Help with catering for a childrens party please

overlykeensaver

why not make rice pop or cornflake cakes? These are great at a party and adults love them too. Just melt some chocolate and pour over some rice pops/cornflakes and put into bun cases and leave to set.

narabanekeater

My friend had 35 children and I would imagine 15 adults to feed (maybe even some of the childrens parents) to cater for:eek:
Its a 5 year olds party and it will be much cheaper to do it this way
Apart from cake (yummy) can anyone please help me with the amounts she will need to make and of what?
I had the ideas of little sausages, sausage rolls, little sandwiches, choc fingers/party rings, fruit kebab sticks, salad, crisps, bread sticks and now im lost. I really have no idea for puddings or savorys and also how many drinks per child to provide or even for an adult.
Can anyone please help?

lolababy

Hi how about jelly. Id make a large jug of fruit juice and only fill the cups up half way. Children tend to waste a lot and if they want more you can top it up.Pizza , garlic bread,crisps, dips, cheese cut into cubes. How about buying drink bottles out of pound land you get three in a pack. They can be taken home by the children s part of their party bag plus you avoid spills.
I would not worry about the adults. How about only inviting the children and having one or two people as helpers. Parents will be glad of the break . Have a party plan of two hours max and plan games ect.

wendyphant

I wanted to do my DS party on a budget and there were 40 there and there were 20+ adults

We had a hot dog party very cheap and easy 16 hotdogs in asda were 99p and the bread rolls were 78p for 12

with a big bottle of ketchup it was under £10

We then had a big bowl of crisps

Went down a storm the kids loved it because they didn't have to sit down with plates ect less food to eat = more play time

We used the little cartons of squash with a straw again in asda 24 or 48 for 1.99

We used paper napkins instead of plates and the drinks didn't need cups so we saved a fortune on paper plates ect

We did tea and coffee for the adults (total of £4 for tea and coffee) the premises had cups ect and a kettle then instead of food for the adults we bought a big tin of roses and put thm out for them

To save money on the pudding we cut up the cake and the kids had that insted of giving it to them to take home

HTH

narabanekeater

Mums and Dads stay at paries where I am.
Ive never been to a party yet when I wasnt asked or expected to stop
Does anyone please have any ideas on what quantities of what we should allow for. She doesnt wsnt loads left but wants enough.
Wish the hot dogs could be done but no warming or tea making where its going to be sadly (although it sounds a lot less fuss)

Bunny200

It came as a shock to me but once they get to school parents round here expect to leave their kids. My ED birthday is in Dec and by then I hadn't put names to every child face never mind who their parents were so I was a bit shocked that parents were prepared to leave their 4/5 yr old with a parent they equally didn't know:eek: Got used to it now and will know for next time round....

As far as food goes you will probably overcater, they don't eat much and only a bite out of each thing!
Generally round here it goes like this
jam/dairylea sandwich (crusts cut off) 2 pieces of bread per child
small cocktail sauages 3-4 per child
breadsticks are good
cucumber/carrots sticks if you are feeling v healthy sometimes they get eaten
crisps (loads of them)
grapes (the parents usually eat these!)
cakes (mini roll, chocolate fingers, jaffa cake bars etc) 2 per child
Drinks - defineatly cartons (bit more pricey but quicker and cleaner than pouring out squash, less likely to get split. Go for square cartons rather than Capri Sun like pouches)

Don't bother with salad, will get wasted, and maybe not kebab things, over stimulated children + cocktail sticks are generally not a good equation!!

Parents don't ususally expect to be fed unless they are family or have been roped in to help. We usually just pick of the kids plates, nothing taste as good as a half eaten jam sandwich:D . I sometimes get a family tin of biscuits (that we like) but generally they don't get eaten, therefore we finish them at home.

HTH, good luck.

P.S. Gin & tonic for adults once its over!!!!!!!:rotfl:

poppet

narabanekeater wrote: »

Mums and Dads stay at paries where I am.
Ive never been to a party yet when I wasnt asked or expected to stop
Does anyone please have any ideas on what quantities of what we should allow for. She doesnt wsnt loads left but wants enough.
Wish the hot dogs could be done but no warming or tea making where its going to be sadly (although it sounds a lot less fuss)

Just a thought - if you have a slow cooker, you can keep hot dog saussages warm in that. Take a flask of hot water with you and pour the hot water into the slow cooker before dropping the hot dogs in. (cold water would take too long to heat in a slow cooker)

coxy07

I frequently cater for large numbers of young children (Brownies and Rainbows). By far the easiest way is to give them a party food bag or box each containing 2 small triangle sandwiches, 1 cheese spread, 1 ham, 1 small sausage roll, 1 small box raisins, 1 small packet of crisps, 1 pot fromage frais & small plastic spoon,1 cup/carton drink. Tell them if there is anything they dont like they can swap with their friends. This always works for us and we sometimes cater for up to 90 girls. It means the food can be prepared in advance and just handed out at the appropriate time. A black bin liner sorts out the clearing up! For the adults we do large trays of assorted sandwiches and a bowl of fruit.

xxvickixx

If you make the sandwiches in advance a great trick is to save the crusts from each end of the loaf, make all of the sandwiches but don't cut them up. Put them all back in the bread bag with the crust slices each end, so now it looks like a normal loaf again. Tie the bag back up. This will keep them fresh until you are ready to serve. I did this the day before my wedding reception and cut them up just before, they were as good as if I had just made them.

cagneuk

we've just catered for DD's birthday with 35 kids and parents. We used 6 loafs of bread and made egg, tuna and ham sandwiches. eggs half dozen 70p at farmfoods. ham waferthin tesco value, tuna 3tins 1.50 netto. bread bought at aldi 55p a loaf.
Family made buns with icing and cherries, cornedbeef pie, ham and egg pie, home made quiche.
Cheap crisps in bowls we got special offers on quavers and wotsits in tesco.
cartons of juice 48 for 1.99, also made jugs of diluted as we had plastic cups left over from last years party.
asda sparkling wine £1.08 bottle for parents (small glass each) 4 bottle was more than enough.
tesco own jaffa cakes. Pink Wafers. Party rings, jam tarts, were half price last week at tesco not sure if still are.
Birthday cake was made by Dw mother so not sure of cost for that.
We avoided Jelly as can be very messy.
Mini sausage rolls pack of 50 x 2 from farmfoods. less than £1 each
Mini hot dogs, never heard of them before but were on special in tesco 44p per tin and each tin held 20 I think. went down a treat.
Most expensive was the french fancies asda own were still over £1 per box but they were a must.
Butter Popcorn in bowls was a big hit too.
Sure there was more but can't think.
We decided that we would cater just for the kids and if parents want anything they can have what's left. most food was gone but there was defiantely enough for both kids and parents. Except quiche as my mate ate nearly half one to himself.