Birthday cupcakes - is this a ridiculous idea?

[Mummabear04]

I was thinking of making cupcakes for my DDs 6th birthday party but instead of icing them all, giving them each a cupcake and putting bowls of butter icing on the table with a spoon and little bowls of Sprinkles so they can make the topping themselves? The party will be at an organised venue but we need to provide the food. Would it be a mad idea to do this rather than ice something like 36 cupcakes?

If they were older it would be a good idea. However at that age I think you will end up with butter cream and sprinkles everywhere.

I'd worry that at that age they'd dip a spoon into the delicious icing, put half on their cup cake, lick the spoon and dip into the icing again.... ad infinitum 😋 🧁 it'll end up more saliva than icing 😆

I think it would be fine but I would portion out the toppings and give them each a portion otherwise inevitably some will take too much and some will not have enough.

You could end up with not enough or mountains of left overs depending on how much the kids try to decorate with.

I think you’ll be cleaning sprinkles and buttercream for ages.

I think at that age I'd go with iced but they can add their own toppings.

I think it will just cause mess and not hygienic ( double-dipped licked spoons and fingers)

If you need an activity to stretch out the entertainment Id give them party hats they can colour (pot of crayons on the table).

My friend did this at her dds party. It worked well. As long as you have parents to supervise & they all wash their hands before & after. This was instead of a slice of birthday cake to take home

My six year olds have done this on a play date and at school recently. Absolutely fine if supervised.

Portioning out toppings would work. Not sprinkles (madness) but bigger things like chocolate buttons and jelly sweets. Then having bowls of runny icing (not buttercream) between 2/3.

Good fun, but if your main aim is trying to save time/effort it’s not the way to go. The prep plus clean up after is a lot.

Everyone loves this but you have to be willing to clean up a major mess at the end of it. I was but not all mums would be

I think it’s a lovely idea if it’s say, at a village hall and you’ll be doing the clean up yourself. Though if you’re hiring a bouncy castle, they’ll need to clean up and wash hands after, and you’ll need enough parents around to oversee that.

If it’s at a venue like soft play where you have like a 30 minute slot for food and you aren’t the one responsible for cleaning up, no. Because it’s the sort of thing where you’ll need to get the hoover and a mop out and wipe the tables down. I wouldn’t expect staff to clean up sprinkles and buttercream from everywhere.

I think this is a brilliant fun idea the children will love! It’s a good way to combine birthday cake and an activity. You’ll just need to resource is adequately.

I think it would be great if you organise it properly. Each has a paper plate with their name, each has their own plastic spoon. Could portion out buttercream into paper cups. They don’t all have to do it at once.

I wouldn't do it at an organised venue with 30 kids, it'll be carnage and unless you've got washing up facilities to hand it'll be messy. very messy. Depending on the venue they might not even allow it.

I've done decorate your own various things at birthday parties at home but never with that number of children and never somewhere where I have to get it all cleaned up in a specific amount of time. The mess is pretty unbelievable.

If it's for a fun activity you can do some of the portioning ideas (and yes, things that aren't sprinkles are much easier for cleanup), but it will be a massive task for that sort of number.

Yeah ice them yourself but then put out bowls of decorations and sprinkles and stuff for them to add on. They will use every single bit of whatever you put out and it will make a bit of a mess, even without the icing. But still fun though!

No, don’t do it unless you have lots of parents who can help! Or you have plastic sheeting on the floor and paper tablecloths which can be chucked away / recycled. Icing sugar and decorations will be all over fingers, floors, tables, clothes and quite likely in hair! Unless they each have their own little bowl (paper glasses work quite well) licked spoons will be returned to icing bowls….total saliva and germ fest!