Birthday Party Food Ideas for Kids

Deciding on a child's birthday party theme is a great start to planning the party, but then comes the decisions related to food. Birthday party food can be just as fun as the theme of the birthday party. Even if the food does not fit in with the theme, there are a lot of imaginative food ideas to make this year's birthday party one your child will remember forever.

Making ice cream more fun to eat with cookie sandwiches will please any child. Be prepared with a few different types of cookies such as peanut butter, chocolate chip, and sugar. Vanilla and chocolate flavored ice cream generally works best for these sandwiches. Have plenty of toppings on hand such as different types of sprinkles, chocolate chips, crushed nuts, or even fudge. Put one scoop of ice cream on a cookie, then place another cookie on top and squeeze the sandwich together. Trim the excess ice cream around the edges. Have a few bowls of the different types of toppings and let the children twirl the ends of the cookie sandwich through whichever topping they desire.

Letting the children help decorate the cupcakes will save you work while adding an incredibly enjoyable experience for the children. Prepare your cupcake batter as usual, only do not use cupcake liners and a muffin pan. Pour the batter into ice cream cones and bake as usual. Have the icing prepared and topping bowls ready with small candy pieces, sprinkles, colored sugar, or any other topping you desire. When it is time for cake, allow the children decorate their cupcake-filled cone. Colored cones add a special effect and you can dye the icing in smaller batches to give the children even more decoration choices. Try making the birthday child a special cupcake in a small waffle bowl cone.

Making edible pudding that looks like dirt provides an experience to remember for a child. Mix an 8-ounce package of softened cream cheese, 1/2 cup of butter, and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Then add two 5- to 6-ounce packages of instant vanilla pudding mix and one 12-ounce package of whipped cream such as Cool Whip. In a large flowerpot or bucket put a layer of crushed Oreo or similar cookie, followed by a layer of the pudding mixture. Repeat until all ingredients are used. Leave a layer of cookies for the top layer to add to the dirt effect. Chill to fully set the pudding. Adding gummy worms to the pudding mixture, and a few lying on the top, adds to the overall dirt effect.

Having a pizza party can be spiced up even more with a pizza cake. Bake a white cake as directed in a round cake pan. Use food coloring to dye the icing red to resemble pizza sauce. For cheese, you can use shredded coconut or grated white chocolate. Use Fruit Roll-Ups or fruit by the foot to cut out round pieces to resemble pepperoni. Alternately your local grocery store may have small red gummy candy pieces you could substitute for the pepperoni.

Cookie pizza is another sweet addition to a pizza party. Prepare the cookie dough on a round baking stone or in a small round pizza pan. Bake as directed. Allow the cookie to cool completely. Layer the top of the cookie with icing. Top the icing with sprinkles, colored sugar, chocolate pieces, gummy bears, or any other small candy. Cut into slices and serve just as you would pizza. Alternately, you can prepare brownie the same way. Instead of candy as the toppings, try topping the icing with sliced bananas or strawberries. Cool Whip is a great replacement for sugary icing for either of the sweet pizzas.