As parents know all too well, kids’ birthday parties often go hand in hand with pizza, chicken nuggets, hamburgers, cake, ice cream and other high calorie foods and sweets.

However, consider providing more nutritious options for your child’s next party. While occasional treats can be part of a healthy diet, consuming too many foods with too much sugar, salt, fat and calories can lead kids to develop bad eating habits and gain more weight than they should. With so many parties and activities for children these days, other parents will surely appreciate you offering healthier party food.

You may worry that kids won’t like or eat healthy food, but the key is to serve good-tasting, familiar food that fits into a fun and entertaining theme. And, it’s a bonus if you also incorporate some activities which help the children get some exercise and/or enjoy the outdoors.

Fun Fact: The four most common birth months for newborns in 2013 were August, July, October and September, in that order, according to Baby Center.

With summer birthday season coming up soon, we’ve put together some fun and healthful party ideas.

6 Fun and Healthful Kids’ Summer Birthday Ideas

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar: An Eric Carle-themed bash with a buffet of food from the popular book, fun art projects and a caterpillar hunt.
• Farmer’s Market Birthday Party: Activities include “shopping” for fruits and veggies, potato sack races and a watermelon eating contest, and fruits and veggies are served along with desserts. We love the “Eat your veggies” sign.
• Summer Camp Theme Party: Cozy up to a faux or real campfire, and enjoy camp themed activities like a Summer Olympics.
• Cooking Theme Birthday Party: Children can learn how to bake from scratch, toss pizza dough and decorate cupcakes – all in a playful atmosphere of fun!
• Luau Party: This popular theme lends itself to serving fresh fruit like pineapple.
• Garden-themed Birthday Party: A garden-themed birthday party pretty much demands you serve fresh fruits and vegetables. Possible activities include painting rocks and planting seeds and a scavenger hunt.

Healthier Birthday Party Food and Drink

Sneakz milk shakes are sure to please birthday party guests with their great taste, but they also sneak in a half serving of veggies per 8 oz serving. Shelf stable packaging makes them convenient for both indoor and outdoor events.

Check out 25 creative and healthy party food options with fresh fruits and veggies and some more great ideas for healthy party foods and favors here, here and here.