Cooking party for 4 year olds. A good idea?

[anticlea]

Am starting to think about DS's 4th b-day party. I think I want to do it at home mainly because there are no venues nearby that really appeal to me but I don't want to have to do all the work, so am thinking of getting someone it to 'run' it.

I found this www.cookiecrumbles.net and they do cooking parties. Anyone done something like this? Was it good? Pros/cons? 2 hours seems like a long time for a bunch of 4 year olds to do one thing to me.

how many kids are you inviting?
I'd invite max 4 of his best friends, if other kids are present(siblings, cousins) and do mini pizzas using English muffins cut in half as a base.

you can chop up & refrigerate all pizza toppings ahead - ham, cheese, mushrooms, spring onions, sweetcorn, olives, salami/pepperami, peppers, pineapples, grated carrots etc.
I use the big jar of bolognese sauce - 1 spoon/muffin half, you can do the spreading, then kids can assemble their own pizzas.
ask a friend to be in charge of the cooking (in batches), then enjoy!
it really is so much fun!

no need to spend money on an outsider, treat your friend instead to a little gift for helping.

Slightly different but along the same lines - I did a Baking Party for my DD's 4th birthday. She had 5 friends (mix of 3 and 4 year olds) and the party lasted an hour and a half.

We started with them putting on their aprons (I had made these with some lovely cotton fabric I had found half price in John Lewis - total cost for 6 aprons - less than £10) and then we went through to the kitchen to make chocolate chip cookies. I had the table set with all their ingredients measured out in individual bowls and I talked them through it step by step. Once they were done my DH supervised hand washing while I cleared the cookies off the table ready to do in the oven. (a wee tip if you're doing stuff in the oven - have each child's tray/mat lined with baking paper with their initials on it - makes it much easier to work out whose is whose once they're cooked and also makes it easier to slide things from the table to the oven trays)

We then went through to the dining room where the other table was laid out for making sweet kebabs - skewers with grapes, strawberries, marshmallows and fudge cubes. They made 2 each and then washed their hands again. We then played some games before they went back into the kitchen (by which point DH had baked the cookies and cleared all the mess) and they iced sugar cookies. (again their mats were lined with baking paper with their initials on them). For food they ate their sweet kebabs and birthday cake (it was an afternoon party so no need for a proper meal) and then took home their aprons, chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies.

Really cheap party and they all loved it.

• Definitely keep numbers to a minimum - 6 in total was enough - make sure you have space for each child to have their own work space around a table.
• Have 1 or 2 people to help you - I had my DH and 1 of the mums stayed (although that was only because her daughter has english as a second language and it was better to make sure she understood what she needed to do)
• If possible use 2 different rooms to allow space for clearing up while you carry on with the party
• Time-plan - this is essential at a party like this!
• Be clear with instructions, but equally allow them to be 4 year olds with their own creativity
• Expect mess!