Swim Party

Have fun with the whole healthy food issue. Start with making fun things out of the food. Why not use a celery stick put peanut butter in it and use sting cheese pieces to put over as legs and maybe two olive pieces as eyes, it makes like a cute centepide or just a fun bug. Use ham with toothpics and other fun cheeses to make faces out of. Just be creative with the food. Or honey dew, use a small ice cream scooper to make two or three balls and put them together as a catapiller with non fat licorice as legs with watermellon seads as eyes. take the watermelon outer layer and cut a cute shape into the top like a fish and you can carve a watermelon like a pumpkin to make gills or if you do another animal, hair. and use a cookie cutter (fish) to cute the watermelon into shapes of fish to put into the watermelon fish bowl. Just have fun and look online for fun food ideas or party ideas. be creative and it can still be very inexpensive if it's all etable too. Good luck

I have 3 children ranging in age from 2 - 9. Anyway, two of them love pizza, so that's a good thing. But they all love crackers, cheese and like ham slices (like lunchables). Then they all like fruit salad.... Maybe that will help.

I like the pizza's at Arismendi Bakery. They are kind of healthy ...they are very very good. Here is their web site: http://www.arizmendibakery.org/pizza

1331 9th Ave
San Francisco, CA 94122
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Hope it helps!

Well I am an at home cater and I specialize in parties fo children. I would have Mac N Cheese, chicken strips, mini corn dogs, and celery stick with p-nut butter. Usually this menu turns out to work really well. I also add like straberries and cool whip or maybe just a simple fruit platter.
P.S If you are ever in need of my services please call ###-###-####...
Hope this helps

Hey M.,

There are so many great finger foods for kids. A recent issue of parents had some good suggestions, here's what I remember.

If you don't have a lot of time, take help from the store! Costco has big fruit trays, you can make fruit cabobs! Just get cubed fruit and put it on a stick like you would a shish cabob (sp?). Put some lemon yogurt on the side for dipping, they love it!

You can grill or broil some chicken-on-a-stick to go with, much healthier than pizza! Put a fun dipping sauce with that too, like mild BBQ sauce.

cheese and crackers are always a hit, if you can keep it out of the sun, also sold pre-made. Please no pizza! I know it's easy and kids love it, but there are so many better nutritional things you can do fairly easily. Sandra Lee on the food channel often does good kid meals, you might look her up on their site and see what she suggests.

Good luck, hope this helped!

C.

Hi M.,

I've always found it difficult to find something healthy that the kids will eat. I've had success with green apple slices dipped in peanut butter; also kids seem to like to munch on baby carrots and celery when dipped in ranch dressing. Since they are outside and can get as dirty as they want, it always fun to make sno-cones; or make a "sundae bar", using non-fat frozen yogurt and carob chips and nuts. Cool Whip light is good slathered on top.

Good luck to you!
V.

Hello M.,

I find that little finger food snacks work well at any party for any age. You can do a vegie platter with kid-friendly small bite foods like cherry tomatoes, cocktail sized pickles (always a huge hit with kids!), small carrots, cucumbers, olives & such. Another hit with kids is a fruit tray or you can kebob the fruit on skewers also - strawberries, grapes, pineapple chunks, berries, bananas, mandarin oranges, apple wedges & then have a fruit dip. You can buy fruit dip pre-made at the store or an easier alternative is simple Cool Whip. Kids love that! I have found these to be hits at all my parties and I've done alot my 2 kids are 17 & 19 now! Now they cook their own stuff - in fact today is my daughter's 19th b-day and she's cooking her own b-day dinner for a get together with her friends. Well good luck with your party!

D.

Fruit! The kids love bite size fruit. Trail mix, nuts and m&ms or chex mix. Cheese sticks. Yogurt, yogurt sticks require no spoon. You can freeze them and they are like a slushy.

fruit is always a hit: grapes, berries, or whatever is in season. my kids happen to like carrot/celery sticks and dip, but I know not all kids do. have fun!

I did a cute party for my daughter years ago and it was a bit HIT. I had the bakery at the local supermarket food color loaves of bread...pink, green, and yellow (sounds gross but the kids LOVED it. I cut off the crusts and had them filled with healthy things, like peanut butter (natural kind) and raisens, turkey, etc. I used cookie cutters for the shapes and they were devoured. Have a great party.

