4 year old birthday party food ideas

[Worriedmumofone1]

We’ve hired a hall so have access to an oven. There’s around 25 kids coming maybe more if we have some last minute RSVPs.

I originally wanted to do pizza but not sure that’s feasible with the limited oven space and getting all the food out at the same time. I know realistically I want to make my life as easy as possible on the day. So I’m thinking:

-cheese and ham and cheese sandwiches (they sell these pre-made at Sainsbury’s)
-cocktail sausages and/or mini sausage rolls
-some selection of fruit probably berries
-crisps (Pom bears etc)
-maybe some chopped up veg that I know won’t get eaten lol

Should I do cucumber sandwiches too? And add any other food? Want to keep it as simple as possible but provide enough variety for fussy eaters

Its my LOs actual birthday the day before so we’ll only have the evening to prep and I expect we’ll be rather tired 😅

Thanks

I’d have pizza delivered.

We have a 5 year old and usually do similar to what you’ve described but also add in a couple of pizzas too. We cook them at home, cut up into small pieces and take on a tray. The big square ones you can get from supermarkets are good for this.

How many would you order for 25 kids? Could end up terribly expensive 😅

Thank you - do you just serve them cold then?

Yes, it always goes down well as an addition to sandwiches.

What you've suggested sounds fine. Maybe some sweet treats too. I'd advise ordering fewer sandwiches than you'd think and more of everything else, from experience.

I think it sound fab. Only thing I would change is where you have said "cocktail sausages and/or mini sausage rolls" I would do one of those and may one other nibble like chicken bites to give a bit more choice. If you do do pizzas, I'd just do a couple and chop them really small so they become "nibbles" rather than another type of meal. Then do cake for pudding.

At that age we did:

Small sandwiches cut into triangles with crusts off - cheese, ham, marmite & jam
Cocktail sausages
Chicken nuggets
Little bits of margherita pizza cut into rounds with a pastry cutter
Cucumber slices and halved cherry tomatoes

Followed by platters randomly scattered with:
Jammy Dodgers
Chocolate Fingers
Party Rings
Little fairy cakes

But don't set it all out together, otherwise kids will gorge on the sweet stuff and totally ignore the rest. 😂

My kid and his friends might be weird, but carrot and cucumber sticks would definitely get eaten (just don’t go overboard).
Yes to sausage rolls or mini sausages (agree don’t do both).
Yes to mini pizzas or normal size pizzas cut up into small pieces - a few bites worth otherwise you’ll end up with half-eaten pizza slices everywhere.
Any other beige foods like nuggets are popular.
Agree with keeping sandwiches minimal.
Berries are good, also apple slices and watermelon wedges are popular.
Crisps are always a winner. Keep a few bags in reserve in case the food supply starts dwindling.

Don’t worry about the food being warm or not - 4 year olds don’t care. Remember that a bunch of 4 year olds are going to spend most of their time running around madly rather than eating.

Assuming parents will be hanging around, they will also pick at some of the food. You might want to have a table with ‘adult’ snacks like cheese and dips with crackers (and you could put your sandwiches there).