To not cater a children’s party?

[Littlejayx]

My little girl will be turning 3 in may and I have booked a local art studio (think small independent place doing crafty bits and painting) I have booked this for 1 and a half hours but will not provide any food, except drinks.

Instead after a hour of craft and half a hour of party games, I will give out party bags song happy birthday with cake and out we all go.

This is the same day as our local food and drink market (small village) and will be eating out and about and people can join us or go do their own thing.

Is this acceptable? We usually have soft play centres and everything just gets left and it seems so wasteful 😩 tell me if I’m being unreasonable and I will change this (not much mum experience)

I did just pizza once. That went down well and it was really easy.

Thank you for the responses people.
In doing little food boxes and nothing for the adults, they can go across the road to the village food fair I don’t get paid enough for that 😂.

Thank you for the lovely responses!

Sounds good, OP.

Good to see you've decided to do food for the kids OP, you'll be glad you did when you see the mountain of presents from DD's friends. A party without food is basically a play date.

I feel like I’m being generous calling it a party , I’m only inviting 12 kids 😂

I think it sounds great, my son would have liked it! I don’t think it matters about food at all and I’m surprised to see how many people think it’s rude or ‘joyless’! Massive overreaction. Surely you can do what you want for a birthday party!

I think food boxes encourage more wastage than platters. If my DD got a food box with a sandwich she didn't like, it would go in the bin and so would crisps.
Platters mean they take what they want and the rest is left, most important thing is not to make too much. When we hosted 3rd birthday last year, the venue gave us a portion guide for preschoolers for sandwich triangles, bread and veg sticks etc. We followed it, kept it simple with choice of 2 sandwiches (jam or cheese), veg sticks and bread sticks with hummus, cheddar bites and cake. We had very little waste at the end. All made at home and cost less than £10 total for 20 children aged 1-4.

I also catered for adults but we are good friends with almost all the adults who came and every single one of them catered for us when hosting for their children

I've timed a pottery one before to avoid feeding.

You’re not being unreasonable. Parties are expensive enough without catering with most of the food being left!
I would make sure the party finished before lunch or started well after lunch. With the party invitation put in a note to say you won’t be catering as you want the kids to be able to maximise the time of the games/ craft etc. It also helps with some of the food allergies that some kids have.
Good luck with the party, and if people hate the fact you’ve not provided sausages and sandwiches ... then shame on them!

You have to feed 3yr olds. They'll be a nightmare after 20 mins craft, if they even last that long.

It's absolutely fine. Make it clear on invitation. Say that cake will be provided to take away but wouldn't mention the bit about the market (it sounds a bit woolly).

Could you provide crisps/juice? You could have a crisp break to break up the activities.

Sounds absolutely fine to me. Not entirely sure how we got to the point where parents expected to get fed at parties. Certainly wasn’t the case when I was a child or when my children we still at the birthday party age.
If it’s clear that the invitation is to a venue for an activity, I think no food for the kids is also fine. What parents would want their children eating with hands that could be covered in paint, glue, clay etc? Seeing a lot of posts about “needing” to provide snacks. Three year olds are old enough to be eating on normal three meal a day schedules. They will certainly be happy for 90 minutes without food if they are interested in something. They are renowned for only being able to concentrate on one thing at a time. Can always keep a packet of biscuits in your bag just in case, but my guess is the demands will come from the parents rather than the kids

To be honest if you cant afford food as well as the pairing then I'd do a party at home with dances, singing, pass the parcel and a birthday tea. 2-3 year old won't appreciate the painting anyway in my experience.

Kids should be fed at parties. If I'm expected to spend my day off schlepping somewhere, buying a present, being bored stiff for the best part of 2 hours then the least you can do is feed my kids!

Why don’t you just get some pizzas delivered and bring squash and crisps
I think that’s a bit mean to provide nothing

At my daughter’s 3rd birthday party I made individual picnic bags containing a sandwich, crisps, baby bel, raisins, biscuit & carton of juice. Every child took what they hadn’t eaten home with them. I don’t know why more people don’t do this, clean up was so easy.

It's not unreasonable and it is not time dependent: it's 90 minutes of fun and no one needs more than a party bag for this, surely parents know when and how to cater around parties, especially short ones such as this?

A cup of water/squash should be sufficient.

I'm amazed at the (greedy) yummy mummies on this thread..... well, not that surprised TBH.

God forbid their precious poppets should not be "catered" for.

I for one would be well happy with an arty party without food invite and my little one would love it. Sounds very fun and better than two hours in some dreary village hall. Some people really do need to get a grip and need to realise their children can go an hour or two without food.

I think the box sounds perfect OP.

It will only go to waste if the parents are wasteful because a box can easily be taken home.

If there are drinks for the parents, I would buy a box of biscuits but would not cater for parents of 3 year olds when the party is only 90 mins.

Fwiw, I have 4 kids so way too much party experience!

Hope it goes well. Happy Birthday to your little one.

I once took my DS to a soft play party, it was two hours. He didn't eat lunch as assumed party food and didn't want him to only nibble and then waste food. After an hour and a half of burning off energy, the birthday cake came out and he wolfed down a piece and asked for more food. There was non and it was never mentioned. I gave him a very late lunch when we got home. Not pleased!

If they had said no party food on invite, then I would have been surprised but prepared and he would have had lunch before. BTW the party was around lunch time.

If party was between meal times, only hour and a half and I knew only crisps, cake etc. I would be totally fine with that too. There's no right or wrong, just keep people informed.

Do check dietary requirements of the kids. My DD wouldn't be able to eat any of the food most people have mentioned which can make parties miserable. I always bring alternatives but when the host has bothered to include her with a slight adjustment of the food offered she's been so happy.