Planning the menu for your kid’s birthday party and wondering how to make it a win-win for the kids and you? Delicious bhi and healthy bhi? Snacks for kids’ party do not necessarily have to be fried, loaded with sugar or full of preservatives to be a hit.

The trick is to be inventive and come up with some novel ideas and present them to the kids in an appealing way.

Cheesy Fruit Skewers Cheese and fruit skewers are a great no mess snack for kids to have while running around and playing. And to make them sound even more interesting, you can reinvent and name them ‘fruit wands’! Just cut fruit or the cheese in a star or heart shape and put on the top of the ready skewer and you are all set. Grapes, strawberries, mangoes and pineapples pair really well with the basic cheddar cheese. Enjoy watching the kids gorge on them!

Wacky Watermelon Popsicles & Doughnuts A creative and fun way to make fruits the star of your kid’s birthday party. Cut the watermelon into slightly thick slices, insert ice-cream sticks and voila! You have watermelon popsicles as a fun and healthy party snack. For the doughnuts, cut the watermelons into round doughnut-like shapes and cover with homemade whipped cream. You can use coconut cream with some vanilla extract to make the whipped cream. It pairs really well with the watermelon. Just don’t forget the sprinkles. After all, what are doughnuts without sprinkles? Fruits for kids never tasted or looked as good!

Quirky Quesadillas With Mexican food becoming so popular recently, quesadillas are a fantastic option for healthy food for kids that can also make an equally smashing birthday party snack. You can literally mix any number of things with some calcium-rich cheese. From chopped vegetables to cottage cheese, tofu, and even red kidney beans aka rajma! Stuff them in tortilla bread and grill. Cut the quesadillas into fun and easy to hold shapes and they’re ready. Don’t forget to make some salsa as a side.

Popular Pasta A fabulous source of complex carbohydrates, pasta is something that almost every child will eat without fussing, and is available in many shapes and sizes. Make a batch of pasta in your child’s favourite shape, with lots of vegetables. Mushroom, baby corn, and broccoli go very well with pasta. You can also use readily available wheat pasta to go one step further in making the pasta even more wholesome and healthy. An all-time favourite, indeed!

Heavenly Hummus Extremely healthy and delicious, hummus is among the favourite snacks for kids’ party. Made from chickpeas, it has a tempting nutty flavour and tastes divine. To top it is thick enough not to be messy. Serve with chopped carrot & cucumber, or some healthy crackers and whole-grain bread. These will disappear before you know it!

Ever-popular Pizzas Cheesy pizzas are another all-time kids’ favourite. And you can easily make them healthy without compromising on the taste or appeal quotient. Boost the nutritional value and flavour with some chopped and stir-fried vegetables like mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, and onions. Or go with the basic tomatoes and basil leaves. Delight galore, for sure!

Monster Sandwiches Why bother serving plain old boring sandwiches with the crusts cut off? They will most probably just sit there, totally neglected. On the other hand, a little creative tinkering and garnishing can do wonders to them. All you need to do is to cut the sandwiches into round shapes; add eyes and monster teeth, with olives and carrots respectively. Ta-da! A healthy, delicious and innovative snack is ready for the kids to devour! Spooky and tasty fun, this one!

Delectable Cakes and More What’s the best thing about cakes, apart from taste, of course? You can put literally anything in them, and your child won’t even know as long as it looks and tastes good. Sneak in all the healthy stuff, nuts, oats, jaggery, carrots, bananas, and so much more, when baking those yummy cakes, muffins and bread. Banana bread, carrot muffin, zucchini muffins, and squash cake are a few favourites that are both healthy and delicious. This one is a fail-proof trick!

Yummy Yoghurt Popsicles Low-fat yoghurt is an excellent source of calcium, and children LOVE popsicles. To make it a healthy and delicious party snack, just blend some yoghurt with a fruit of your kid’s choice – strawberry, mango, pineapple and peach, to name a few – and pour the mix into popsicle moulds. Let them set and bring them out during the party, the kids will be delighted and so will you. This one will get you ‘Parent of the year’ award!

Delish Smoothies & Milkshakes Packed equally with nutrients and taste, you will not hear any ‘nays’ for these delectable treats. You can use yoghurt for the smoothie base and add whichever fruits your kid fancies. You can also sneak in a couple of vegetables into the smoothies, the kids won’t even know. Mango, strawberry, kiwi, bananas are favourite fruits that make the ever-favourite milkshakes. Go the extra mile and freeze the fruits beforehand so that when you blend the ingredients together, you don’t have to add any ice! Cheers to your kid’s good health!