BBQs are a huge hit for many people. The great thing about barbecues is that no matter what age you are you can always join in on the fun and enjoy good food and time with loved ones. BBQs are a great way for family and friends to hang together and it helps kids to get out and enjoy the sun for a bit. In a generation that is becoming increasingly technological with phones, TVs, iPad, iPhone, iPod, and more. Nowadays it is increasingly popular for kids to spend their free time on any device they can get their hands on instead of going out with friends or enjoying the sun. It isn’t healthy for kids to constantly be cooped up in the house with their eyes glued on the screen 24/7. During their free time they should be active as being active provides many health benefits for them in the future. One way you can get kids out and moving is with a BBQ! Barbecues provide quality food that your kids will surely love while combining good activities that they can enjoy in the outdoors. If you are having trouble convincing your children to get out and about, throw a barbecue and invite their friends over. Lure them in with some good kid friendly BBQ foods and you will see how happy and active they can be in the outdoors!

How You Can Throw a Kid Friendly BBQ!

To get the family out and ensure the kids are actually out and enjoying some much-needed vitamin D, you should try to throw down a fun, kid friendly BBQ. Incorporate fun BBQ foods, drinks, desserts, and etc. all for kids to enjoy! Pick out a fun location like a river, lake, beach, or park and get the barbecue fun started!

Kid Friendly BBQ Foods
Now without further ado here are some fun kid friendly barbecues that you can utilize in your next BBQ that will make your kids happy, healthy, and satisfied.

Beef Skewers with Asian Marinade (kiddeliciouskitchen.com)
Ingredients
●400 g. of beef eye fillet
●Sesame seeds
●Lemon cut into wedges
●6 skewers
Ingredients for Marinade
●2 tbsp of dry sherry
●2 tbsp of keycap main
●2 tbsp of minced garlic
●3 garlic cloves, crushed
●1 tbsp of oyster sauce
●2 tsp malt vinegar
●1 tsp sesame oil

Directions
1.Put all marinade ingredients into a bowl and combine. Dice the beef into toddler like sized pieces and add these pieces to the marinade. Marinade for a couple of hours minimum and or if preferable overnight in the refrigerator.
2.Soak the skewers in water (as this helps them from burning). Skewer the beef onto the skewer sticks and cook on either a hot grill plate or BBQ until they are nicely charred and cooked all the way. Keep an eye on them as they won’t take too long to cook through. Serve them up sprinkled with sesame seeds and lemon wedges. Enjoy!

Grilled Salmon with Mango Salsa (thecookingjar.com)
Ingredients
• 1 lb., salmon fillet
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon oil
• ½ lime, cut into wedges
Ingredients for Mango Salsa
• 1 ripe mango, diced
• 1 tablespoon red bell pepper, diced
• 1 tablespoon red onion, diced
• ½ tablespoon pickled jalapeno, diced
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 2 teaspoons cilantro, chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh mint, chopped
• ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne powder
• ½ teaspoon brown sugar
• Salt to taste

Directions
1.Combine all ingredients for salsa together in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
2.Preheat the grill up to medium heat.
3.Brush the salmon lightly with oil, salt, and pepper to your desired taste/preference.
4.Grill the salmon for about 5 minutes on each side.
5.Dish the salmon up and top with the mango salsa. You can also garnish with lemon.

Beef Burgers with Hidden Veggies (healthylittlefoodies.com)
Ingredients
●500g (1.1lb) Steak / Beef mince (ground beef)
●1 small onion (grated)
●1 carrot
●1 zucchini (courgetti)
●1 garlic clove (minced)
●1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
●1 egg (lightly beaten)
Directions
1.Grate up the onion, carrot, and zucchini, squeezing as much liquid out as possible. You can do this by placing the grated vegetables in a clean cloth to squeeze.
2.Place all ingredients listed in the mixing bowl and mix until they are very well combined.
3.Divide up the mixture into a pile of 6, flattening them to make burgers that are only slightly bigger than your burger buns (they shrink lightly as you cook).
4.Place a slight indent into the center of each burger using your thumb (this helps to stop the burger from dooming and shrinking up)
5.Cook it up on a BBQ grill or on a frying pan, ensuring that you are cooking them for about 3-4 minutes on each side until the bottom is nicely browned. Flipping and cooking for a further 2-3 mins until they are cooked thoroughly.
6.Serve them up straight away and enjoy!
Kid Friendly BBQ Sides
A good barbecue always needs a main attraction and some delicious sides to go with it. Here are 3 different kid friendly sides you can try out now! These sides will make your children extremely delighted as they are not only very healthy for your kids but are cooked in such a way that they won’t believe that such food can actually taste so delicious!
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/small-potatoes-rosemary-skewers-prepared-roasting-365393966?src=_K6lha70Sepro3xqvux36Q-1-8

Grilled Baby Potatoes with Rosemary (avirtualvegan.com)
Ingredients/
●680 g. Or 1.5 pound of baby potatoes
●2 tbsp of olive oil
●1 tbsp of chopped fresh or dried rosemary
●1 tsp salt
●1 freezer bag or container with lid
Directions
1.Begin by parboiling your potatoes with plenty of water and 1 tsp of salt.
2.Cook your potatoes long enough that you can stick them in with a knife or fork, yet there is still some resistance (could be about 10 minutes).
3.Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain them.
4.Leave them to cool until they are warm but not exactly hot.
5.Put the potatoes in a freezer bag or container with lid.
6.Pour the oil and rosemary over.
7.Seal up the bag or container and give the potatoes a good shake so that the oil can be distributed all over.
8.Leave the potatoes to marinade in the fridge for as long as possible (at the very least 30 minutes). They can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance.
9.After. Remove the potatoes from the fridge and thread them onto the skewers. Use metal skewers, yet if you only have wooden, be sure to coat them in cold water before so that they don’t burst into flames.
10.Place the potatoes on the grill and cook for about 20-30 minutes, turning them over frequently.
11.Once they have become golden brown, soft and slightly charred, remove them from the grill and serve.
12.Be careful with the potatoes since they will be incredibly hot inside. Enjoy!

