Looking for creative ideas for healthy treat for school bday party

[EVC]

I wasn't sure which forum this should go into, so I went with the most general. My apologies if this isn't the right place

Dd's birthday is coming up next month and the school allows small celebrations in class to which the child can bring a treat to share with his/her classmates. In the past I have done cookies or cupcakes, but this year her teacher has requested only healthy treats (so I'm assuming no sugary items, which is fine by me ). However, I'm not the most creative person when it comes to things like this, so I was looking for ideas.

It should be for a class of 24 kids (and two teachers).
There is a strict no nuts/no peanuts policy.
It shouldn't be too messy--preferably something that can be eaten with napkins and fingers.

All I can think of is fruit, but just passing out plain fruit somehow doesn't seem very festive and dd takes her birthday very seriously

[jeanine123]

What about a veggie pizza?

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/vegeta...-i/Detail.aspx

[childsplay]

I've made pineapple boats a few times.

You need 2 fresh pineapples, halve them so you have four 'boats' .
Gently cut, scoop, and pry the fruit out leaving the husk as the boat structure.
Chunk up the pineapple, toss it in a bowl with fresh blueberries, mix it up (I add a sprinkle of brown sugar), then fill the four boats with fruit. (you can add other fruit to if you want - strawberries and blackberries look nice with this too)

You can arrange the stalks in creative ways at either end.

For serving I send wooden kabob sticks with the points chopped off (they cut off quite easily with kitchen scissors)

Serve with vanilla yougurt to dip (if you want) and napkins.

I've also done fruit kabobs, (fresh pineapple, strawberries, melon and marshmallows on a stick) they're easy too.

[happysmileylady]

Are you sure the school allows homemade stuff? When my dd was in elementary school, they didn't allow homemade stuff, everything had to be prepackaged in individual servings.

[EVC]

Originally Posted by happysmileylady

Are you sure the school allows homemade stuff? When my dd was in elementary school, they didn't allow homemade stuff, everything had to be prepackaged in individual servings.

I'm *pretty* sure we can do homemade stuff. I know yesterday a parent brought apples and honey for Rosh Hoshanah (sp?), so definitely non-prepackaged is OK.

And thanks for both the pizza and pineapple boats ideas

[jeanine123]

Another thought I just had was to take melon and pineapple and cut shapes out of them with cookie cutters and put those on skewers. Your homemade version of those fruit bouquet things.

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by jeanine123

Another thought I just had was to take melon and pineapple and cut shapes out of them with cookie cutters and put those on skewers. Your homemade version of those fruit bouquet things.

A fruit bouquet is exactly what I was going to suggest.

Cheese cut into shapes, and crackers is another idea.

Muffins or home-made granola bars/snackbars can be healthy and tasty.

[Polliwog]

Originally Posted by EVC

I'm *pretty* sure we can do homemade stuff. I know yesterday a parent brought apples and honey for Rosh Hoshanah (sp?), so definitely non-prepackaged is OK.

And thanks for both the pizza and pineapple boats ideas

Apples and a jar of honey would meet the criteria. Food can't usually be prepared in a non-licensed kitchen but those would be fine.

[SilverLace]

It's the same for DD.... no sweets and it's very important.

We've done cornbread and honey butter a couple of times and that went over well.

I was thinking this year we might do something from our heritage or a family tradition.

We can do homemade stuff at DD's school, but not at DSS's.

[KatWozBlue]

I made smoothie popsickles for my son's class last year, fresh fruit, skim milk and froze them on sticks, they LOVED them and they thought they were getting something sweet but really it was frozen fresh fruit like strawberry's, blue berries, bananas, etc. You can buy smoothie mix and just make them in a ice cube tray, you probably have to check with the teacher. Good luck!

[pianojazzgirl]

I once saw a recipe for open-faced rainbow sandwiches. It called for peanut butter, but I thought to substitute it with cream cheese, tahini or other non-nut butter (I know there are some made from soy out there). You cut a pita bread in half (to make a half circle) spread the whatever on, then decorate it as a rainbow using fruits... for ex. a line of cut up strawberries, then cantaloupes, then halved green grapes, then blueberries... or something like that. Hope that makes sense!

[eepster]

Carrot cake cup cakes with cream cheese icing. The trick to making it kid desirable is to get the carrot supper smooth (food processor instead of using the grater) and skip the raisins.

Banana nut bread muffins skipping the nuts and using cream cheese icing.

[flower01]

One mom shared this on another board: mini bagels with cream cheese. They used food coloring in the cream cheese and decorated the bagels to look like ladybugs. It was really cute...the decorative look of cupcakes, but less sugar.

[Pavlovs]

Does it have to be food? Perhaps you could bring in a fun craft for the kids, like beads and fishing wire for bracelets or crowns they can all color and wear. As a mother of a child with diabetes, I always appreciate non-food "treats."

[EVC]

Thank you all for the great ideas! I knew I was in the right place for such creativity!

One mom shared this on another board: mini bagels with cream cheese. They used food coloring in the cream cheese and decorated the bagels to look like ladybugs. It was really cute...the decorative look of cupcakes, but less sugar.

That is brilliant! I bet dd would love to help make them, too

And smoothie pops sound delicious

I think with all these ideas, I can also put together our family party now

Does it have to be food? Perhaps you could bring in a fun craft for the kids, like beads and fishing wire for bracelets or crowns they can all color and wear. As a mother of a child with diabetes, I always appreciate non-food "treats."

I would be totally into that. I think it would depend on how much time the teacher would be willing to devote to celebration activities, though. But if she'd be willing, I'd be willing

[bec]

It could even be something they took home to do. Pencils or erasers. Stickers, temp tattoos, etc.

[puffingirl]

If it's next month, you could go with something Halloween themed (my birthday is in October and that was a favorite thing of mine). There are some awesome healthy, fun Halloween treat ideas out there. Google Boo Nanners (bananas dipped in OJ and rolled in coconut with 2 raisins for eyes to make ghosts) and Goblin Grins (snow peas slit to have slivered almond coming out for teeth and red pepper for the tongue). I really appreciate it when folks have healthier, fun celebration treats!

[Three~Little~Birds]

I am not sure if this is considered healthy, but what about chocolate dipped strawberries? Just a little bit of dark chocolate would go a long way....

[sunny*pa*mom]

I also like Watermelon pops. Cut the watermelon into 1" thick pieces and use cookie cutters to make festive shapes. Add a stick and freeze. Voila. My kids love frozen fruit.

[bec]

My kids are both in classes where there are severe, life threatening food allergies. Which is why I really like the non food treats.