Ensure the young guests at your child's party have enough energy to participate in active games and contests without loading up on sugary snacks or junk food treats. Because children may expect items such as chips, candy and cupcakes during the festivities, the Help Guide website acknowledges that they key to getting the children to eat the nutritious alternatives is to make the healthy party snacks enticing.
Personal Pizzas
Take a tip from the University of Illinois Extension website and let the guests create their own healthy pizzas as a main course. Provide English muffins as the "crusts," along with pizza sauce and an assortment of toppings such as turkey sausage, sliced mushrooms, zucchini, olives, pineapple and sweet onions. Let the children top their creations with low-fat mozzarella cheese and gather the pizzas on a baking tray for an adult to bake in the oven. You can even turn the pizza making into a party game by offering prizes in different categories such as "most vegetables on the pizza," "most professional looking pizza" or "best use of color."
Fruit Kabobs
Design a colorful and eye-catching table centerpiece that the guests can also snack on while they're between party games. Cut fruits such as oranges, cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew, strawberries and pineapple into bite-sized chunks or small shapes using 1- or 2-inch cookie cutters. Thread the fruit onto wood skewers and stand the loaded skewers in wide-mouthed vases or deep bowls. If you're hosting the party in the summer heat, store the nutritious snacks in the freezer before the party to turn the fruit kabobs into a frozen treat.
Dip Bar
Get the children to snack on cucumber, celery, carrot and zucchini sticks and broccoli or cauliflower florets by offering the finger foods with mouth-watering dips. Use colorful cups or shallow bowls to house dipping sauces such as low-fat ranch dressing, hummus, fruit preserves or onion dip made with low-fat sour cream, for instance.
Munchies
Instead of placing candy around the room for guests to nibble on, offer a selection of healthy treats that they can eat on the go. Fill bowls and platters with kids' snacks such as nuts, whole-grain crackers and low-fat cheese, whole-wheat pretzels and air-popped popcorn. If your party guests are babies, toddlers or preschool-age children, follow the warning from the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture website and avoid hard snacks that may become choking hazards such as nuts, chunks of vegetables and whole grapes.
Yogurt Parfaits
Satisfy the guests' craving for sweets by setting up a "build your own" bar for healthy dessert parfaits. Offer each child a colorful glass or bowl and a choice of plain or fruit-flavored yogurt. Provide toppings that the children can sprinkle onto their yogurt in place of candy sprinkles. Select items such as coconut flakes, granola, bits of dried fruit, carob chips or chopped nuts.
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