My son will be turning 5 in October and I am having trouble trying to plan his birthday party. We found out last winter that my son is allergic to all kinds of foods. He cannot have any dairy, gluten, eggs, yeast, chocolate, soy, and about 85 other foods. So, he cannot have any kind of cake or candy. I am really struggling with how to celebrate his birthday without the normal foods that you'd have at a party. I'd like to have a party that doesn't revolve around food. Of course, he's already talking about blowing out candles on his cake. I want him to enjoy his party without focussing on the fact that he's not having cake. Any ideas are appreciated!
Thanks to everyone for your great ideas. I have decided to have my son's birthday party at the Deanna Rose Farm and focus on pumpkins for our activity. I'm doing the party from 1PM to 3:30PM so that it won't be during lunch. I'll also be letting the parents know that I won't be serving cake, etc. at the party due to my son's allergies. We'll be decorating pumpkins and I'll put candles on the top of my son's pumpkin so that he'll have something to blow out. The farm has hay rides, pony rides, fishing, playgrounds, etc. So there will be plenty to do for fun!
You can put candles on anything. It could be his favorite food spaghetti or a rice crispy cake or even a tower made of toy legos. It might be the candles that are important to him and not the food?
If he's really just wanting to blow out the candles, you could always decorate a styrofoam cake & still have the kids sings happy birthday - the whole ceremonial thing, but obciously you CANT eat a styrofoam cake so hopefully it would be less of an issue (some stores decorate these as well). I don't know what kind of foods he can eat, but this is his party & the kids have to accept what he accepts. The dirty dice game is a blast (we call it rob your neighbor), I have played it at school parties even. Taking the kids someplace as others have suggested is a great idea (have to check on cost though) as I have found too the kids dont want to stop to eat so it's a nonissue. There's always a treasure hunt (probably with adult help for this age group). Some old-fashioned games, which keeps kids busy are the tie the balloon around the ankle & play music while they try to pop each others, last one in wins, I've played hot potato with their take home bags while we were waiting for the parents to arrive - only the one who has it when the music stops, keeps it - just a time killer, musical chairs, any relays - ping pong ball / cotton ball on a spoon, pass the pumpkin behind your back. Another game I've played at our church & the kids loved is each kid gets say 15 pumpkin seeds, a dixie cup & straw - then they have to suck the pumpkin seeds to the straw & drop them in the cup without using their hands - they loved it. If you're daring you could have pumpkin painting / decorating contest. As long as you keep them busy they aren't going to be thinking about food. The important thing is to find an acceptable solution for you son's cake so he's not too disappointed & discuss it with him in advance. Just a side note on the allergies...have you checked into NAET or other homepathic solutions? My son did NAET & he's a whole new kid - didn't even know he had allergies. It's hard on a kid to grow up with so many allergies. Good luck & just keep everyone busy & it will be fun for your son & his guests!
I would give a call to Whole Foods. They have tons of food items for food allergies. I was watching Emeril Green and there was Grandfather, who was taking care of his granddaughter and she had tons of food allergies. They were able to make a pasta and brownies for her. I always see gluten free items in the store and other items for allergies. Hope this helps! I hope your child has a wonderful birthday!
Have a party at a pumpkin patch and have him blow candles on a pumpkin.
Have you tried this website: glutenanddairyfree.com
Lots of food ideas there! One of my friends uses this website for her sons who are also unable to eat many, many foods. & I do know that she has used several of the dessert recipes.
As for non-food party ideas, love the pumpkin patch idea! Any outside venue would work. Indoors, you could do a carnival theme - with lots of stations set up with games/activities at each so that the kids can just bounce around from one "booth" to another. This takes lots of parent volunteers, but is a blast....& it prevents the kids having to wait to take turns.
One word of recommendation: please tell the parents beforehand what you are doing & how you are accommodating your son's needs. I've found that a little bit of prep on the other parents' part really helped with our own situation - my son was diagnosed with a degenerative hip disease at age 6 & at age 22 is still battling it. By sharing "what would be & not be" at each party, the other kids knew what would be missing & what we would be doing. It went a long way in preventing awkward moments! Have fun!
My mom and dad were king of the non-food parties! We always played a game that we called dirty dice. But don't google it... you get some very non-kid-friendly Web pages! Mom used tupperware containers and put two dice in each one. She had us sit in a circle. She spaced the dice evenly around the circle. (12 kids: 3 dice pairs) In the middle of the circle was a pile of wrapped presents. Whenever anyone rolled a pair, they were able to take a present. When all the gifts were gone, we opened them. Then the fun begins! Mom set the timer for five minutes. Whenever we rolled a pair, we could take gifts from other people. When the timer went off, the game was done. It was a blast! And we always shared with those who didn't have many gifts. Some of the gifts she gave us: bubbles, cards, crayons, activity books, mini slinkys... she always looked for things in bulk and then wrapped them individually.
