Does your son or daughter enjoy spending time in the kitchen preparing food
for the family? Maybe you should consider a cooking-themed birthday this
year. Including a child in the preparation of cooking satisfies their
creative desires and teaches the basic skills for making healthy food.
Gathering for any birthday party usually includes food, but for a cooking
party, the preparation of the food becomes the party theme.
Start out by giving each guest part of their goody bag at the beginning of
the party. An inexpensive child’s apron can be found on Oriental Trading
(along with some cute chef hats). Give the aprons a personal touch by
purchasing iron-on letters to spell out each child’s name.
Get in the kitchen
Begin with Appetizers – Build your own Bugs or Mosaic Peppers.
Set up stations with pretzel rods (for logs) and peanut butter. Let the
kids create caterpillars by placing grapes, cherry tomatoes, blueberries or
other small fruits on top. You can even add sugar eyes that can be found in
the baking section of the grocery store. To make the Mosaic Peppers, cut up
green, red, orange and yellow bell peppers in small pieces. Use a base of
crackers spread with cream cheese and let your food artists create
delicious masterpieces.
Main Dish Ideas – Cookie Cutter Pizza
Create your own pizzas with homemade pizza dough. You can either purchase
the dough already made or add to the fun by making it from scratch. Let
everyone roll out the dough and cut with cookie cutters. Spread pizza sauce
on top and decorate with cheese, veggies or pepperoni before putting it in
the oven. These bite-sized treats will be a hit with any age group!
Desserts – Birthday cake is not for everyone and hard to create as a group.
An alternative choice for a sweet send-off is banana foil packets. Simply
slice open a banana (but leave it with the peel on) and stuff the banana
with mini marshmallows, chocolate or peanut butter chips. Place inside a
foil packet and cook at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Carefully remove from
peel and serve with ice cream.
Make your own goody bags
In addition to the aprons, send your guests on their way with treats they
can make at home. Pinterest is a great source of food-in-a-jar gifts.
Purchase mason jars and provide a mixing recipe for the guests to fill the
jars. Seal and include cooking instructions for the kids to make another
day at home. Check out the side bar for ideas.
Food Related Games
Food Pictionary – Make a list of foods like hamburgers, mac and cheese or
soup and write on separate index cards. Place cards in a bowl and let the
guests pick one. Provide a dry erase board and let players take turns
drawing the food written on the card while the other partygoers guess.
Name that Produce – Head to the market to find unusual fruits and
vegetables. Place on a table with a number on each one. Players need to
identify the produce from a word bank list. The player who guesses the most
correct answers wins a prize.
Taste Test – Play this game blindfolded for an extra element of fun. Give
players spoons and let them taste each item to see if they can identify it.
Try things like applesauce, pumpkin puree and sour cream, or chunkier foods
like fruit slices or cookie pieces. Check with parents for allergies before
playing this game.
Bucket of Fun – Make a large bowl of popcorn and place in the center of the
table. Break the kids up into teams with one player from each team on
opposite sides of the table. One person on the team holds a plastic cup on
his head while his partner throws popcorn into the cup. Set a time limit –
a minute or two – and then switch places. The team with the most popcorn in
both cups wins! It’s harder than you think!
