To not put on food at my child birthday party?

[LittleDonkeyKong]

Having a party for my eldests birthday next month and have booked a DJ with a 2 hour party package. The party is 2-4. I think stopping for food is such a waste of precious dancing time and the party isn't over a meal time. Am I being unreasonable?

OP you're going to be eaten alive!

You don't need to go mad OP. Crisps, sandwiches, sausages on sticks and pizza slices would be enough.

They will need a break from dancing and food is a good excuse.

Okay so now I have a craving for party rings, cadbury fingers, hula hoops & jam sandwiches. And a big slice of birthday cake covered in icing & filled with e numbers. I do not, however, have the desire to dance for 2 hours.

you may want to check with the dj - they could be anticipating a half hour break while you do food. I'd also make it clear on the invitation as a lot of parents will expect you to provide food. If you don't want to do party tea, why not lay out some drinks and snacks half way through? That way you're providing something for the kids to eat without the hassle of a providing a big spread?

Very unreasonable and tight

Sausage rolls, crisps, snakes, biscuits. It's kiddie crack.

Party bags are fun to put together. It's the best part of the party when you're that age.

A lot of ppl won't do lunch before hand so they have an appetite for a 2pm party. Ten minutes to stop and eat isn't going to ruin their dancing time. And they won't all stop at Once.

Also my DS has been to many parties where they have a pre packed box of food. Sandwich, sausage roll. Crisp, mini party rings and a fairy cake.. Hardly any waste then

I assume the dj is doing a kids party with games/activities etc not just dancing. If not I should warn you my daughters had disco parties aged around 7 and 8 and most of the kids were bored of dancing after a couple of songs. I was surprised how little stamina they had for it.
Snacks and drinks should be fine though.

toasted pitta strips

The ad at the bottom of this thread is a bowl of chunky McCain chips!!

Haven't RTFT but what a bizarre idea to not have food at a children's party! I once posted under a NC about only doing two types of sandwiches at a party (along with other food so nobody going hungry) and got roasted

But a birthday party... needs food. Whenever it is.

I normally don't feed my dc lunch/dinner depending on the timing of a party as I assume they'll be stuffing faces and they overindulge and end up ill afterwards if I do.

Food is a must, or at least let the guests know in advance.

Drinks available throughout and nibbles at end, I'd say, is best.

I did cheap doughnuts (Asda do 12 for £2) and crisps for a similar party. It went down well and kids who were hungry grabbed food when they fancied a break.

My 8 year old would be 😤 if there was no food at a party regardless of time.

And he wouldn’t spend two hours dancing at a disco 🤣🤣

At least a pack of crisps cake and an apple in take home bag but a buffet better with snacks, they will need drinks and a break no one can dance for 2 hours.

Are you not even doing cake?!

It's not hard to open a few big bags of crisps and some sweet treats tbh.

Dead easy way to deal with this OP. Head to nearest supermarket and buy precooked partypacks of mini sausages, sausage rolls, scotch eggs etc and ready made fairy cakes and crisps and a pack of grapes and strawberries - pull off the lids and let them help themselves. No mess. No fuss. Barely any clearing up. Haven't been to a kids party yet where half way through the kids weren't hankering after a snack. Its up to you but I as a parent of a child going to a party at that time would be considering a light snack rather than full meal after the party so if there's no food, you need to be up front with the parents so they know
That their kids will be hungry post party

If you aren’t providing food then you should also put u don’t require presents for your child either! I would be annoyed their was no food, kids get hungry, need a break etc, parents will prob just leave early to go & get food elsewhere.

Do something at 3:15pm, they will be hungry.

I did a 2-4 party this year and was doing food, despite the not quite a meal time of day. It seemed that some kids had been deprived in their lunch and I ended up bringing the food out earlier than planned as they kept asking!

I have been to no food parties but these have been at some soft play areas and swimming with just cake afterwards. This has usually been communicated to parents.

We went to visit a relative who’s child had a birthday. At their house, just dropping off a present, not a party. Within about half an hour of being there my daughter asked when the food was coming. Was a little embarrassing as we did drop in almost around tea time but hadn’t planned to stay but they were invited to join the kids in the garden playing. They did end up getting a sandwich off my cousin.

You might also want to check with the DJ about this. When booking a 2 hour party the DJ tends to plan in a break for food and singing happy birthday. Kids only take about 15 minutes to eat though. Soft okay oartoes often stick a 30 minute food a lot after the play part and a lot of kids are running around bored with 15 minutes to spare when they can’t go back on the play equipment.

You're going to come off looking mean, even if that's not the reason behind it. Surely you can understand that while you don't see why it's there, providing food is the done thing at a children's party? Why wouldn't you want to be a good host to your child's friends?

Ah, have seen you're now talking about sausage rolls and crisps. That's the spirit. Just embrace it.