Celebrations and Classroom Parties
Benefits of Healthy Celebrations
Healthy Kids Learn Better: Research clearly demonstrates that good nutrition
is linked to better behavior and academic performance. To provide the best
possible learning environment for children, schools must also provide an
environment that supports healthy behaviors.
Provides Consistent Messages: Providing healthy classroom celebrations
demonstrates a school commitment to promoting healthy behaviors. It supports
the classroom lessons students are learning about health, instead of
contradicting them. Healthy celebrations promote positive lifestyle choices
to reduce student health risks and improve learning.
Promotes a Healthy School Environment: In order to positively change eating
behaviors, students need to receive consistent, reliable health information
and ample opportunity to use it. Healthy celebrations are an important part
of providing a healthy school environment.
Creates Excitement About Nutrition: Children are excited about new and
different things, including fun party activities. School staff and parents
need not worry that children will be disappointed if typical party foods
aren’t served in the classroom. Holiday treats and traditional birthday
parties with cake will still be available at home.
Protects Children with Food Allergies: When parents send in food, it is
difficult to ensure the safety of children with food allergies. Schools can
protect food allergic children by providing nonfood celebrations.
Activities to Celebrate the Child
Schools can help promote a positive learning environment by providing healthy
celebrations that shift the focus from the food to the child. Choose a
variety of activities, games and crafts that children enjoy.
Plan special party games and activities. Ask parents to provide game
supplies, pencils, erasers, stickers and other small school supplies instead
of food.
Create a healthy party idea book. Send in healthy recipes and ideas for
activities, games and crafts. We can compile these ideas into a book that we
can use.
Give children extra recess time instead of a class party. For birthdays, let
the birthday child choose and lead an active game for everyone.
Instead of food, purchase a book for the classroom or school library in the
birthday child’s name. Read it to the class or invite the child’s parents to
come in and read it to the class.
Instead of a party, organize a special community service project, e.g.,
invite Senior Citizens in for lunch, make “curechiefs” for chemotherapy
patients, and blankets for rescue dogs. Involve parents in planning the
project and providing needed materials.
Create a “Celebrate Me” book. Have classmates write stories or poems and draw
pictures to describe what is special about the birthday child.
Provide special time with the principal or another adult, such as taking a
walk around the school at recess.
Create a special birthday package. The birthday child wears a sash and crown,
sits in a special chair and visits the principal’s office for a special
birthday surprise (pencil, sticker, birthday card, etc.)
The birthday child is the teacher’s assistant for the day, and gets to do
special tasks like make deliveries to office, lead the line, start an
activity, and choose a game or story.
Sing a birthday song.
Food-Free Celebrations Examples
Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa
These holidays provides the opportunity to focus on community
outreach. Instead of throwing a party, have each class pool its efforts in
honor of a worthy cause.
Examples include:
· decorating pillowcases to give to a homeless shelter.
· making holiday cards for a nursing home.
· collecting animal treats for the SPCA.
Halloween
· There's more to Halloween than just candy. Focus the students on wearing a
costumes related to a favorite book for “Character Dress-Up Day”. Make
Halloween into a drama day where kids get to make their own costumes or masks
and write and act out their own plays.
St. Patrick’s
Teach an Irish step dance.
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for what we have and for the people we
have in our lives. Have students share what they are thankful for by writing
a poem, drawing a picture, or telling a story.
Valentine’s Day
Have students write down one positive comment about each classmate,
e.g., "you're a good friend, you have a nice smile, or you're smart" and pass
them out for valentines.
Have them write poems and read them aloud to the class. Vote on the best one
and have a Valentine's Day assembly showcasing each classroom winner.
Ideas for Healthy Celebrations
Typically, foods for school celebrations include cupcakes, candy,
cookies and soda. So what’s the harm? There is nothing wrong with an
occasional treat, but unhealthy choices have become the norm rather than the
exception. Parties, treats used as classroom rewards, food fundraisers,
vending machines, snacks and school stores constantly expose children to high-
fat, high-sugar, nutrient deficient choices.
