Can you have a healthier children’s party?
I find it difficult to plan my children’s birthday party foods. Yes I want it to be healthy but still fun. This weekend it was
my daughter’s 2nd birthday party and the theme was a teddy bear picnic. The setting was in a beautiful park with lovely trees. Now the problem how do I have healthier options at a child’s birthday party. The menu was: Individually wrapped sandwiches (Whole wheat and cheese, salami and cheese or mini hotdogs and lastly Chicken, basil pesto and mayo in mini pita bread), honey bear biscuits, bear paws (basically chocolate brownies), Fruit kebabs (strawberries, grapes and melon), gummy bears, skittles, popcorn, cheese chips, marshmallow and rice crispy squares and heart shaped cookies. To drink there was a variety of 200ml fruit juices, orange flavoured water and sprite.
To my surprise the children chose the healthier options first and so did the adults. The fruit kebabs looked lovely and as soon as the children saw them they tucked in and enjoyed the fruit. The water about 20l was finished first and only then did the children ask for the fruit juice. The sprite only had about 1 cup missing from the bottle at the end of the party. There was a large amount of all of the sweets left over. I only supplied 1 bag of each sweet type which really is about 250g and there was a lot left over of each. This showed me that the children were more interested in the sandwiches and fruit than in the actual sweets. Yes, every one ate some sweets but not as much as I thought they would.
Something else we tried was to keep the children active. Firstly by being in a park with a jungle gym made entertainment and physical activity fun. We also made up an obstacle course for the children to roll, crawl through a tunnel, kick a ball and jump though a hoop. There was also a Teddy bear spotting game. I hid Teddy bears around the picnic spot and the kids got a prize if they spotted a teddy bear. The prizes were a mixture of pencils, stickers and only a few sweets.
I am now looking forward to my son’s birthday and finding out what other healthier options I can add for his party.
Tips for a picnic party: pack sunscreen, camp table, wet wipes to clean little hands, black bags for rubbish and picnic blankets.
