different kinds of juice and water. There are also plenty of caffeine and sugar free flavor packets you can add to water.  Let each child pick their own flavor, pour into a bottled water - shake and drink.  Chances are that kids won’t miss the soda if they’re drinking a tasty juice instead. (Check out Wyler's Light Singles to go!)

What about Birthday Cake?
Just because you offer birthday cake doesn’t mean they’re going to leave your birthday party full of sugar. If the rest of the snacks are healthy and cake slices are kept to a reasonable size, sugar intake will be cut down. 

Besides home baked or store bought cakes, think ice cream cakes where you decide the type of ice cream and cake being bought. You may also want to consider offering cupcakes.  Decorate your own, or look for Cupcake Bakeries that offer plenty of cup cake styles, decorations, and flavors.  Think, Portion control with Personality!