To serve bread and butter sandwiches at a children’s party

[PanicAtTheKidsParty]

To clarify right away, it’s not just bread and butter. My DD is about to turn 4, and isn’t a fan of sandwiches. If we’re eating a cold lunch at home she’ll generally have bread and butter and then cold chicken/salad on the side. She doesn’t eat cheese/ham/tuna/any sandwich filling you might reasonably expect!

For her party I’m doing ham sandwiches, cheese sandwiches and cold pizza but she won’t eat those so am I going to look a bit odd having bread and butter sandwiches as well?! There will also be cucumber/carrot sticks, breadsticks, hummus, crisps etc but would you be wondering where on Earth the filling is if you had b&b on the platter too?! Her preference would be dry bread so trying to do a step up from that!

I’m planning to label them so no one bites in expecting a nice cheese one!

My girls used to request butter sandwiches. It’s her party, let her have what she wants!

If there’s no filling it isn’t a sandwich. Just let her eat what she wants and give her bread and butter if she asks for it.

My kids order of preference: Nutella, jam, butter, ham, cheese. You are not unreasonable in the slightest and will probably get plenty of takes for the bread and butter!

My 7yo bloody loves a ‘butter sandwich’ as we call it (and I feel that may appease the sandwich pedants). Yanbu!

Anyone making sandwiches regularly will butter/ spread bread and put them buttered sides together so you could do this with baguettes or French bread. Great for children to have Dairylea triangles or small sausages with.

YANBU. However, does she actually like the sandwiches, or is it just what she'd have if there were only sandwiches? If she would most likely just eat e.g. the pizza then it wouldn't be totally necessary to make butter sandwiches. When I have kids parties I have a mix of stuff that my own kids like, with other standard things that other kids will like/expect. As long as there is enough of the popular/favourite items it is fine to have a few things that just cater to the other guests, as variety is good for these things.

I disagree with pp about kids not wanting veg sticks and hummus, they always get eaten here. Most recent party it was the sandwiches that got left. The veg, falafel, berries, pasta, crisps and chocolate fingers all went

Bloody hell, some of these posts 🤦🏼‍♀️🤣 It is a party for 5/6 year olds, not the bloody Queen!! Butter/spread sandwiches are absolutely fine alongside all that uou are already planning! She is the birthday girl, you MUST cater for her not, not just everybody else! Can you imagine throwing a dinner party but not making anything, you the host would eat?! Bizarre!

This made me laugh loudly, thank you, it hasn't been a great week, I needed it. xx

I'd butter some slices of baguette and put them on a plate. Will be more obvious what it is. Just butter in a sandwich may cause confusion

I included butter sandwiches at all my children's parties. Lots of young children have very simple tastes and they were something even fussy eaters would eat. One of my daughters also had butter sandwiches for her school packed lunch.

This. Make one and keep it in a container for her. Bit odd to leave a plate of it there.

This would be a non-weird looking way to do it

Why not serve it as bread and butter- not as a sandwich?
then people can see what it is and no need to label

you might be surprised and a few others decide try it!

My favourite sandwich as a child was salad cream sandwich. Try it. You'll like it. I am now naming it a Pixie Sandwich because I'm jealous of the fairy sandwich brigade

Why not? I have a sandwich hating son, even as an adult now he'll eat the components as a "deconstructed" sandwich!!

I'm older and had a Northern Mum so bread and butter as well as goodies was normal (eg Sunday "tea" there was fruit, jelly and cream but we had to have bread and butter with it).

Are the kids old enough that you could do a pile of bread and various fillings and letjehem make their own sandwiches (with supervision)?

While you’re making butter sandwiches, you could be all aspirational and make Nigella’s butter creamed with marmite on white bread sandwiches. Supposedly people go mad for them. Optional 1 lettuce leaf per sandwich.

Lots of kids I know would love just bread and butter with picky bits to have along with it. Cherry tomatoes, little cheese cubes, slices of cooked chicken, cooked ham, crisps or pom-bear type snacks. Even fruit kebabs would be simpler than the usual buns and traybakes. As long as there is a big colourful cake most of them would be quite happy

Not relevant to question but I found doing food boxes easier when we hired a room. So put a few things in box eg a babybel, small packet of crisps, one sandwich and then just transfer the boxes - I used those flat cardboard boxes you can get in supermarkets. It stops a lot of hassle. You can put out plates of fruit and veg too if you want.

My son only eats butter or cream cheese sandwiches. Doesn't eat pasta or pizza either, but at his party I had pizza for the kids and I fed him before and after. But I think butter sandwiches would be fine amongst other options!

That's fine as long as she's eating healthy and eating enough what's it matter? Would she eat a tiger loaf or crusty French stick instead of just butter sandwiches? Some of the other children will be more likely to eat some of that as well so she's not the only one.

My DS is turning 4 next month - the only sandwich he will eat is Dairylea, so for his party I'll make a few Dairylea ones for him & then some ham, cheese, tuna & a vegan option for the others.

I have magical childhood party memories of 'fairy bread' - bread and butter with multicoloured sprinkles on top. This was the 70's though and we were poor, so it might not translate.

@ShirleyPhallus A sandwich is a filling between two slices of bread. The butter is the filling. Bread and butter is one slice of buttered bread.

Go for it OP, it’s what my daughter would have chosen. She hates ham and couldn’t have cheese.

I don't think it's worth making any sandwiches for small children. Pizza, sticks of carrot and cucumber, crisps and cake will be fine.