While we were doing that, my dad would set up some big speakers and some strobe lights. (He was in a band... any lamp with cool fabric thrown over it will give a cool effect.) When we were done playing with our gifts, we helped him carry the chairs and scoot the table out of the kitchen. Then it was dance party time! We always had a blast!
Some other ideas: Go on a walk and pick up colorful leaves. Have the kids arrange them on a sheet of waxed paper. When they are ready, put another sheet over it and iron. Instant art!
The kids can make their own "Goop" with cornstarch, water, and food coloring. They just mix cornstarch and water together until the texture they like, and color with food coloring. A great outdoor activity.
How about a fresh fruit cake? I see fruit "flowers" in baskets so maybe cut up star fruits, strawberries, grapes and put them on sticks as flowers or use them as kebobs. Even the watermelon basket of fruit. But I really like the pumpkin idea that was posted!!
Why not make him a cookie cake out of stuff he can eat.
Maybe get a snocone machine and make those .I am trying to brainstorm for ya. Give them sidewalk chalk and let them draw on the driveway,playdoh cake so he can at least blow out the candles on his non edible cake"Tell him U can't have your cake and eat it too" Jokingly of course. I know its not funny!!! fingerpaint and crafts.Good luck!
Have a Pumpkin carving party - get parents involved. Every year a friend has one and we have a blast (it's great family time - let parents know they have to be there). They set up tables with news paper everywhere we carve the pumpkins and then set them all up so everyone can see them. We do bring our own pumpking carving tools. You could also so some simple games (relay races and they type of thing). When they do theirs they live in the middle of no where and own horses that pull wagons so we have wagon rides instead of games. Now we do have dinner while there, pot luck type of thing. And for food you could do fruits and vegges, things that your son can have. I seen a show on BBC one day where they took a group of kids, same kids 2 parties. One with the traditional party foods and one with healthy stuff, air popped pop corn, veggie sticks, fruit and the kids had as much fun at the healthy party as the non healthy. Come up with some fun theme and lots of stuff to do and they won't notice the lack of candy. We had our daughters party in the summer and did a hula party. Slip-n-slide, kiddie pool and a sprinkler and those kids had a blast and I had to drag them away for cake and ice cream. I also know some one that did the fall thing and they did it at night and showed a movie on the side of their house with a projector, like a drive in. And they did games prior that were related to the movie. Good luck and have fun!!
I know there are different levels of allergies - from sensitivities to things to deathly allergic. How allergic is your son to these things? Can he have some things in moderation or just for this special occasion?? Just curious.
We ALL need to eat better for our health, but hard to celebrate birthdays without your traditional goodies.
You've got lots of good ideas! Pumpkin patch would be great being an October bday. Fruit basket is also a great idea - the kids would like the fun shapes.
the pumpkin idea is really cute! have a candy free halloween party and make it all about fruit and the things your son can eat...put candles in apples...whatever works for you and your son! have a ton of games and these parties are so short that it can revolve around the actual party. make craft bags as a give away or have them make a craft to take home in lieu of a candy bag. enjoy!
Matt Ross Community Center (metcalf and 80th or so) has birthday parties at their indoor pool. My son had his 5th birthday there, and it was hard to get the kids to eat their cupcakes because they wanted to swim! You can find out info on the overland park website.
Pumpkin patch sounds like an awesome idea too!
M.....in the day in age of stores that cater specifically to health foods ( and the fact that I now see Gluten free products on the shelves in stores such as walmart) Your son is going to be 5....move heaven and earth to make the kid a birthday cake...it may be tricky and I know he has a lot of allergies but where there is a will there is a way...there has to be something he can eat, you may have to go on a creative ledge...but I wouldn't think it would be impossible, you have access to the internet, surely there is a site out there that caters to recipes for people who have food allergies. I feel sorry for him, but I do have hope for you...my hubby was allergic to dairy, wheat, red dye and a slew of other things as a child and he out grew 90 % of his allergies. I am sorry for such a negative post I just feel strongly that some way the kid needs a birthday cake...if he was say 12 I would say it was no biggy, but he is still so young...lots of luck, I hope he does have a great party.
B.
