Frosting, Sprinkles & Fun: Baking Birthday Party Ideas

Break out the frosting, sprinkles and chocolate chips! It’s time to celebrate your chef-in-training's big day with a delicious baking party. From cute cupcake invitations to delightful, dazzling snacks, a baking birthday is fun for kids of all ages. Your child and their guests will love decorating and eating their homemade sweet treats. These fun ideas from Pottery Barn Kids will have your group whipping up celebratory culinary creations and fun in no time!

Get the Word Out

Announce your baking party ideas to guests by sending out baking-themed party invitations. Pick up preprinted invitations, or make your own with pictures of cupcakes and cookies. Make sure the invitations mention that it’s an invitation to come and bake with the birthday boy or girl. Another fun idea is to present the invitation as a recipe on a large index card. The ingredients list can include each guest’s name, the baking time can feature the hours of the party and the cooking instructions can include directions to your home and any gear the guests might want to bring, like some old clothes or shoes that can get a little messy.

Allergy Check

Check with parents to ask if their child has any food allergies. Things like gluten allergies and nut allergies are easily avoidable at a baking-themed party when you know ahead of time. Easy ways to make gluten- or nut-free cupcakes and cookies are to exchange wheat flour for rice flour or pick up a gluten free and nut-free baking mix. Substitute recipes with 1/4 cup of sweetened applesauce in place of each egg. If you’re serving two kinds of treats, carefully label the non-allergy treats that the kids with allergies can decorate.

Sweet Ways to Set Up
 

An hour or two before the guests start arriving, get the decoration station set up. Pour the contents of the sprinkles and nonpareils into small bowls or food storage containers. You can also put out bowls of other fun toppings, like gummy bears, chocolate chips and pieces of crushed up sandwich cookies. Add a spoon to each container to make it easier for children to scoop up the sprinkles and decorate. Sugar-based confections can lead to sticky fingers pretty quickly, so set up plenty of paper towels or wet wipes in easy reach.

Make It Colorful

Decorate the table with a colorful tablecloth and easy-to-clean plastic placemats. Add a vase or a wide-mouthed canister filled with baking utensils as the centerpiece. Before the kids’ baking party starts, prepare by filling a frosting bag with a pre-fitted nozzle in front of each child’s seat. It’s easiest to put the same color frosting in each bag and let everyone use the sprinkles and nonpareils to add a pop of color.

Keep Things Clean

To add to the baking theme, provide accessories like aprons and chef hats help the kids take on their baker roles. Use fabric paint to add names on the aprons and hats so the kids can take them home as party favors. Also, consider choosing paper hats and disposable aprons to simplify the cleanup process after the party. Set out an extra paper towel rolls in case of spills, too. Bake extra cupcakes and cookies that the kids can take home.

Flavorful Favors

Fill goody bags with child-sized chef party favors and sweet treats. You can stuff each party favor bag with small baking utensils, cupcake stamps, colorful character stickers and small notebooks for the kids to play with at home. Include a sheet with the recipe you used to make the cookies or cupcakes you served at the party, too. Tuck their aprons, chef hats and take-home goodies in colorful tote bags.