7 Non Food Cake Smash Alternatives

I think cake smashes are so wonderful! But I also realize that they are becoming a little over played and that they aren’t for everyone. A couple weeks ago I wrote about some cake smash alternatives, but maybe your child has a food allergy or you just don’t want them eating something during their session. That doesn’t mean that your child can’t still have a fun time doing an activity and getting messy! Let’s face it, watching the kid get all messy and explore the cake is the reason why a cake smash is so much fun to photograph and have photos of and we can recreate that in other ways.

Non Food Cake Smash Alternatives

1. Paint

I love this idea! Take a big canvas and let your child go crazy with some finger painting. After the session you will have a keepsake canvas that you can take home. This is super easy to personalize to your child’s favorite colors or to their room decor.

2. Play Outside

Whether you want to take your child to the beach or a local park, just let them go out and explore! They can play in the grass or mud or sand and just get a little dirty. Their facial expressions while exploring all the textures while out and about will be priceless!

3. Bubbles

Whether your child can blow bubbles yet or not doesn’t matter. They will be adorable trying and you can blow bubbles at them as well. They will be fascinated by the floating bubbles and trying to catch them. You could also get a bubble machine to create a lot of bubbles at once.

4. Confetti

Your child can throw the confetti in the air, just move it around the floor, or try to blow it off their hands. You can also throw it for them and have it cascade down upon them.

5. Bubble Bath

While this isn’t necessarily messy, it will make for some adorable photos. Your child can play with the bubbles and watch them disappear in their fingers. We can also make some sweet baby hair mohawks.

6. Chalk

Chalk is surprisingly messy! Let your child draw their creation on the ground, or on themselves!

7. Ball Pit

All kids love ball pits! Get some plastic balls and fill an area with them. Let your kid go wild hiding in them and throwing them about.

As with the cake smash or the other cake smash alternatives that I recommended, always make sure that your child has experience with these items before giving them to them for the first time and be aware of choking hazards.