Kid Friendly Birthday Party Food

The first thing you need to decide is whether you will serve a meal, appetizers, or if it will just be a cake and ice cream party. It doesn't matter if it's a party for kids, teens or toddlers, because once you know what sorts of party it will be... then it just becomes a matter of portion size.

Cake and ice cream is fairly straight forward. You can make or buy a cake. Keep with the theme- for a princess party, make the cake pink and put little princess figurines on it. For a pirate party, make the cake in the shape of a treasure chest, or decorate it with a treasure map. Use your imagination, or have the bakery use theirs. Another idea is to serve cup cakes. It makes serving simple- everyone can just take one so there is no cutting. I've also learned that for younger children, mini cup cakes are perfect. A tiny cupcake is enough to satisfy their appetites, and there is much less waste from half eaten food.

If you are planning on serving a meal, you should keep in mind the ages and appetites of the children. Finger foods are best. Small portions are bigger than large. Let the kids come back for more, rather than leave food on their plates. What are your child's favorite foods? What can be made up in advance and then served easily? Make use of the deli and bakery section of your local grocery store, often they will assemble trays for you.

In addition to the main course, you might want to put out a few appetizers.A veggie tray with carrot sticks, celery sticks, cherry tomatoes and dip is a colorful and healthy addition. Chips, crackers or popcorn are popular. I find that a fruit salad, or cut up fruit with dip is also a hit. These items will also be great to serve if you don't plan to serve a meal. Kids can nibble during the party. Don't put out too many sweets, like candy or cookies, you want the kids to eat the cake.

Also you will need to serve drinks. Decide what sort of drinks you want to serve. Do you want to put out sodas? Or just juice and water? Juice boxes are easy, so are cans of soda and bottles of water. Be aware through, once kids open a drink, they will often put it down and forget which one is theirs. I've learned to tie a sharpie marker to a string, and attach it to the ice chest of drinks. Kids can label their own drinks, or have an adult help them, so there is less confusion and waste. The same is true with cups. If you plan to use cups for their drinks, label the cups with sharpie markers. If you are using re-usable cups, stick a label on each one, and write the kid's name on it. After the party (with a little effort and some soap) you can remove the label, and wash the cup for another use.

Finally, don't forget to put out bins for trash and recycling. It makes clean up much easier if everyone can take care of their own plates.

A Slider Bar - Make up some sliders, mini Hamburgers, and let the kids add their own toppings from a variety that you set out. Lettuce, tomato, pickle and some odd ball toppings like different cheeses or bar-b-que and teriyaki sauce

Taco Salad- Set out a bowl of cut up lettuce, and surround it with bowls of the various ingredients for a taco salad- chopped tomatoes, beans, shredded cheese, seasoned ground beef, cooked cubed chicken, corn chips, corn, and various salsas. Let the kids assemble their own salads.

Hot Dogs are fun, but little Pigs in a Blanket made from strips of crescent roll dough and Little Smokies sausages are great. They are easy to put together in advance, and kids love them.

Pizza- Order it to be delivered, grab some take and bake pizza or let the kids put them together as a party activity. It's easiest to use the small pre-baked crusts, and have the kids top them with sauce, cheese and other toppings themselves.

Sandwiches- Many grocery stores will now build trays of sandwiches. You can ask them to put the condiments on the side for the kids to add themselves. Or you can come up with your own sandwich tray, slice open rolls, add some lunch meat such as turkey or ham, and have the condiments on the side. You can even make a platter of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Cut them into shapes, or serve them whole, whatever you and your child like.

It's fun to get the food to match the theme, and it's really not that difficult. Remember... stay with what kids know, and they will eat it, just vary it a bit. Sometimes, it's in the name...

For a Halloween Birthday, we made Worm Dogs. I cut regular hot dogs into strips, then cooked them in a pan with bar b que sauce. The heat made them curl up a bit. Then I served them on a hot dog bun cut in half. (I hate throwing food away... I find it better to give a kid a second one than to throw uneaten food away. We also served chicken wings, and called them Bat Wings, and vanilla pudding with a little food coloring was renamed Goop.

