21 Fun Ideas for Food for a Kids' Birthday Party at Home

Quick Answer

What type of food is served at a kid’s birthday party at home?

Kids' birthday party food should be tasty with a playful edge. These fun food types can range from colorful cakes to pizzas, ice cream, and popcorn. You can also take food normally served to adults and tweak its presentation to cater to a kid crowd.

21 best foods for a kid’s birthday party

Are you hosting a kid’s birthday party and don’t know what to make? Draw your inspiration for food ideas from the following:

1. Rainbow pancakes

These are so versatile, as you can make so many different variations in varying colors for kids. For instance, make a stack of rainbow or multicolored pancakes. Shape the pancakes into different shapes like a snowman or puppy, and decorate them with berries, mini marshmallows, or sweets.

2. Popsicles

Make a creamy layered orange and kiwi popsicle for the birthday party. Buy a tub of their favoriteice cream. Then place alternating ice cream and fruit layers onto a popsicle stick, freeze overnight, and serve. 

3. The classic funfetti birthday cake

Kid’s birthday party food would not be complete without this birthday party staple. Bake a vanilla cake, and add some pretty sprinkles to your batter. Frost the cake with white frosting, and decorate that with more sprinkles. 

4. Cupcakes

Make a batch of cupcakes, decorate it with swirledfrosting, and place a mini candy cane in each cupcake's center. Or add a swirl of dessert-like tiramisu atop some freshly baked cupcakes. 

5. Cookies

Use a few animal-shaped cookie cutters and bake some animal cookies. You can also bake these in the shape of butterflies or superheroes and decorate them accordingly with frosting or buttercream. 

6. A candy buffet

Candies are synonymous with kid’s birthday parties. Therefore, don’t forget to reserve a space at your table for just sweets. For this, place a selection of candies like M&M’s, Snickers, and Butterfingers in mason jars and serve. 

7. Popcorn unicorn style

Make or buypopcorn. Add some multicolored melted candy melts, star-shaped sprinkles, and colorful mini marshmallows to your popcorn for an instant burst of color and unicorn look. 

8. Sloppy Joe sandwiches

Cook your ground beef, sausage, and sauce filling. Then fill your sesame seed buns with the filling, and serve with some tater tots. 

9. Candy apples

These are sticky, crunchy, and delicious. Buy a bag of whole applesand some popsicle sticks. Make a toffee sauce with sugar, glucose, vinegar, and flavoring, and cover the popsicle apples in the sauce before serving. 

10. Mac and cheese bites

Buy some premade mac and cheese bites on Instacart. These delicious bread-crumbed treats with noodles and creamy cheese sauce are perfect for hungry kids. You can serve this with broccoli and a creamy cheese sauce for additional flavor. 

11. Corn dogs

This skewered sausage decked with fried cornmeal batter is a kid’s party favorite. Serve your corn dogs with ketchup, mayonnaise, or mustard, and a side of baked potato wedges. 

12. Pizza pinwheels

A creative variation of adult food, pizza pinwheels are scrumptious kid’s birthday party food. Buy premade pizza pinwheels on Instacart, bake, and serve with spaghetti sauce or ranch dip. 

13. Cake pops with sprinkles and butterflies

Another kid’s birthday party must-have, you can buy a few packs of variety cake pops. Display these in mason jars, or place them individually in plastic bags with a tied ribbon as a beautifully adorned party favor. 

14. Cheeseburgers and fries

Purchase beef patties, hamburger buns, and sliced deli cheese on Instacart. Then layer the ingredients on the buns, and add onion rings, sliced tomato, and lettuce. You may also drizzle the hamburgers with jalapeno cheese sauce or a classic burger sauce. 

15. Nacho hot dogs

Get creative when you combine these two party favorites. Make a filling comprising diced sausages and salsa. Place the filling inside some nacho cheese flavored taco shells, and you have a nacho hot dog. 

16. Ice cream cookie sandwiches

Buy a few tubs of kid’s ice cream flavors like tutti frutti, blueberry, cotton candy, cookie dough, and peanut butter. Grab a few of their favorite chocolate chip cookies or sugar cookies, and make a batch of ice cream cookie sandwiches.

17. A fruit slushy

Kids find it hard to resist a slushy. These frozen desserts are also a great way to incorporate a healthy snack like fruit into a kid’s party menu. Add fruit of your choice like watermelon, honeydew, banana, cherries, or strawberries to your slushy mixture before blending. 

18. Frozen yogurt

Another delicious frozen concoction, you’ll mostly need a fun-flavored yogurt like chocolate, strawberry, or cookie-flavored yogurt. Freeze the yogurt, place it in ice cream cups, and garnish with sprinkled nuts, banana, strawberry, or chocolate chips. 

19. Oreo dirt cups

Get creative with the cookie most kids love. Buy some Oreo cookies, crush them, and mix them with readymade chocolate mousse. Place into transparent miniature tubs, and decorate with crushed Oreo cookies and some gummy worms. 

20. Fairy pretzels

Buy some pretzels in stick or twisted knot form, then melt your choice of candies and pour them over the pretzels. Add some additional birthday flair to the pretzels with pink, blue, orange, and white tubular-shaped sprinkles. 

21. Octopus Hotdog

Slice the bottom of a hotdog length-wise 4 times to create the look of octopus legs. Then cut into small holes near the top to represent the eyes. Lay on top of a bowl of noodles to act as your "seascape!"

Food for a kid’s birthday party made simple

Catering for a kid’s birthday party at home needn’t be difficult. All you need is a few simple ideas on how to make ordinary foods a bit playful. Find all of the food you need for a spectacular kid's birthday party onInstacart.