Help needed for childrens party

Parents don't need to be fed. You can easily make the bags yourself. Just make some little sandwhiches, buy those little bags of mini cookies/jammie dodgers/party rings, and some multi bags of crisps. Chuck in a fruit shoot or water bottle in each bag too.

Kids are much less bothered by the food than you are.

easiest solution (not necessarily cheapest) is to buy some multi pack crisps (and mini cheddars) and some multipack bags of biscuits (party rings/chocolate fingers etc). Sausage rolls and/or cocktail sausages (served cold). Juice cartons or wee bottles. Breadsticks. Can cut up some grapes, apples, carrots if you like. Or offer some whole apples, satsumas. Then the birthday cake. Just ensure you have some veggie alternatives and stuff for any dietary requirements.

In the 70s and 80s, our parents would push the sofa aside, line up some cassettes, wrap up a pass the parcel and make sandwiches with sausages on sticks. If you outsource everything to the point where you can't cope with going to the shop to get bread, ham, cheese, carrots, cucumber, crisps and biscuits, with a whole day to go, then I despair really.

I literally said 'as a parent I didn't expect food.'

Obviously you have to provide snacks for kids. Also timing is context of party was 12/1-3. That's lunch time so implication is lunch should be provided. OPs is after lunch/ before dinner.

Order pizza or takeaways

Jacket potato, beans and cheese. How is that simple for a kids party??!

Yeah, I’m not seeing much of a problem here. 18 ham / cheese sandwiches. A couple family circle boxes of biscuits and a few multi packs of crisps. Half an hours work.

Not sure if it's too late, can you explain and ask everyone if they could bring a plate? If you're not comfortable asking the parents, then ask your family to help

I would do a couple of platters of sandwiches - cheese, ham, jam
Sausage rolls
Cocktail sausages
Couple of cooked pizzas cut up
Bowls of crisps
Grapes/Strawberries/Melon

Parents don't need separate food, they can pick at the buffet once kids are fed.

Dominoes!

Yep I agree with this too. I've been to/hosted a LOT of kids parties!

We went simple which didn't involve loads of bits and did jacket potatoes, grated cheese and baked beans. Just meant turning up early enough to stick all the potatoes in the oven.

You don't need to do anything for the adults. Couple of big plates of sandwiches, couple of types of crisps, some cucumbers and carrot sticks, mini cakes, some babybel type cheeses, cocktail sausages and some fruit like strawberries and blueberries. It doesn't have to be fancy or particularly well presented!

The last time we did a hall party I cooked a bunch of pizzas on foil trays the night before, then served them cold from the trays. (Or for extra simplicity get pizzas delivered to your venue!)

I did one dairy free, one gluten free and a few standard margherita pizzas to cover all the dietary requirements we had.

Then you just need a box or two of strawberries and blueberries, some bags of crisps, and some biscuits. (Jammie Dodgers and Party Rings or similar.)

Given the party times you don't need loads, and the beauty of pizza is the leftovers last much better than sandwiches do.

I was at a kid’s party and the hosts ordered pizzas. They were a big hit

I definitely do not agree with this. I tried it once for a party that finished at 3pm and I actually heard the mums whispering about “not enough food … why didn’t she do enough food, there’s hardly any sandwiches”.

No food or drink is needed for adults but definitely needed for the kids.

Hope you get it sorted

Don’t bother with sandwiches- buy a selection of sausage rolls and a few cheese/onion rolls, multi packs of crisps, some cheap squash, some chocolate bars of some description, some of those pre cut carrot batons and just put it out on a couple of disposable platters- in my experience most parents aren’t expecting you to provide a meal, and most of the food goes uneaten anyway. Unless you’ve specifically said you’re feeding adults I don’t think they would expect to be catered for either. Don’t panic it’ll be fine!

I did food prep for a children’s party recently - one thing I would say is don’t over do it! I’m a terrible over-caterer usually, and kids just end up touching everything so you don’t really want to be taking too many leftovers home, or throwing loads out. Keep it simple, crisps, cucumber and tomatoes, grapes, strawberries and blueberries, and watermelon. I cut up 2 watermelons for a party of 30 kids and it almost all went. Individual bags of party rings/cookies. And sandwiches - cheese, ham and jam all went down a treat. At that time of day I wouldn’t worry about the parents, it’s between meals and they’ll probably raid the left over sandwiches anyway (most can’t resist a kids sandwich, something about the cheap bread!!) just make sure you have some tea/coffee available, and squash for the children.

I agree completely with this. I would provide simple snacks for kids like fruit, bread sticks, hummus, crisps etc. As a parent, I have never expected food at a kids party.

I messed up once with party planning, so I bought a load of meal deal sandwiches, cut them into triangles and did a beige buffet. Sausage rolls, cocktail sausages, crisps and a bit of fruit. None of them need any preparation. Not at the cutting edge of party food admittedly but it did the trick.

It’s easy enough to make sandwiches for kids and add crisps, raisin boxes and some juice.
Parents don’t need fed. Some biscuits out if you want but I never expect to be fed as a parent

It will be pricier than supermarket but if you have a Pret A Manger nearby, they’ll be able to do it. Have used for work functions

I think pizza delivery is the easiest solution here.

At that party time I wouldn’t provide sandwiches etc, just crisps, fruit and cake!

Do you have a Costco near you? They do big party sandwich platters, salads etc.

It might not be too late to order from M&S if you don’t want to make sandwiches.

I hate making sandwiches, a lot of children aren’t that keen on them anyway. I would just order pizzas to be delivered, and cut up some crudités, put out crisps, etc. Don’t over complicate it, the food is rarely the highlight of a birthday party and it’s an odd time to eat, people won’t want more than a snack. I can’t imagine the parents eating at that time, maybe a handful of crisps.