This past party I also had white rice for the kids that didn't eat the other stuff we had out. I also prepared Mac N Cheese and Dinosaur chicken. The kids loved it.

Of course, watermelon, veggies w/ranch, popcorn...

Also, I would highly recommend renting a lifeguard..if you haven't done so. It will really take a load of...You can find them through craigslist or by calling the local beaches. Not that expensive and worth it!

Hello M., First off good luck with the party. Try raw vegetables with different dips. Like carrots, tomatoes, pickles, celery, broccoli (sp?),with ranch, honey mustard, or sour cream dips. Also how about fruit pieces with strawberry or vanilla yogurt. These are easy to eat, they can stay outside, and they are healthy. Hope this helps.

You can make sandwiches and use cookie cutters to get cute shapes. We use pb and j on wheat. Also popcorn with sprinkled cheddar cheese,snow cones with 100% fruit juices,celery with cream cheese and raisins, barbequed turkey dogs,or English muffin pizzas. Good luck!

As crazy as it sounds, my oldest daughter's 6th birthday was the one I had planned since she was born - her bedroom theme was Beatrix Potter characters and I had a set of 6 pewter candle holders with 6 of the most famous characters which I only used on this most important (to me anyway) birthday. I made it easy (and healthy) by serving chicken wings I'd roasted in a bag with seasoning, a pasta salad I made the day before that had onions, broccoli, celery, sliced stuffed green olives... a potato salad (also made the day before) that had both russets and sweet potatoes in it along with the usual other potato salad ingredients (I only use reduced fat sour cream, salad dressing and mayonnaise in all my cooking), then I had a tray of fresh raw veggies with a low fat/calorie ranch dip and a tray of fresh raw fruits with a vanilla yogurt based dip that had a touch of cinnamon added. The only thing I had to make the day of the party was the wings, but they could have just as easily been prepared the day before and served cold like the salads. I had bowls of reduced fat tortilla chips with mild salsa placed in areas where people might congregate. And of course, the birthday cake was a carrot cake dressed up like Mr. Macgregor's garden. Both parents and kids seemed to enjoy the food and were able to continue to graze throughout the party leaving me very few leftovers.

I was at a swim party where they offered snacks. String cheese, carrot sticks and ranch dip, apples slices, goldfish crackers and juice boxes. You could serve just about anything and the kiddos will munch. Swimmng makes you hungry. I would suggest saving the pizza for after most have swam and are ready for a break. You wouldn't want pizza boats if you know what I mean.

M.,

I like to put out a fruit tray and a veggie tray. Strawberries, grapes, slices of apple, watermelon. You can find all sorts of recipes for yogurt based fruit dips. Even veggies trays can be a hit with kids if you choose your veggies wisely. Cucumbers and baby carrots with ranch dressing is very kid friendly. Celery stuffed with peanut butter or cheese whiz is also popular.... I like to do spinach dip too (most adults love spinach dip and some kids will eat it). If you make it with reduced fact (or fat free) mayo and sour cream, it really tastes good isn't too bad for you (if I use fat free, I usually add in a can of chopped water chestnuts and a can of chopped black olives - it gives it more flavor and a little crunch). It is good with crackers or veggies. A mild salsa and corn chips is also a comparatively healthy alternative to chips and dip.

One thing I like to do is serve cupcakes. Kids love cupcakes and you automatic portion control. Last year I made one batch of confetti cupcakes with confetti frosting and one batch of "dirt cups" (devil's food cake cupcakes, dark chocolate frosting, crushed chocolate cookies - like oreos- all over the frosting and then a gummy worm on top). It was pretty funny because surprisingly enough all the kids wanted the confetti cupcakes and all the adults wanted the dirt cups (I really would have thought it would be the other way around!).

I also have a recipe for angelfood cake with berries and a lemon-yogurt sauce for topping. If you want the recipe, email me ____@____.com. Angelfood cake is better for you than other types of cakes...

Good luck and happy birthday to your daughter!

T.

Dear M.,

Tuna or egg salad sandwiches with the bread cut into heart shapes, animal shapes, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or a variety of cheese shapes with a variety of crackers that they can stack together for themselves. May little pizzas yourself, with minibagels or wheat English Muffins. Cheese is healthy, you know.
C. N. and Susan A.

