How To Have A Sugar-Free Birthday Party

Are you throwing a birthday party, but would prefer to serve sugar free food to your guests? Do you want to host a birthday party that doesn't send the kids home bonkers with a sugar overload? Here are some ideas on how to have a sugar free birthday party - your guests will be impressed by how good sugar free food tastes and looks too!

At the end of the article is a FREE sugar-free birthday party eBook to download. Enjoy!

The complete beginners guide to how to have a sugar free birthday party

First and foremost, don't make a fuss that it is sugar-free. Don't make it a big deal. Be excited and enthusiastic about the fun you have planned and what will be served. I will show you how to have a sugar free birthday party and still enjoy pizza, ice cream and most importantly, have fun. Fun shouldn't = junk food.

Food

Firstly, let's see how we can cut back on sugar that has slowly crept into every party in recent years. I for one was completely guilty of this.

Does food need to be involved in every activity? - instead of 'decorate the cupcakes' activity, what about make a clay animal? Paint ceramics? Or any other art activity. Just get a bit creative.
Do games have to involve a candy/chocolate prize? - play pop the balloon but instead of candy inside, add a little toy. Hand out erasers, pencils, stickers, football cards or even create a collectors card and at the end of the party, the stamps = prizes.
Does pass the parcel have to have some sweets/candy in between each layer of wrapping? - place stickers, erasers, stamps, balloons, pieces of a puzzle in between each layer, then set the children the task of making the puzzle at the end.
Does the birthday cake have to be a sugar bomb? - rather than have icing/frosting plus fondant plus sweets/candy plus chocolate plus edible decorations plus any other sugary treat that can be crammed on top?
Do children need to be served sugary soda, juice or flavoured milk? - Serve cute flavoured waters or set up a water station where children absolutely love to make their own combinations. Add cute straws, umbrellas, cups or bottles with no sugar hype.
Do you really need to add extra sweets/candy in your party bags? - instead look at this incredible idea from Sarah S, the most fabulous sugar free birthday party ninja over at TypeOneGrit. Instead of having a candy buffet, she made a party bag buffet. 6 months later and people are still talking about how much fun the party was.

My 5 Top Tips On Catered Party Venues

I asked politely for some simple changes when I booked my last 2 parties at the bowling alley and laser force. The staff were delightful and happy to oblige. The more requests they receive for healthy alternatives, the more they will see the value of adding healthy food options (birthday parties are big $business$).

I asked for water to be served instead of jugs (yes jugs) of soda.
I asked for the platter of chopped vegetable sticks and dips, but leave out the crisps. Ask for the vegetables to be served while doing their first activity. Children are hungriest when they first arrive at a party. The children tucked into the veggies and dips whilst bowling. They didn't even realise they were grazing on vegetables. By the time their meal arrived, most of them couldn't finish it. The prior vegetables 'crowded out' their junk. Sneaky huh?
Take a look at their menu to see which is the best option. Chicken strips vs chicken nuggets (run, don't walk, away from those), real meat sausages vs hotdogs, fish pieces vs fish cakes (mainly cooked starch and a little undefined fish 'part'), wraps, sandwich bar (let the salad crowd out the junk and no sticky sauces) or hamburger patties. None of the options may be great, but you may just have to choose the best of a bad bunch. Ask for no tomato sauce/ketchup to be served.
Ask to bring your own cake.
Ask for the sweets to be left out of their party bags and supply an extra treat yourself (I added toys, football cards and erasers).

Birthday Cakes

My absolute go-to cake is my chocolate heaven cake. It is nut free, gluten free, grain free and no added sugar. I would ice it with a simple chocolate ganache or a cream cheese frosting. Be creative with decorations and use toys not sweets. The cake below (left) is decorated with green coloured cream cheese frosting and green coloured coconut and toys. So easy and zero talent required. It does even need to be smooth, in fact the messier the better to appear like grass. The cake on the right however (found on Pinterest) is a sugar bomb!

Interesting price comparison. My chocolate heaven cake cost me $13NZD ($ 8.83USD) and the cake on the right cost $59NZD ($40.23USD). Now maybe, just maybe, the junk food lovers will stop complaining how expensive real food is.