Party food for reception children. ...can i get away with this?

[Feelingtherain]

Variations on this theme have been posted a lot but here we go anyway....

DS2s 5th birthday, thinking about food. I can't see the point in proper food. So thinking of a snack box/bag each with juice carton, crisps, cheese roll, chocolate treat like mini box smarties and mini haribo. Thinking if a child doesn't like cheese they aren't going to starve mid afternoon.

Does it need token fruit? Is it fun enough?

Hadn't even thought about transporting them!

Yep I've done that several times. One white bread cheese sandwich and one brown bread jam and they usually eat some of them.

I used sliced cheese not grated makes much less mess

I did similar but 2 mini rolls. One cheese and is me ham.

Mine doesn't eat cheese but the rest is fine.

Interestingly, of the 3 party's I've done for DD when we've done a sandwich selection of: Ham
Cheese
Tuna Mayo

The tuna goes first, followed by ham & then cheese. Cheese seemed the least popular.

The one thing I would say is those snack boxes are surprisingly expensive. I tend to do pizza as actually easier than faffing with sandwiches but depends on whether you have a kitchen handy.

I found out recently (at a 4 year olds birthday party) that you can buy bread with no crusts.

take sweets/ cake out as they get them in the party bag anyway.
And what kid eats a cheese roll when Haribo is also on offer?

Sandwich thins (no crusts to negotiate) - you can stack them several high to cut through.
I did something similar some years ago for DC birthday party. Checked with parents ahead of time if their child wanted ham or cheese (I think there was one who wanted neither and we found an alternative). One lunchbox per kid with sandwich, drink and a little pot of fruit salad type stuff. I think we did another little pot of veg - cucumber & tomato.
Crisps went out on the table in bowls once they'd started on the lunchboxes. Any leftovers were taken home along with a slice of cake!

Came on to say same as @troppibambini
Make ham, cheese and ham sandwiches, cut into fingers and pop one of each in each box.

I wouldn't worry about lack of fruit, it's a party, a one off special treat and I'm sure they won't die if they don't have fruit for that meal 😂

Got to be honest, birthday boy would be very unimpressed if he got one of those boxes and all it offered up was a sandwich, fruit, vegetables. He will expect to find something exciting in there.

I did a party at the weekend for 36 kids, 3 loaves made into ham, cheese and jam sandwiches, cut into quarters, took about 15 minutes to do (the electric knife did make it easy to cut through a stack of them)
Added a few bowls of crisps, cupcakes, mini rolls etc and the obligatory small tray of salad that gets ignored.

They all had plenty to eat and I told the parents to feel free to help themselves too what was left so there wasn't much waste.

Buy multipacks of the snacks instead of big bags so you can open a couple and then add to it if necessary but you won't have the waste of opening a big bag then them going stale.

Is it a running around party or a crafty/more organised type party? If its a running around party I'd chuck some fruit it.
I've noticed at really active parties (soft play, bouncy castle etc) all that gets eaten is the fruit and the sweet stuff...as I guess the DC are too hot/thirsty to want real stuff (which the parents then eat so at least its not wasted)

I bought some flat pack boxes from our local bakers - the ones that they use to put fresh cream cakes in. 10p each. Filled them with similar things and put them out on a huge tablecloth on the floor. Once given out the children just got on with it. A quick sweep afterwards and the tablecloth put in the wash....voila!

It's just me and exH and there is a chance that DS2 will need one of us throughout if it's too much for him. So me really. I am hoping another parent or two wades in with an offer of help. But the simpler the better. Hence the sticking to the box and no additional bowls etc.

Some great tips thanks. Crustless bread...have never encountered it!

Don’t swap haribo for raisins, raisins are worse for your teeth than haribo.

Have seen similar boxes at a good number of the parties DD has been to. It's a great idea. One parent asks whether people want ham/cheese/jam in advance (though that's certainly more work).

DD is very fussy and wouldn't eat most of what you've suggested. However it's a party, she'd be too excited to eat much and she won't starve - so it's not a problem for you. But she also only drinks water (or hot chocolate, but you definitely aren't serving that at a party!). If she's been running around a lot and doesn't have anything she can drink, she will struggle to cope, and everyone else will hear about it! So may I suggest some jugs or bottles of water are available for fussy children?

Best thing about kids' parties for adults is the party food! I assume many of the parents will stay if you are doing a whole class thing and it is in a hall. I would just put a few big plates out, let the kids have a half hearted attempt at eating food, then let the parents swoop in (or is just me )

Sounds fine to me, DD would eat cheese. DS wouldn't - would eat ham but would eat things like hula hoops, fruit, haribos, cake. Some kids eat carrot sticks and grapes but don't think they are essential.

This is the crustless bread I always use for kids sandwiches, Kingsmill 50/50. So much easier not having to faff about cutting crusts off. I'd def go with the selection of jam, cheese and ham in each box, or any two.