Sweet Chili Tortellini and Vegetable BBQ Skewers (amummytoo.com)
Ingredients
●4 tbsp of sweet chili sauce
●4 tbsp of olive oil
●300 g. Of cheese and tomato tortellini that is cooked and drained
●2 red peppers that are de-seeded and cut into one-inch pieces
●2 courgettis (zucchinis) that are cut in halves lengthways and then sliced into ¾ inch pieces
●225 g. Of halloumi that are cut into ¾ inch pieces
Directions
1.In a bowl, mix up the sweet chili sauce and oil together and then set it aside.
2.After, push the courgetti, tortellini, halloumi, and red pepper pieces onto the skewer in a repeating pattern.
3.Layer the skewers onto a plate and brush them generously on both sides with the chili marinade.
4.Cover up the clingfilm or saran wrap and keep the pasta cool until you are ready to cook (the sooner you can do it, the better because you do not want the pasta to dry out)
5.Place the skewers on the BBQ or griddle pan just long enough so that they can pick up some color on each side.
6.Brush up with more of the chili marinade and then serve. Enjoy!
Grilled Corn with Herb Butter (kiddeliciouskitchen.com)
Ingredients
●2 ears of corn
●2-3 tbsp of butter that is room temperature
●2 tsp of lemon juice
●2 tbsp of herbs (like chopped basil, flat leaf parsley, and chives)
●Black pepper
●salt
Ingredients
1.Prepare the herb butter by first mixing up the butter, herbs, lemon juice, and pepper until the ingredients are entirely combined. Place the butter into a plastic wrap and roll into a log. Put the butter in to chill.
2.Prepare your corn by peeling back the husks and removing the silk.
3.Heat the grill to medium-high.
4.After place the corns on the grill and then cook it for about another 20-25 minutes, making sure that you are turning them occasionally with the tongs.
5.Coat the corn with more herb butter and sea salt and then serve.
Kid-Friendly Refreshing Drinks
It is not a barbecue day without some refreshing drinks to sip on and enjoy while hanging out on a warm or hot day. Here are some absolutely delicious drinks that are great for kids and wonderfully refreshing while the kids are playing up a storm with their favorite sports or fun games.
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/summer-slushy-strawberries-lime-ice-some-662978620?src=EeBw1IzKQy14QYBDAClC-A-1-19

Strawberry Iced Tea Slushie (womansday.com)
Ingredients
●8 bags of hibiscus tea or green tea
●1 lb. of frozen strawberries
●2 cups of ice cubes
Directions
1.Bring all 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat and then add in the tea bags. Allow the tea bags to steep stirring twice, for about 4 minutes. Discard the tea bags, allowing the tea to cool.
2.In a blender, puree about half of the strawberries, 2 cups of the tea, and 1 cup of ice until it is smooth. Transfer the drinks to glasses and follow the instructions again for the remaining ingredients or strawberries, tea, and ice.

Shirley Temple (thislilpiglet.net)
Ingredients
●½ cup of orange juice
●½ cup of ginger ale
●½ cup of lime soda
●2 tbsp of grenadine
●Slices of lime for garnish
●Maraschino cherries with stems for garnish
Directions
1.Fill up a large glass that is about half full with ice cubes.
2.Layer up the drink with orange juice first then follow up with the pop then the grenadine.
3.Add in the 2 slices of lime and a maraschino cherry to the beverage and then serve it unstirred.
4.Allow the person to stir before drinking. Enjoy!
Sweet Peach Iced Tea
Ingredients
●Tea that is brewed and chilled
●2 ripe peaches
●Splenda zero or no calorie liquid sweetener
●Ice
●2 sprigs of mint
Directions
1.Begin the drink by cutting your peaches into halves and removing the pit. Place the peaches in a food processor or blender and blend until the peaches have been pureed but some small chunks still remain.
2.After this, use 2 12 oz mason jars and put in large spoonsful of the peach puree at the bottom of the mason jars. Fill them up with ice and then add in another large spoonful of peach puree. Pour the chilled tea over the ice and from there add a gentle squeeze of the Splenda zero or no calorie liquid sweetener. Sweeten to your preference.
3.Add in a straw, your sprig of mint, and voila! Enjoy!

Barbecues are a great way to get children moving and active. The delicious food combined with the excitement of being with friends and family while enjoying some real bonding and activities, makes barbecues the perfect way for children to enjoy what nature has to offer and take a break from the devices they play and use all day long. It is important that children, learn from a young age the importance of an active and non-sedentary lifestyle and for this reason, using these delicious kid friendly barbecue foods and drinks, you will without a doubt, tempt your kids into wanting to go outside and power off the devices that are often glued to their hand.