To not know how this is done?

[Grumpasaurus]

For context I am Canadian and these things happen differently here than at home!

DS is turning 3, we're having a party for him from 1-3 at a sort of community centre that has toys and a play ground. Doing a jungle theme (not really). I bought little jungle themed picnic boxes for the kids (about 20 ish, it will be hell!), in each of which I will put a juice box, a pack of flavoured rice crackers, a few chocolate coins, a pack of freddos, and four sandwich halves (one ham & cucumber, one tuna, one cheese & tomato, and one jam). I will also put a box of crayons and a little colouring book, and give them cake and and animal mask and a huge animal helium balloon instead of party favours (hate the tat).

I thought that would be a fun way for kids to have lunch and also easier than bringing a whole bunch of plates / cutlery / etc.

All that to say- do I need to provide anything for adults? Can't really afford to feed potentially 40 adults!!! Xxx

Do supermarkets where you are do sandwich platters? Our Morrison's does for about £6/7 and I just order them for the parents

Sandwich boxes are rogue? We went to loads of parties which had them.

I personally wouldn't offer ham sandwiches for cultural reasons. Are there likely to be any Muslim children at the party?

She said she was going to ask about dietary requirements.

Not food related but one thing I noticed that was different to my Canadian childhood parties was that (in our circles at least) presents did not get opened at the party, they were taken home and opened at home later.

Keep the balloons apart so that they are "A Thing" at the end. This makes it plain they're instead of party bags, and when you hand them out it's time to go home.
Also, make sure that the balloons have a long enough ribbon that when little Gulliver lets go and it hits the ceiling, it's easy to rescue

Peanut butter or banana sandwiches
Veggie sausage rolls
Carrot sticks
Babybel or cheese strings

Why not just put the food out on plates on a table, then children can choose what they want, and the adults can pick at the leftovers once the the children have finished? You could still give them the boxes to eat from instead of paper plates. My children at that age were quite fussy. We used to put out sandwiches, cheese, ham, jam. Cherry tomatoes, cucumber, grapes, crisps, cakes .

Don’t offer peanut butter, due to potential allergies.

One thing about the British culture: they will be polite about the party to your face, whatever they privately think

Sounds good, don't mention boxes in text, it sounds apologetic and you don't need to apologise, it all sounds great.

I’ve been to loads of parties with the boxes so I wouldn’t mention them tbh. When I used them I put everything but the sandwiches in though - I let them choose those themselves.

Thanks all!

Oh I thought the picnic box idea was creative- seems I am not the first.

Will definitely be cutting cake there and eating it. I don't understand why people send the napkins with cake home. It's very odd to me.

Yes, why do presents get opened later? This also seems odd to me as you don't get to see if they like it. I guess because it's boring for the other children to sit in a circle and watch someone else open gifts.

Food is a minefield and everyone has different preferences, so to keep it really simple for me, everyone will have a box that has:

One piece of fruit
One mini yoghurt
4x sandwhich fingers of some variety (so 4x 1/4)
Small back of mini rice cakes
One Freddo
2 gold coins
Juice
A mask

Will do cake there

At the end will give everyone their big balloon with the crayons and colouring book as paper weight as a clear party favour and hint that it's time to go.

Adults can have tea, coffee, squash, water, some rocky road, crisps, and fruit.

That's enough I think!

I have never been to a party here where the child opens gifts at the party. Fur one thing at three I don’t expect the children to know what they are actually giving - and if they do and the child is disappointed that’s not going to go down well!
Guest hand you the presents or put it on s specific table, you take them home kiddie opens them and you note down which present from which child for thank you cards.
Also don’t mention the boxes in the invites.

Presents opened at parties end up with other kids wanting to play with them and that's when bits go missing or get broken before the birthday child has even touched them.

I also wouldn't give helium balloons cos it's a finite resource that is fast running out (the helium, not the balloons).

But the rest sounds lovely. Don't stress, they're kids, they'll have a great time!

Definitely take the presents home to open, just have a pen and paper handy to note down what for thank you cards.

I prefer the cake going home! The amount of food at a party plus the cake is usually far too much and I'd rather they could spread it out and keep the cake as a treat for later. Plus I grew up in 80's Scotland where the cake was always sent home in a napkin so I feel nostalgic about it

the cake will be trodden into the floor, wont really be eaten, let them take it home and do what they will with it.
are you having games?

carrot sticks are popular

I don’t think small children will manage 2 slices of bread. Even if they do at home, they’re usually too excited and just want to play. Maybe worth making up a couple of plates of ham/cheese/jam/whatever and asking parents to put them in the box and then give the box to their child.

Tubes of yoghurt seem to go down well.

I also wonder whether a whole piece of fruit is too much. It’s easy to get punnets of strawberries, take the tops off and just rinse the whole lot under the tap.

I don’t think you need to refer to it as going rogue. It’s a nice/normal way to serve party food.

Tea/coffee for grown ups and cake if you’re feeling kind. I wouldn’t expect much take up on Prosecco unless you’re accessible by walking/public transport.

I did the picnic boxes years ago for ds1 but I didn’t put the sandwiches in I put them on a platter and the got handed round/put on the table because kids can be fussy won’t eat something they think has touched something else and it avoided any worry of cross contamination for those that don’t eat ham for example. It also had the benefit of meaning that parents could see what was left overs and eat them up so had one reql waste in the end.
Always have fruit of some sort at kids parties and it always gets eaten it’s the one thing I’ve never had to take any of home.

I would offer drinks (tea, coffee, cold drinks if it's hot) plus light refreshments eg biscuits, cake or similar. Is there anywhere close to the centre a parent can nip to if they are hungry eg if there's a Greggs 3 doors down as a parent I would has nipped out for 5 mins and grabbed a baguette

Tubes of yoghurt seem to go down well.

Messy. Many can’t open them by themselves.

I put them on a platter and the got handed round/put on the table because kids can be fussy won’t eat something they think has touched something else and it avoided any worry of cross contamination for those that don’t eat ham for example.

Over-thinking. Keep a few spares for the few fussy buggers, most will be just fine. It’s a party, if the kid doesn’t like a sandwich, it’s not the end of the world.

Thanks all- got it covered! Mostly just wanted to know whether I needed to do food for adults, but appreciate all the broader advice too.

Thank you!

What about an animal bar! Bloody loved these and would fit with your theme? I agree with the basics for adults... tea/coffee/water/biscuits x

Sorry! Forgot the photo!

YABU for putting the cucumber in with the ham and not the tuna where it belongs!

What about an animal bar!

Or the Cadbury animal biscuits!