How cute!

Veggies and hummus are pretty classic. You can use mini-cookie cutters to cut the veggies into cute shapes. If you eat cheese, do the same with the cheese.

I am also a huge fan of jalapeno poppers. Kids who don't like spicy won't like them, but I found so far that kids who are used to meat like the spice. (Scrape out the seeds carefully and they won't be too hot.)

Worst case scenario- if you, like me, face pressure and mean snarky comments from meat-eaters, just serve up a plate or two the pre-made appetizers from that section of the supermarket. I've put out chkn (fake meat) fingers and Amy's little quiches, and saved myself a lot of grief. I then go home and eat me some tofu.

I agree that hummus is a good choice (with veggies or pita triangles), mini cheese pizzas are good too (if you do cheese or vegan cheese works just as well). My kids love tofu fingers (breaded and fried like chicken finger - they can also be baked instead of fried) with barbeque sauce to dip and fruit kabobs.

I saw somewhere (perhaps in the defunct Cookie Mag, which I loved!) cupcakes made out of fruit and veggies!

They took cupcake papers and used cookie cutters to cut round and star and flower petal shaped pineapple, cucumbers, apple, banana, etc etc and then placed them into the cupcake papers. They stacked them up to make them look like cupcakes. The frosting and stuff was like cream cheese (if you are vegan they have better than cream cheese, though we think the better than sour cream is the best) or a simple frosting.

The looked SUPER cute! very festive! Wish I could find the picture!

Keep it simple, portable, and familiar. Kids at a party aren't going to eat much b/c they'll be pretty distracted.

Mini bagels, with or without schmears
Mini muffins (you can even call them cupcakes)
Mini rice cakes in fun flavors
Anything on a stick...cherry tomatos, cheese cubes, grapes, chickpeas, etc. (If its on a stick, kids will eat it.)
PB&J or cheese sandwiches cut into shapes with cookie cutters

Im really interested in this thread I have the exact situation happening in the next month (museum and all!)

We had our boys' 2nd birthday at the children's museum, also in the afternoon. We just happened to have a vegetarian menu, even though we aren't vegetarians. We had pretzels, cheese cubes, chips and salsa, goldfish, and I made peanut butter and jelly (and some pb-only and some jelly-only) finger sandwiches. It wasn't quite at lunchtime, so I just provided some light snacks.

Don't forget popcorn -- maybe in cute paper or cellophane bags?

bowls of stuff, with dixie cups for scooping-- cheddar bunnies, yogurt covered raisins, dried fruit, cherry tomatoes, etc. That way parents can scoop a cup of whatever for their kids, and voila- not terribly messy.

I don't know if you can get it where you live but in eastern states we have something called "tomato pie" which is sort of like cold pizza and VERY popular at childrens' parties.

It's a baked pizza type crust with a thick layer of essentially tomato paste topped with Parmesan cheese and served cold.

http://www.everything-tomatoes.net/tomato_pie_recipe.html

You can also order cheese pizza and ask them to cut it into squares for easier tiny portions.

Ants on a log!!!

(On the small chance you haven't heard of this, it's celery sticks with peanut butter, and then raisins are the ants. Amusing and delicious!)

Thank you all for the wonderful ideas! I am super motivated!!!

A quick qs....what kind of skewers are safe around children? ice -cream sticks - but will it be able to hold the fruit?
or regualr skewers and should i just cut the top off?

Keep the ideas coming!
Aprtment therapy - you are my "go to" resource!

Do you think drinking straws (snipped short?) would be stiff enough to skewer fruit? If you did softer fruits like grapes, orange sections, bananas and watermelon it could work, and they wouldn't be too dangerous. . .

not sure how much time you want to spend making snacks, but mini black eyed pea cakes are good for kids and adults. i prefer mine with a berry sauce, but you can serve them like mini burgers and trick your guests into enjoying a veggie snack.

If you're willing to put forth the effort to fry up some party food, Buffalo Tempeh is a huge crowd pleaser. You can find recipes on the web for it, but basically it's breaded fried tempeh tossed in Buffalo wing sauce and served with celery/carrot sticks and blue cheese. Goes nicely with sweet potato fries. While you have your fry oil going, you can also fry up breaded mushrooms, onion rings, and other veggies. It doesn't have to be especially unhealthy, either... you can use whole wheat bread crumbs with ground flaxseed and a healthier frying oil.

I also really like doing homemade thin crust pizzas with a variety of interesting vegetarian toppings and then cutting them into bite-sized squares. Every time I do this all of the pizza bites are obliterated within moments of exiting the oven. There's something about bite-size pizza that makes people (especially kids) go insane.

And kids also love "mummy dogs." Find a good quality veggie dog, roll it in crescent roll dough, and bake. Serve with mustard/ketchup for dipping. There are recipes for this on the web, as well.

Archie,
RE: the skewers. In the baking section, look for actual lollipop sticks. I know the Wilton's brand makes them. They're just white stiff-paper sticks, but you can skewer just about anything with them.

Having hosted A LOT of children's parties now, I have come to the conclusion that having more than cake and something to drink is usually unnecessary. The party my children went to last weekend had a wonderful carrot cake as a birthday cake and water as a beverage... and it was perfect.

Spend time preparing the games and activities, get something creative for the goody bags, and have a delicious cake.

(I had so many leftovers last birthday party I threw... only the parents eat the nibbles!)

Hello all - so we finally had my son's party on feb/21 - had to postpone due to bad weather and here's what we ended up with...
for kids
fruit skewers - strawberry, grapes, apple and melon balls
star shaped jelly s/w
mickey mouse shaped cheese (from walmart) crackers
straw chips
for adults
cucumber s/w made with cilantro chutney creamcheese spread
veggie puffs - we made them from puff pastry stuffed with cooked vegetables called "pavbhaji"
fruit
and of course cake for all.
many parents commented on the choice of "healthy food" =)