What to serve for a 4th birthday?

[OrangeySnicket]

12 guests, 3 or 4 years old. Aiming to make it easy and buy in stuff rather than do any cooking. And preferably things that can be served cold/room temp.

What food should I serve? Party is 11-1 so it'll be lunch.

Was thinking bread and ham, cheese etc is better than making up the sandwiches myself as then children can choose what they want?

Should I get anything in for the parents? If so, what?

Mini sausage rolls/cocktail sausages, cold pizza, ham/cheese sandwiches, then some crisps/wotsits type things, and then personally I always do some cherry tomatoes (you may want to cut these for little ones), carrot/cucumber/pepper sticks because mine always eat these, party rings, then whatever cake/cupcakes you’re having.

Personally, I would make the sandwiches in advance because it gets a bit icky with everyone (kids included) sticking their hands in the bread/ham/cheese.

Just coffee/tea/maybe some biscuits for parents. They’ll snack on the scraps the kids leave.

Food from our latest birthday party that everyone liked:
Sausage rolls
Popcorn but it has to be sweet
‘Fun fruit’ from the farmers market like gooseberries, loganberries etc
Dried mango
Olives (random)
Redcurrant puffs (random)
Hummus with pittas
Nobody touched the hot food I toiled over!!

Previously when I’m feeling lazy we’ve got party platters from m and s or Waitrose as they tend to be the best quality with the nicest stuff.

Mini sausage rolls
cocktail sausages
chunks of cheese
cucumber sticks
carrot sticks
pizza slices
strawberries
fairy cakes

Don't do make your own sandwiches at age 4 unless you like a lot of mess

Cocktail sausages
Bread sticks
Cheese fingers
Carrot sticks
Crisps or wotsits
Cupcakes - buy plain and ice them. They'll eat the icing and rub the cake into your carpet.

Hot dogs
Chicken goujons
Carrot sticks
Cucumber sticks
Peppers

I know you said no cooking, but hot dogs is just heating in 2 mins.

Personally I would make the sandwiches, remove crust and cut length ways in three. Ham or chicken slices, cheese and maybe jam I would probably do Chocolate rice krispie buns for kids (you could decorate with sweets) over cupcakes it is mainly the icing eaten with cupcakes in my experience. May cook a pizza or two early in the day and just cut up. Other than that I would do bowls of crisps and carrot stick/cucumber stick. Maybe have a couple of tubs of dips that the parents can graze on.

I'd cook up a load of chicken nuggets. Buy cocktail sausages, mini frozen sausage rolls that take 12 mins in oven, carrot and cucumber sticks. I'd make a few ham and cheese sandwich and cut in quarters, a pot of cherry tomatoes. Quavers, pringles and slices of apple cut up. Just add a birthday cake or cup cakes.

Yes I'd add pizza too. Pop them in oven with chicken nuggets and sausage rolls.

Sausage rolls /quorn equivalent
Baby bells
Party rings
Hula hoops
Cucumber sticks, cherry toms, carrots (for show at least!)
Twiglets

Can't be doing with making loads of sanwhiches

A huge hit at a party we went to recently was a large bowl full of packets of Aldi crisps. (Onion rings etc). A really good money saving option because you can take home whatever is left and no grubby hands touching the other crisps! I only know they were Aldi because I asked - the salt and vinegar sticks were delicious!

Thanks all, great suggestions.

A bowl of packets of crisps is a good idea!

Would cold chicken nuggets be eaten?

I was assuming it would be parents making up the sandwiches (or just putting separate buttered bread and ham on the plate) but maybe I should ditch that idea.

Can you eat gooseberries just on their own? Are they not really tart?

Red gooseberries are sweet enough to eat as long as they are ripe enough, my boys love them along with blackberries and loganberries - they were a surprising success at ds2’s party.

Oh perfect, I'll look out for them!

@OrangeySnicket personally I do little lunch boxes because it ends up being easier to know the quantity. Most kids birthdays there is a massive buffet and firstly there ends up a long queue and secondly 90% of it is leftover at the end.

Kids got cheese roll or jam (we are veggie so no ham), snack (Squeezy yoghurt), crisps and fruit. Otherwise you end up with loads of extra food in my experience. If you've only 12 guests if doesn't take too long to make up.

Good luck - they will be happy whatever you do!!!

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I did a buffet, and had several comments from parents that they much preferred being able to just help DC choose what they'd actually eat.

In case anyone searches and this is useful:

Chicken nuggets went down a storm, first thing to go. I did a whole pack but reckon could have done at least two. Sliced meat and sausages also popular, as was fruit and the bags of crisps. The bread and butter (sliced French stick) was hardly eaten though.

Cucumber all went, not many takers for cherry tomatoes which I was surprised by, or carrots.

Oh the pizza also went down well.