Constant exposure to low-nutrient foods makes it difficult for
children to learn how to make healthy food choices. By providing students
with nutritious choices wherever food is available (including the classroom),
schools can positively influence children’s eating habits.
Parties can even incorporate a fun nutrition lesson by involving
children in the planning of healthy snacks. When healthy foods are chosen as
part of the festivities, it can be an opportunity to reinforce nutrition
lessons as well. By increasing children’s awareness and encouraging them to
eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day, we can help them develop
life-long healthy habits. Try these ideas for fun activities and healthy
foods at school parties and other celebrations.
Healthy Food Ideas
Fruit: Fruit is naturally sweet, so most kids love it. Fruit can be served
whole, sliced, cut in half, cubed, or in wedges. Canned, frozen, and dried
fruits often need little preparation.
*Apple
*Apricots
*Bananas
*blackberries
*Blueberries
*Cantaloupe
*Cherries
*Grapefruit
*Grapes (red, green, or purple)
*Honeydew Melon
*Watermelon
*Mandarin Oranges
*Mangoes
*Nectarines
*Oranges
*Peaches
*Pears
*Pineapple
*Plums
*Raspberries
*Strawberries
*Tangerines
*Kiwis (cut in half and give each child a spoon to eat it)
Applesauce (Unsweetened), Fruit Cups, and Canned Fruit – These have a long
shelf life and are low-cost, easy, and healthy if canned in juice or light
syrup. Examples of unsweetened applesauce include Mott’s Natural Style and
Mott’s Healthy Harvest line. Dole and Del Monte offer a variety of single-
serve fruit bowls.
Dried Fruit - Try raisins, apricots, apples, cranberries, pineapple, papaya,
and others with little or no added sugars.
Frozen Fruit – Try freezing grapes or buy frozen blueberries, strawberries,
peaches, mangoes, and melon.
Fruit Leathers – Some brands of fruit snacks are more like candy than fruit,
and should be avoided due to their high content of added sugars and lack of
fruit. Brands to avoid include Fruit Rollups, Farley’s Fruit Snacks, Sunkist
Fruit Gems, Starburst Fruit Chews, Mamba Fruit Chews, Jolly Rancher Fruit
Chews, Original Fruit Skittles, and Amazin’ Fruit Gummy Bears. Try Natural
Value Fruit Leathers and Stretch Island Fruit Leathers, which come in a
variety of flavors and don’t have added sugars.
Fruit Salad – Get kids to help make a fruit salad. Use a variety of colored
fruits to add to the appeal.
Popsicles – Most so-called “fruit” popsicles have added sugars and should be
reserved for an occasional treat. Look for popsicles made from 100% fruit
juice with no added caloric sweeteners, such as Breyers or Dole “No Sugar
Added” fruit bars.
Deliveries – Deliveries of fresh fruit or platters of cut-up fruit are a
convenient option offered by some local grocery stores.
Vegetables: Vegetables can be served raw with low fat dip or salad dressing:
*Broccoli
*Carrot Sticks or Baby Carrots
*Cauliflower
*Celery Sticks
*Cucumber
*Peppers (green, red, or yellow)
*Snap Peas
*Snow Peas
*String Beans
*Tomato slices or grape or cherry tomatoes
*Yellow Summer Squash Slices
*Zucchini Slices
Dips – Try low-fat salad dressings, like fat-free Ranch or Thousand Island,
store-bought light dips, bean dips, guacamole, hummus (which comes in dozens
of flavors), salsa, or peanut butter.
Salad – Make a salad or set out veggies like a salad bar and let the kids
build their own salads.
Soy - Edamame (pronounced “eh-dah-MAH-may”) are fun to eat and easy to serve.
(Heat frozen edamame in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes).
Veggie Pockets – Cut whole wheat pitas in half and let kids add veggies with
dressing or hummus.
