Party food

[SmileAndNod]

I haven't done a party for what seems like years though I could have blocked it from my memory. DD is going to be 5 and I have booked a hall and some entertainment.

I was going to do some food boxes (happy meal type boxes) to prevent the where little Jack takes the whole plate of sausages and keeps them to himself!

Do you think this is a bad idea? Was going to put in a ham / cheese / jam sandwich, hula hoops, mini pack of biscuits, sausages, little cake and then make some fruit sticks with strawberries, blueberries marshmallows. And something else that I think I've forgotten.

What do you think? And would you be happy for your child to eat from the box or would you want plates etc as well?

It doesn't seem like a very healthy mix and I'm worried I will be judged

I did this and it went down very well. Practical, and exciting for the kids. I generally found people don't judge party food.

that sounds lovely but quite a lot. my kids get over excited at parties and would be likely to eat the cake and marshmallows before running off to play! i wouldn't expect a plate, children like boxes. hth x

We had my 4 YOs party at the weekend, we just out food out and let them help themselves but I think party boxes would work too.

I would be happy for the kids to eat from the box, no need for plates.

Things that went down well:

• Carrot sticks
• Blueberries
• Cherry tomatoes
• Ham sandwiches
• Cheese sandwiches
• Chocolate biscuits
• Birthday cake

The kids didn't really eat the sliced peppers, mixed sandwiches (Cheese and pickle etc), dips, breadsticks, celery sticks.

Thank you! Yes I was going to do some boxes with ham some with cheese so they could choose. Will forget the jam. I just thought it would be easier for me to make up the boxes at home the night before and just put the cold stuff in before they eat. We're inviting the whole class but pretty sure they won't all come.

We always do this. Try brown paper bags the ones with a handle usually less than £1 for 10 so. Much cheaper than boxes. Plus easy to write on if you have a child with allergy etc. My older children like to decorate them.

We did this last year and it worked really well. I do agree that they generally won’t eat that much, but I still put a good few things in to make sure they had a choice.

Don't forget a carton of juice or fruit shoot type drink.

I'd leave out the little cake, especially if you're giving them cake later (even if it's in party bags, because they're likely to eat it as soon as they walk out the door anyway!) Also, if they're not individually wrapped they might be a bit past their best if you put them into the boxes the night before. Perhaps do a cling-wrapped finger of flapjack or a pot of sugar free jelly instead.

I've always found it easiest (but perhaps not the most environmentally friendliest) to only include things that are wrapped. It stops the fruit hobnobbing with cheesy sandwiches or sausages or getting too bashed. For this reason, I would swap the sausages for babybel or cheesetrings. Some supermarkets sell their own cheaper and healthier alternatives. It also means that everyone has the same and you don't have to do something different for vegetarians.
I'd also swap the fresh fruit for a little box/packet of raisins. Fresh fruit is preferable, but can get bruised or mushy.

I've also put party hats into the boxes which went down well.

We chose to go pretty much completely vegetarian, the only meat thing was ham sandwiches because DR specifically requested them.

I was a bit worried people would miss sausage rolls, sausages, scotch eggs are but everyone including parents seemed happy with what was there.

We had vegetarian and halal only kids there so wanted to make sure it was easy for them to find foods they could eat.

Have done this before and went down a treat! Also mess was all contained within the box, not cups and plates left with food everywhere. All the boxes on a table for everyone to help themselves and drinks cartons on the side too. We used the little mini Evian squeeze bottles of water with disney on.
We had a cheese sandwich (as lots of veggies), selection of chopped up fruit, goldfish crackers and a bear yoyo. I put them fruit and goldfish crackers into muffin cases to keep separate.

@SmileAndNod Have you had your party yet? I'm planning on doing similar with my ds 6th birthday soon and wondered what you ended up putting in and what was well received?

No I haven't it's a couple of weeks away yet. I am planning on a sandwich (ham) cheese stick, hula hoops, choc biscuit, carton of juice and doing some strawberry / blueberries / grape / marshmallow kebabs on a big plate.

I think that will be enough? I'm also considering slush (as it comes with party package) but I'm worried about what judgy parents think 😊

That sounds plenty! I've just order 25 boxes from eBay, 14 kids invited but not sure how many siblings to account for.

I was thinking filling half with cheese, half with ham, caprisun, packet of crisps/crackers, fruit roll up. I was then going to give them a scoop of ice cream in a cup or cone with a flake. Birthday cake to take home.

Not sure about catering for parents though, how much and what to give.

I’m doing similar for ds2.
Packet of crisps, carton of juice (with some bottles of water on the side), pack of raisins and a chocolate mini roll.
Going to do cheese and ham sandwiches but can’t decide whether to put in box or just walk round with them.