Party boxes

[jenk1]

We are having a spongebob/pirate party for DS, its not a birthday as we dont celebrate them but its a party to get him back in touch with his friends from school as he is going back in Sep (he hasnt been in for nearly a year due to severe anxiety)
It is quite a big party and there will be upwards of 25 kids, we are having it in a sports hall with bouncy castle,5 a side football,table tennis and a childrens magic show.
As we are at a family wedding the day and night before and are travelling back on the morning there wont be enough time to do a full buffet and we cant afford a caterer as we have already spent too much!!!

So i was thinking of ordering party boxes for each child and putting food in them as i can quickly make sandwiches on the morning and put a packet of crisps,chocolate bar,drink etc in them.

DH says its mean, i say im pushed for time (we booked the party and sent the invites out before the invites for the wedding came-last minute thing on our relatives part)
Has anyone done this and if so what did you put in the boxes?

TIA

We did this for Ds2 party. I thought it was fab we just put sandwiches, bag of quavers,mini cheese stick, drink and mini chocolate roll.

I named them all then collected them in when they had finished and used them as the party bags

Did it for ds' party and have been to several where they've done similar. We did couple of quarter sandwiches(which were the least eaten thing!), sausages on sticks, cheese and pineapple on sticks, bag of grapes, carrot sticks and cucumber, small bags of hulahoops and choc finger biscuits plus a carton of juice.

Why does dh think it mean ? You could always have a few extras on standby for those who finish and want more. Alternatively you set it out along a table and hand each child a plate or box to pick'n'mix their own.

It's not mean, it works really well, and the kids love it. I tend to have bowls of stuff on the table as well for them to grab for themselves - especially cocktail sausages, which go really well - never underestimate the power of the cocktail sausage. Having boxes means it's not a complete free-for-all, and some of them do actually eat that apple. Mini-Babybels go well too, and they make sculptures out of the wax. You need to have bottles of water on the table in case they don't like the drink you give them.

I think it will work well. My friend ordered some boxes shaped like pirate ships (and princess carriages for the girls). They came with a paper cup which she just filled with squash from a jug and with a cardboard packet that you would put chips in. She didn't bother with chips but put a handful of chipsticks in, instead. I would imagine it was less messy than the traditional idea of having laid out in the centre of the table and each child reaching out to grab what they want to load onto a paper plate - ie mountains of crisps IME.

great idea - have always worked well and generally save on clearing up too as all wrappers etc go back in box then in bin. Like LIZS's filling ideas.

cheapest way to do it is to use plain white cake boxes and stick a sticker (spongebob, pirate, whatever) on each one. Don't write names unless you want a free-for-all as 25 kids each try to find their own...

I went to a party once where they did it. I thought it was a great idea. DD1 loved the boxes. It made the organisation a lot easier for the Mum, and the novelty boxes went down well with the kids. I'm thinking of doing it for DD1s party in September. My approach to parties is, the easier for the Mum, the better it is for the kids as the Mum is far less stressed.

Pirate theme
I ordered stuff from here - very quick delivery.

Ham / cheese roll
carton of fruit juice
bag of fruit
bag of cherry toms and carrot sticks
bun / mini roll
mini pringles
breadsticks

sorry, link doesn't work - go to www.partypieces.co.uk and click on themes-pirates

Thanks Gingerbear ive ordered the pirate boxes from there and thanks to Liz and everyone else for their suggestions, this makes it really easy i will make up the boxes the day before and put everything in apart from the fridge stuff, then in the morning after a 2.5 hour car journey from our relatives wedding i rustle up a few sarnies and we are ready to go!!!

I phoned round caterers thinking that it would be easier but they want £100 plus for a sandiwch, a piece of pizza,a sausage roll and some crisps and a mini roll, im not paying that.