Alternatives to Sandwiches in Birthday Party

[nursemom06]

Hi All!

It's my first time hosting a class party for my daughter this September. She's turning 5.

As the title suggests, I don't really want to prepare sandwiches for the party as we've been to a few celebrations and it never gets eaten. I'm planning to do a buffet for both the kids and the parents. I'm expecting about 30-40 children, plus similar number of adults as I've requested for parents to stay.

Please give me some ideas of any alternatives that I can offer during the party. I'm thinking of pizza and hotdogs in finger rolls. But you might have innovative ideas than these.

Many thanks in advance ☺️

Fairy bread- buttered white bread with hundred and thousands sprinkled on. Looks gorgeous and feels like a naughty treat!

Anything you can cube- bite size is the way to go.

Bitesize pizzas, chicken nuggets, babybels, cucumber, tomatoes and crisps for the kids

Cheese, biscuits and grapes for the adults

Cake!

What time is the party?
If you do 2-4 it is clearly not a Neal time, so you can put out snacks - crisps, drinks and cake/biscuits. Maybe with some sausage rolls and cheese cubes if you want to bulk out the savoury stuff.

I honestly don't understand the enthusiasm for pizza at this sort of event. Unless you're in a hall with industrial sized ovens, it's impossible to serve pizza without half of it getting cold and there's always piles and piles of pizza left over.

My tried and tested small kids birthday food is as follows:

Hot dogs - made with frankfurters that can be quickly and easily heated up in a pot of hot water. You dont' even need to boil them - handy in a church hall if you have an urn to fill a large pot with hot water. (check if you have any jewish/muslim children attending though as if so you might need a separate pack of beef/chicken frankfurters).

Fruit skewers. Do a quick search on Pinterest for options that work for you - for reasons I don't fully understand, if you put out bowls of fruit, only some gets eaten. Turn it into a fun skewer... the kids fight over them. I have done themed skewers for halloween etc, easier ones for quick parties etc. Never fails.

Crisps and biscuits placed out. I usually do multiple packs of crisps rather than big packets that are then placed in bowls. The kids all like having their own packet of biscuits.

Cake.

Job done.

I also often put out the snackier things earlier for children to eat during the activities. works well I find.

Oh, and sometimes I put out babybels too.

For DNephew’s party last summer there were:-

Quorn mini bites (eggs)
mini pork pies
mini sausages
mini quiches or larger ones (Higgidy)
savoury muffins (Higgidy)
pita bread and breadsticks with dips
falafels
the snacky deli things like stuffed vine leaves M&S sell
baby tomatoes
savoury bread - eg celery and cheese loaf with cream cheese
garlic bread as pp said
French baguete
tubs of mini cornflake cakes and mini Swiss rolls
fruit (maybe fruit salad?)

If you do have time or someone wants to make some of them for you then crack on!

I’ve only given savoury options. All can be bought from M&S/Waitrose/Booths.

Veteran party holder here. If you want to feed the parents too order in pizza. That goes down well with kids and parents. Order double the number of pizzas you think you'd need.
Most parents wont eat buffet type food at a party for 5 year olds as the kids put their hands all over it and it's gross.

The other thing I've seen at a party that went down well was an Italian family who served bowls of fresh pasta with a choice of sauces. They own a restaurant and the pasta was fabulous. It was a big hit with everyone. You'd need a lot of pasta to feed 80 though....

I used to make a hungry caterpillar sandwich display for the centre of the table, use a round cutter to make circles and do different fillings, twiglets for the antenna and a little cardboard face, it was always demolished.

@GerbilsForever24 - I can fit x4 pizzas in my home oven.

4 year olds eat like 1-2 slices. And I slice into smaller pieces for kids
So I just did 3 pizzas, serve, 3 more pizzas in oven
Everyone starts eating first 3 hot, kids already full and on watermelon or ran off to play when more pizza out hot. Adults eat in piece

• steamed small dim sims and sweet chilli sauce
• sausage rolls and tomato sauce
• salad and fruit on kebab sticks
• cream cheese inside pieces of celery
• chicken thighs cut into nuggets and dipped in egg, parmesan and bread crumbs and oven baked
• garlic bread
• pikelets and jam
• cheese, bell peppers and ham on toothpicks stuck into an orange.
• mandarins
• mini pizzas
• potato gems
• fish bites

I'd say pizzas and hotdogs as the mains (do a veggie pizza), and then veg sticks with dips, crips, cheese and pineapple on sticks, then cake for pudding.

I'm sure you will - but do check for any allergies etc. I'd advise against just getting pizza - I know several of DCs friends who have dairy allergies, egg allergies, are vegan etc So pizza wouldn't be suitable.
One real winner at part-time I've done is watermelon wedges.
Oh Oreos, party rings & bourbons are vegan - so a great choice for parties.

I you have a Costco nearby they have loads of different food platters which are perfect for a party plus giant pizzas

Are there any dietary requirements? Coeliac, veggie, allergies etc?

Vegan doesn’t mean no pizzas it just means different ones!

Mainly as I have a 3 year old and my experience of parties so far has been sticky fingered screaming gremlins running around to frozen songs…..so laughing at the idea of sushi platters and steamed dim sums in a church hall 😏

Do you have cooking facilities at the village hall?

How about a jacket potato ‘bar’? Loads of spuds and just a variety of toppings - big pot of chilli in the slow cooker, cheese, tuna, coleslaw etc.

I would say though, as a parent i’d never go to a children’s party expecting to be fed. It’s a nice touch but unnecessary to feed the adults. Having said that I went to one that put on scones, cream and jam and a cup of tea for adults and it went down a treat!

A slow cooker of stew. Make it and cook it the day before and on the day of the party, take it to the venue and plug in to heat up. Some sliced up French sticks in a basket next to a block of butter and disposable bowls and spoons. The adults will be happy. Dont forger to take a ladle 😂

Depends on your party eating arrangements . Are you expecting everyone to sit down and eat or just grab n go while playing? If it's sit down and eat some hot stuff like pizza and chicken dippers with chips but if it's grab n go picky bits like cocktail sausages , veg sticks and crisps and easy to grab bite sized bits( dips are not great at that age group for double dipping and leaving bits) erring on the savoury side of party food with popcorn etc as fillers as I presume there will be cake n candles etc later on. A sweetie station is popular too! Earn coins for games won and fill a wee bag etc...saves on expensive prize tat too,!

And some are veggie.
Do pizza op. Most kids love it.

Do you always call your DH "Daddy" ?

@WhatsUnderneathTheClothesBrookeDavis and @MadameMassiveSalad I just figure the poster is Irish. And if not, that’s her prerogative what she calls her husband. No need to make fun of her.

I'd make up little packed lunches one person kid to save waste and time

I’ve never had a tonne of sandwiches left over, tbh. Crusts off, cut into fingers (3 out of a normal round of sandwiches), and they are wolfed down by kids and parents alike.

I also do cocktail sausages, cheese and pineapple sticks, fruit kebabs, some crisps, choc fingers, party rings. Hummus and breadsticks or carrot/cucumber sticks.

the thing I always used to end up chucking was cherry tomatoes, so now I don’t bother.