Ants on a Log – Let kids spread peanut butter on celery (with a plastic
knife) and add raisins.
Healthy Grains (bread, crackers, cereals, etc.): Though most kids eat plenty
of grain products, too many of those grains are cookies, snack cakes, sugary
cereals, Rice Krispy treats, and other refined grains that are high in sugars
or fat. Try to serve mostly whole grains, which provide more fiber, vitamins,
and minerals than refined grains. In addition, try to keep the added sugars
to less than 35% by weight and the saturated and trans fat low (i.e., less
than 10% of calories, or about one gram or less per serving).
Whole Wheat English Muffins, Pita, or Tortillas – Stuff them with veggies or
dip them in hummus or bean dip.
Breakfast Cereal – Either dry or with low-fat milk, whole grain cereals like
Cheerios, Grape-Nuts, Raisin Bran, Frosted Mini Wheats, and Wheaties make
good snacks. Look for cereals with no more than 35% added sugars by weight
(or roughly 8 grams of sugar per serving).
Crackers – Whole-grain crackers like Triscuits, which come in different
flavors or thin crisps (or similar woven wheat crackers), Kalvi Rye crackers,
or whole wheat Matzos can be served alone or with toppings, like low-fat
cheese, peanut butter, or low-fat, reduced-sodium luncheon meat.
Rice Cakes - Look for rice cakes made from brown (whole grain) rice. They
come in many flavors, and can be served with or without toppings.
Popcorn – Look for low-fat popcorn in a bag or microwave popcorn. Or you can
air pop the popcorn and season it, e.g., by spraying it with vegetable oil
spray and adding parmesan cheese, garlic powder, or other non-salt spices.
Baked Tortilla Chips - Baked tortilla chips are usually low in fat, and taste
great with salsa and/or bean dip. Look for brands with less sodium.
Granola and Cereal Bars - Look for whole grain granola bars that are low in
fat and sugars, like Barbara’s Granola Bars (cinnamon raisin, oats and honey,
and carob chip flavors), Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars (cinnamon,
oats ‘n honey, maple brown sugar, and peanut butter flavors), Nature Valley
Chewy Trail Mix Bars (fruit and nut flavor), and Quaker Chewy Granola Bar
(peanut butter and chocolate chunk flavor).
Pretzels, Breadsticks, and Flatbreads - These low-fat items can be offered as
snacks now and then. However, most of these snacks are not whole grain and
most pretzels are high in salt.
Low-Fat Dairy Foods: Dairy foods are a great source of calcium, which can
help to build strong bones. However, dairy products also are the biggest
sources of artery-clogging saturated fat in kids’ diets. To protect
children’s bones and hearts, make sure all dairy foods served are low-fat or
fat-free.
Yogurt – Look for brands that are low-fat or fat-free, moderate in sugars (no
more than about 30 grams of sugars in a 6-oz. cup), and high in calcium (at
least 25% of daily value [DV] for calcium in a 6-oz. cup). Examples include
Danimals Drinkable Low-Fat Yogurt, Go-Gurt by Yoplait, or cups of low-fat or
non-fat yogurt from Stonyfield Farm, Dannon, Horizon, and similar store
brands. Low-fat or non-fat yogurt also can be served with fresh or frozen
fruit or low-fat granola.
Low-Fat Cheese - Cheese provides calcium, but often its saturated fat price
tag is too high. Cheese is the number two source of heart-damaging saturated
fat in children’s diets. Even with low-fat and reduced-fat cheese, be sure to
serve with other foods like fruit, vegetables, or whole grain crackers.
Choose reduced-fat cheeses like Trader Joe’s Armenian Style Braided; Borden
or Sargento Light Mozzarella string cheese; Frigo Light Cheese Heads; Kraft
Twist- Ums; Polly-O Twisterellas; the Laughing Cow’s Light Original Mini
Babybel; or Cabot 50% Light Vermont Cheddar.