For a Harry Potter Birthday Party, serve Pumpkin Cupcakes or Pumpkin Cake. We made a long sandwich with a baguette, then cut it into 3 inch pieces, lay the pieces in a snake shape on a serving platter, added olives for eyes and a cheese tongue. Basalisk Sandwich!

Maybe you are having a Tea Party. You will want to serve small sandwiches and tiny cakes or cupcakes, as well as tea and lemonade.

For an Art Party, think colors. Green grapes, orange cheese balls, and an Artist Palate Cake.

For a Baseball Party maybe serve Corn Dogs (they even come in mini sizes) and popcorn.

If you are having a Safari Party? serve animal crackers and maybe some mini pizzas with cat faces.

See how it works?

Birthday Party guests traditionally expect to see a decorated Birthday Cake covered with candles. But you can mix things up a little bit, and still make everyone, including the birthday child, happy.

Most neighborhood grocery stores, wholesale grocery stores and bakeries will sell you a cake in your child's favorite flavor, and decorated to your wishes. Just figure out how many kids are coming, and order the correct size. Or, you could bake a cake yourself. Cookbooks are filled with cake recipes, and you can make a cake mix taste better by using my special tips. There are many cake decorating guides out there, including one I have linked below. Remember, it doesn't always have to be chocolate with chocolate frosting, if your kid, like my son, likes spice cake, make spice cake. Make it work for your child.

Cupcakes are a great alternative to cake, and they are super hot right now. You can bake or buy them in all sorts of flavors. I even bake two different flavors so that the kids can have their favorites. They can be decorated with different colored frostings, sprinkles and even little plastic figures.

Mini Cupcakes are fantastic for kids. Because they are so small, you won't have the problem of guests leaving half of the cupcake on the plate. And if the kids want more, they can have seconds without overindulging. They can be decorated just like regular cupcakes.

You could also think outside of the standard bakery box.

For my daughter's last birthday party, I made loads of brownies, and piled them up in to a pyramid. Candles were stuck on the top of the pile. I served them with ice cream, whipped cream, sprinkles, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, m & m's, and cut up strawberries. A Brownie Sundae Bar! Total hit with the kids!! They loved adding the sprinkles themselves.

My other daughter wanted a special Tea Party Birthday. A large cake wouldn't work, since we were serving little treats. The candles went into Petit Fours on a tiered serving tray. It was pretty and sweet.

Rice Crispie treats also make a great "birthday cake". You can make them adding colored sprinkles to the standard recipe. They are fun, and easy to make, easy to transport, and not too sensitive to hot weather if you are hosting an outdoor party. Frosting can even be spread over the top of the cooled treats.

My nephew doesn't like birthday cake, so every year he has a special birthday Pie. His favorite is berry. Non-traditional, but his friends love the pie too.

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You can make a standard box of cake mix taste better. Really. Not kidding. It's worth the extra bit of work.

First- Separate the eggs called for on the box. Reserve the yolks. Whip the egg whites until stiff. Put in a bowl off to the side.

Second- Sift the cake mix through a mesh sifter over your mixing bowl. You will be left with little greebly things in the sifter, throw those out. You might even consider running the mix through the sifter twice.

Third- Sift 3 tablespoons of unbleached flour into the cake mix.

Fourth, add all of the other ingredients called for on the box, oil, water, etc., but instead of whole eggs, add the egg yolks for now. Blend according to the recipe on the box.

Finally, fold in the egg whites carefully with a spatula, taking care not to break them up too much, but make sure they are thoroughly incorporated.

Put batter into prepared pans or cupcake papers, and bake according to the timing on the box.

Kids love dipping their food. This sweet and simple dip will encourage even finicky kids to eat lots of healthy fruit.

1 cup lowfat or nonfat sour cream
or
1 cup plain yougurt
3 tablespoons brown sugar (you can add less or more, according to taste preferences)

mix until the brown sugar dissolves

serve with a platter of fruit
sliced apples
strawberries
grapes
sliced kiwi fruit
mandarin orange slices
cantalope
pear slices

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