birthday treats

healthy treats:

• carrot sticks and curls ... much easier for kids to eat than baby carrots, because they're not quite as hard to bite when you have a loose tooth. packed in snack baggies with small dixie cups of fat free ranch seemed to be a real hit, especially if the sticks and curls are cut thin. (to make curls, use a vegetable peeler to peel strips from carrots. chill the carrot peels in cold water and they'll curl)
• if there are no peanut allergies, ants on a log are also pretty cool and easy -- put the peanut butter in a ziploc bag. snip off a small corner, squeeze onto celery sticks and decorate with raisins (those are the ants). dried currants or dried craisins (cranberries) also worked.
• jello. several flavors layered in clear cups are a rainbow in a cup. adding two packets of knox gelatin to a box of jello makes it stiff enough to cut with cookie cutters, or in simple stackable blocks. and blue jello with a couple gummy fish make a nifty edible aquarium.
• water. 6-12 oz bottles of water, chilled.