Low-Fat Pudding and Frozen Yogurt - Low-fat or fat-free pudding and frozen
yogurt should be served only as occasional treats, because they are high in
added sugars.
Nuts: Since nuts are high in calories, it is best to serve them along with
another snack such as fruit. A small handful of nuts is a reasonable serving
size. Examples include peanuts, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, cashews, or soy
nuts. Look for nuts that are unsalted.
Trail Mix - Trail mixes are easy to make and store well in a sealed
container. Items to include: low-fat granola, whole grain cereals, peanuts,
cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and dried fruits like
raisins, apricots, apples, pineapple, or cranberries.
WARNING: A small but growing number of kids have severe peanut and/or tree
nut allergies. Before bringing in peanuts, peanut butter, or other nuts as a
snack, check to make sure none of the children has an allergy.
Healthy Beverages
Water – Water should be the main drink served to kids at snack times. Water
satisfies thirst and does not have sugar or calories. (Plus, it is low-cost
for care-givers!) If kids are used to getting sweetened beverages at snack
times, it may take a little time for them to get used to drinking water.
Seltzer - Carbonated drinks like seltzer, sparkling water, and club soda are
healthy options. They do not contain the sugars, calories, and caffeine of
sodas. Serve them alone or try making “healthy sodas” by mixing them with
equal amounts of 100% fruit juice.
Low-Fat and Fat-Free Milk - Milk provides key nutrients, such as calcium and
vitamin D. Choose fat-free (skim) or low-fat (1%) milk to avoid the heart-
damaging saturated fat found in whole and 2% (reduced-fat) milk. It is best
to serve fat-free versions of chocolate, strawberry, or other flavored milks
to help balance the extra calories coming from added sugars. Single-serve
containers of chocolate or other flavored whole or 2% milk drinks can be too
high in calories (400-550 calories) and saturated fat (1/3 of a day’s worth)
to be a healthy beverage for kids.
Soy and Rice Drinks - For children who prefer not to drink cow’s milk,
calcium fortified soy and rice drinks are good choices.
Fruit Juice - Try to buy 100% fruit juice and avoid the added sugars of juice
drinks, punches, fruit cocktail drinks, or lemonade. Drinks that contain at
least 50% juice and no additional caloric sweeteners are also healthful
options. To find 100% juice, look at beverage nutrition labels for the
percentage of the beverage that is juice. Orange, grapefruit, and pineapple
juices are more nutrient-dense and are healthier than apple, grape, and pear
juices. Many beverages like Capri Sun, V8-Splash, Tropicana Twisters, Sunny
Delight, Kool Aid Jammers, Hi-C, or juice drinks from Very Fine, Welch’s or
Snapple are easily mistaken for juice. However, those beverages are more like
soda than juice -- they are merely sugar water with a few tablespoons of
added juice. Fruit juice can be rich in vitamins, minerals, and cancer-
fighting compounds. However, it is high in calories. The American Academy of
Pediatrics recommends that children ages 1-6 years old drink no more than 6
ounces (one serving) of juice a day and children ages 7-18 years old drink no
more than 12 ounces (two servings) of juice a day.
Theme Party Examples
(Create Your Own Theme Parties Ideas)
Halloween
• Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
• Pumpkin Bread Muffins
Harvest or Thanksgiving
• Nut & Dried Fruit Trail Mix
• Corn Bread
Valentine’s Day
• Low Fat Angel Food Cake with Topped with Fresh Strawberries
• Cherry Tomatoes Filled with Low-fat Cottage Cheese Sprinkled with
Sunflower Seeds.
Spring
• Fruit Salad with Yogurt Dip
• Ants on a Log (peanut butter on celery sticks topped with raisins)
End of the Year or Summer
• Fresh Fruit Kabobs
• Veggie Sticks with Low fat Dip
• Banana Splits (bananas, fresh berries, low fat vanilla yogurt, low
fat granola)