Can anyone help me with how much food to buy for my 4 year olds party...?

[Gurraun]

Hello.

My son's 4th birthday party is on Sunday. For my sins there are 16 boys and 5 girls coming. The party is over lunch time so I plan to serve fishfingers, chips and beans followed by ice cream and ice cream sauce with a chocolate wafer type thing (high cuisine!).

How much do I need to do? I thought 2 fishfingers per child (plus some spares), 2 1.8kg bags of oven chips and 8 cans of beans and a 2 litre tub of ice cream. Is this enough (can't really picture quantities beyond the fishfingers)? Obviously not a disaster if I buy too much as will keep (although limited freezer space) but definitely don't want to get too little.

Thanks (I appreciate this is a very first world problem but any advice appreciated)!

I think 2 fish fingers per child plus spares is fine.

8 cans of beans feels a little on the low side to me (just about a third of a can per child?) I would buy half a can per child as you can always keep some back and heat them if needed or keep them for another day.

The chips sound hard to judge. Personally I would get a bag and open it, sort out portions and count them. Then you'll know how many portions in advance and can buy right number of bags.

I think you'll be lucky to get 21 portions of ice cream out of one 2l tub. I'd get two.

The easier option is a traditional party tea. Two slices of bread per child made into sandwiches, plus one bag of crisps per child (or half per child plus some Doritos or something), three cocktail sausages each, a fairy cake each, a biscuit each and some juice. Dunno, seems easier to judge quantities to me.

Good luck with 21 children coming for lunch! Will you have parents staying too? I find the parents take up a lot of space!

I would ditch the idea of cooking for that many kids. What if half don't like fish fingers / beans?

Buffet is your friend

More icecream (maybe get cones for ease of portion control)

I wouldn't serve beans to 22 kids. Lots of potential for waste and mess. My kids would eat about a tablespoonful max. Party tea is much easier…..!

I second not cooking fish fingers/chips/beans for that many. Personally my DS would only eat the fish fingers - doesn't like chips or beans - there are bound to be a few out if the 21 who are similar.

I would go with traditional buffet party food - with the added bonus that it can be prepared ahead. Based on recent experience, don't make as much as you think as the children usually are so excited they barely eat. Also, I have noticed pizza pieces are never eaten.

Ok, now it's obviously your party but my 4 year old is a fussy bugger and would eat none of that. We know this so always bring our own food just in case but it depends on how you feel about a child eating none of the food you serve. He wouldn't cry or anything but it wouldn't get eaten. He would eat crisps, certain sandwiches, sausages, etc.

You hopefully won't have many or even any annoyingly fussy children like my son but it might be worth doing a party tea so that there is more choice. Also children eat far less than you think, especially at a party where they want to play.

Ok thanks for the feedback! I am a lazy bugger and thought it would be easier but perhaps not! Anymore want to come in in support of hot food before I ditch it!!!!

Just thought I'd update in case anyone searching for similar info. 20 plus kids ate 50 fish fingers, 2.5kg of chips and 3 cans of beans plus 4 litres of ice cream and loads of cake. I may just have been lucky but they seemed unfussy and there wasn't tonnes of waste so if anyone in 2 minds it was quite a straightforward and successful party lunch.

Hooray! Glad it went well :)

Glad it went well. A friend of mine did pizza and hotdogs at her son's party - on the invite she asked people to RSVP with their choice of food then catered a few extra of each in case anyone changed their mind. It worked really well and was really popular with the kids.