If you put out a lot of bite sized fresh fruit like watermelon, strawberries, honeydew melon and pineapple you will be amazed that none of it will be left at the end. Also a veggie plate with celery, and carrots with ranch will go over perfectly. If it is available they will love it and so will their parents. Have fun!!

could try spinach in the cheese pizza? idunno. fruit or veggie trays are always a good idea. like the baby carrots and something to dip them in, ranch dressing or whatever.

Hi,
Have the kids help make their own pizza. There are a few different ways to do this.
1. Mini Pizza on English Muffin
Sauce,cheese,fresh toppings,bake in oven (350-400)Hint: The English Muffin ones turn out better in a toaster oven.
2. Ready made pizza or homemade pizza crust
sauce,cheese,fresh toppings,bake in oven. 350-400

The kids in my daycare love doing this. It is much healthier than take out or frozen pizza. They prefer the English muffin ones because they all like different things.

Other than that, I would serve fruit. Serve Milk, Orange, and White Grape Juice.

Hope this helps,

D.

Finger foods cut small so they don't choke - I did baby carrots and small cut up fruit. Finger sandwiches are good too - cream cheese and olives... pizza is not too unhealthy - - - but they do get hungry at the pool parties - so keep that in mind... I would go for water instead of juices and sodas because they drink so much pool water a lot of sugar might upset their stomachs...

I just got a DELICIOUS recipe from another mom. She made it for a play date for 7 Moms with 13 kids ages 1 to 5- EVERYONE enjoyed it. We all ate until we were FULL, and there was still left-overs. Here’s the recipe:

Chicken and Bowtie Pasta Recipe

8 chicken breasts (boiled and shredded)
2 16oz bags of bowtie pasta (use only 1 1/2)
4 containers of onion and chive cream cheese
2 14oz cans chicken broth
2 heads of broccoli
2 red bell peppers
4 garlic cloves chopped
1 container of fresh parmesan cheese

In a large skillet combine chicken broth, bell peppers, garlic, and broccoli. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add cream cheese and cook until melted smooth. Add chicken to sauce. In a large bowl mix with cooked pasta. Add parmesan cheese.


FYI. This makes a very large amount of food. If it is just for our family I half the recipe and there is still a lot of leftovers.

Enjoy!! -J

You could do a "build your own" veggie pizza. Fun for every one, and healthy too! Get pita bread or something similar. You could use different dips, hummus, etc. for sauce, and then let them build their pizza with different veggies, ham or turkey if you like, and just a little shredded cheese. You could even do waffle cones filled with fruit for desert. Maling veggies fun makes kids more likely to try them, and once they try them, how could they not like 'em? Use the colorful ones for more appeal!! Good luck!

We just had my daughter's First Communion party. we had fruit trays with strawberries, grapes, watermelon and cantelope. The kids loved it and were the main ones eating it. They also ate the carrots dipped in ranch dressing. Healthy, yet tasty!

Pizza is actually good for little ones...but if your trying to add fruit for the little kiddies try yogurt pops...what you do and it would be fun for the kids...is gets lots of yogurt...bananas...and granola...nuts...anything the kids may like....sticks....and lots of napkins and paper towels...lol...roll the bananas in the yogurt and then just sprinkle all the good stuff on...let the kids do it....it will be a mess but fun for them...have fun!!

Contrary to popular belief, pizza can be a very healthy food to offer, especially if it is a "supreme" loaded with veggies. Presentation is half the battle with kiddos and eating healthy so mix it up. Fresh fruits and veggies are always great and can be "spiced up" by placing them on skewers and having "fruit kabobs". Look up great recipes for making interesting shapes with fruit and veggies like "mice" from pears and carrots. Cheese cubes and yogurt are yummy calcium packed snacks.
PBandJ may seem like an obvious idea but peanut butter and sugarfree jelly (or better yet, honey) on whole grain bread can be very healthy and tasty! (Go for SaraLee "Whole grain white bread". Tastes like white bread but has the health benefits of whole grain bread)
Good Luck!

Believe it or not, pizza is pretty healthy. People think it's not healthy because of the dough, which can be high in carbs, but kids don't have to worry about that yet, and we shouldn't keep them from eating these things because of our insecurities. However, the sauce, the cheese, the veggies that some people add to it, all healthy. And, they usually use olive oil, which is good for you. I think good food you can have at a 6 year olds party would be anything you can eat with your fingers or dip into something, like carrots and ranch, depending on how picky your child is. Pretzels are a good snack. Even a fruit plate would be good. Kids will probably eat anything you set out, especially after they swim all day, they will be starving.