Q.  Help!  I want my kid to be able to participate & celebrate like everyone else?

A.  Some suggestions are to take the focus off food, if possible,  and also have handy substitutes ready if needed (like frozen acceptable homemade cupcakes kept in the school freezer).  Here are just a few of the many suggestions you can get from others off the web:

Ideas For Parties & Other Special Activities, From Paula, off GFCFRecipes with added tips from Miss Roben’s

Try the below activity ideas to help refocus your kids off their food limitations:

*Make gelatin food jigglers & let the kids cut their own shapes.  Older kids can work together to create words as a game with the letters.

*Make your paper mache (see recipe below) & create a safe piñata filling it with safe toys (Oriental Trading Company, www.orientaltrading.com, has some cheap fun ones.

*Fill a baby pool with water & some sand.  Set up sprinklers & your guests come in bathing suits, with sunscreen & sunglasses.  Pass out plastic boats & if no latex allergies, beach balls, & have Popsicles or frozen lemonade for treats.  Give the kids cool straws they can take home.

*Provide a variety of old clothes, hats, acceptable trinkets, costume jewelry, ribbon, paper, glue, magic markers, etc & let the kids create their own costumes.  Have the kids each model their costumes, & take a Polaroid® picture that they can take with them. 

*Using food grade food paints have the kids create their own face paint.  Have a contest to see who can create the scariest or funniest face. Take pictures & create a scrapbook of them.

*Have a Hula Hoop contest to see who can Hula the longest.

*Have each child create a musical instrument to play together as a band.  For example, fill an empty plastic juice container (ones with lots of ridges create the best noise) with small pebbles, sand, glitter, & sparkly stuff.  Glue top securely on & let child decorate.  Attach a wooden dowel securely to the top with a colorful ribbon. Or tape closed an empty cardboard container with a large flat surface.  Let the child paint & decorates first, then use a large plastic serving spoon to beat on the box like a drum.  Tape metal pie plates together, filled with a few pebbles to make a tambourine.  Or make cymbals; fold construction paper so that it is doubled together & cut into 2- 2” wide, 6-8” long strips.  Tape on the bottoms of both pie plates to make handles. 

Paper Mache Pulp & Paste, from POFAK & GFCFKids posts, source unknown

For 1 to 1-1/2 cups of paper mache paste, mix together:

1 cup original Bette Hagman flour mix

1 tsp xanthan or guar gum

1 cup lukewarm water.

Continue adding water (about 3 cups), mixing well in between, until all the lumps are gone. Bring mixture to a boil in a saucepan & cool completely.  To make paper mache pulp, place several sheets of junk mail or newspaper torn into tiny pieces) into a blender or food processor with some water & blend well. Strain the pulp using a colander or sieve. Mix the pulp with one Tbsp or more of white glue if allowed based on food allergy. For projects that require strips, tear newspaper into long thin strips. Dip the paper into the paste mixture above & scrape the excess off with fingers. Layer the paste covered strips onto your project.

Edible Finger Paints, by Lori Parker, GFCFKids, modified by Miss Roben’s.

For each color use: ½ cup fine, starchy flour (cornstarch, potato starch, arrowroot, etc), warm tap water, & assorted food colorings.  Slowly blend water into flour to get thin batter consistency.  Add a few drops of food coloring at same time as water to achieve desired intensity.

Also see recipes on resources noted below that are kid friendly like those at  www.allergygrocer.com or www.gfcfrecipes.com.

Q. What can I do for cheese in pizza? 

A. There is only a few acceptable cheese substitutes & personal opinions vary on their appeal, melting ability, & taste.  Some people use soft tofu strips for visual appeal, some avoid cheese altogether & focus on using chicken, acceptable pepperoni, etc. 

Q.  Any suggestions what to use for teething biscuits? 

A. There are many prepared cookies that would work & recipes for homemade biscotti & cookies.

Q.  What do I send for school lunches & snacks?

A.  Again, preparation is key.  Educate the teachers at the school to the diet.  Keep frozen cupcakes available in the school freezer & other snacks for party “emergencies” at school.  See the archives in the various email listserves for lunch box ideas.  There are a lot of good ones out there & lots of good ready-to-eat snacks.