Pre-school Birthday Ideas

Most pre-schools (and most schools) can only allow commercially packaged treats. It has to do with the health department regulations - they can only serve things that were prepared in a health dept certified kitchen (this includes treats parents bring/send). So take that into consideration.

Maybe a non-food treat would be better. Preschoolers love stickers. Or those little magic-sketch pads, or something else like that. Don't feel like you have to do a food-treat to celebrate her birthday (unless you're the official treat-bringer for that day and they're counting on a food; then you want to make it more healthy and less sweets.)

Hi M.,

I just today had to figure this out for our pre-schooler! She only goes a couple mornings a week for a few hours, so cupcakes and the like were out for us just because then the teacher would have had to try and work that in to their morning routine while our daughter was there, which wouldn't have really worked very well at all. After talking with the teacher, I came up with the idea just to do a little treat bag that the kids will be able to take home with them instead. The teacher thought it would work out great - no sugar highs lol! They will do their birthday "ceremony" so the birthday still gets celebrated and then have the baggies to take home. They will have a small bag of fruit snacks, a couple stickers, a "crazy" straw (you know those curly looking ones) and a little soft frisbee I found clearance at Toys R Us today. There aren't a lot of kids in the class, so it wasn't that expensive to do - I probably would have thought twice if there was going to be a lot of expense associated with it and tried to come up with something else. Hope you are able to find an idea that will work for you and have a great weekend!

How about a giant Choc Chip Cookie with frosting saying
Happy Birthday

Suckers or smarties and colorful pencils - our school district doesn't allow home baked treats either.

I am thinking of doing this with my dd's preschool for her birthday celebration, I was thinking of putting a swirled hershey's kiss on top of the marshmallow head to look like a party hat--I like the idea esp. because it gives the kids something healthy as the main part of the treat--and its fun and different.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Apple-Person

Have you talked to your preschool? We are not allowed to take in homemade treats. They have to be store bought.

Rice Krispie treats are always a hit.

Make rice krispie treats but instead of putting them all in one big pan, press the mixture into your cupcake pans. Then paint on a thin layer of melted chocolate or fun-colored candy melts for your "frosting." Once they're cool, they hardly make a mess at all!

Hope your daughter has a fun birthday!

How about those big cookies they bake in a cake plate, then cut into wedges like a pizza? You could get some pre-made cookie dough, bake it yourself in a pie plate, then decorate the top as you would a cake (with icing, etc). Or go to your closest mall and get one from any of the cookie places (Sally Field, Nestle, etc). That shouldn't be as messy as a cake or cupcakes, especially if you forgo the icing altogether. Or do something similar with rice crispie treats...make a large "sheet cake" of rice crispie treats, then cut it up like a cake. I think jello would be just as messy as cake since half of it will slide off the kids' spoons onto the floor, which will annoy the teachers just as much. When thinking about something solid a little kid can hold in one hand which makes a minimal mess, I come up with some sort of cookie or rice crispie thingy...I'm sure you'll get some great ideas from other moms, too! Good luck!

I love making cake cookies. You'll have to look up the recipe but (search "cake cookies") I think it's nothing more than a bit of flour & different liquid measures. You've got cake for you, cookies for the school & everybody's happy. They're really moist-especially if you use apple sauce instead of oil-and easy to make.
I took the little ice cream cups to school for my son's PreK birthday last year. I think we took 1 package of vanilla & another of orange cream-I just took them up to school when I took him because they had freezer space for them.

I would definately check to see if you are allowed to bring in baked treats because it has been banned in most schools. If not, jello treats may be fine though as an employee in a private school Nursery through 8th I saw a class of 22 first graders turn their noses up at jello (I think 3 even tried it). I have also see parents bring donuts which are not as crumbly, the little goody bags, pretzels sticks dipped in chocolate with sprinkles, and various homemade cookies and candies. Ask the teacher about allergies also. Depending on how severe, certain things may be banned in the classroom or those children just have an alternative snack.

Maybe mini cupcakes with no frosting, or put the frosting in a large ziplock, cut off a little of one corner and poke it into the middle (from the bottom) and squeeze a little into the middle. Or cookies!

My son's Pre-School Birthday was Spider-man theme. We had the same issue of "no mess" so we purchased the Mallowmars cookies $4.00 for 20ct from the grocery store. They are a gram cracker with marshmallow then covered in chocolate. Very Yummy! We then purchased from the party store Spider-man cupcake icing decorations. 9ct for $2.99 and placed one on each Mallowmar. They have these icing decoration in all themes. Because the kids are 2-3 years old it was the perfect portion. We also purchased a cupcake tower and arranged them on there with a candle on top for the "Happy Birthday". Hope that helps. They were very easy to prepare and not messy at all. :-)

Hi M. - our preschool says that we are not allowed to bring in home-baked treats to the kids. Store bought ones are fine but the store's cupcakes are just awful.

Perhaps you could bring in Jello or Pudding cups and a can of spray whip cream? You could open the tops for the kids and add some flourish with whipcream and sprinkles?