Help with catering for a childrens party please

narabanekeater

Heres what I did
I found some little snack boxes like a McDonalds happy meal box. You can buy them on ebay or home bargains and even pounds shops, My local bakers sold me them for 10p each. Add a little roll, ham or cheese, a packet of hula hoops or whatever crisps are bofof, a little bottle or drink or a cup drink and I popped in some value filled mini roll type cake and a small packet of haribo sweets and a little value fromage frais.
That cost me less than 60p a child to do and they loved them and swapped crisp flovours and swwetie bags between themselves
I made litrle fairy cakes and iced them all pretty and popped on in the party bag rather than a slice of cake. I was going to buy from Asda those little fairy cakes they do with pictures of Ben 10/Barbie on them. Those cakes work out at about 15p each
If you do as the above poster suggested with hot dogs cook them at home and take flaks of boiling water with you and a slow cooker. Put the hot dogs in the slow cooker as you arrive with the boiling water to keep them hot.
Good luck and enjoy the party

katholicos

As an alternative to doing an open buffet and picky eaters picking things up and putting them down etc, i would use some inexpensive brown paper food/sandwhich bags and put the buffet food, wrapped up individually in clingfilm or kitchen paper, inside the bag. Your child could decorate each bag with the guests names on to personalise them, then you could just have a few big bowls of popcorn, crisps, scattered around the place for them to snack on. You could either use those cheap cup drinks in their lunch bags, or buy cheap squash or lemonade/cola/fruit juice. I've done kids parties for less than £20 and it is certainly 'doable' with a bit of planning. The kiddie guests are going to be more interested in the games they will be playing etc, than what they are eating anyway, so i wouldn't stress about it if i were you. Hope everything goes well!

jackieglasgow

I was in a similar position last year. Instead of cake my son had a giant home made Millies Cookie for his cake, which is cheap and easy to make, his big brother decorated it, and I made 2 of them actually. Then it was sliced up like a pizza and the kids got a slice each for their share, which they were delighted with, and DS thinks it was the best birthday cake ever! I also stuck some cake sparklers and candles in the top to make it a bit more special!

Lindy_-_Loo

why not try a cake mix where you add egg. Less than 30p for a tesco value one and it gives you a large sponge you could decorate or 12 fairy cakes x

Boodle

Hi I will be catering a birthday party in the next couple of weeks and this is what I have planned:

• Jam sandwiches (smart price jam 34p - lemon curd is 23p - you could use the cheap bread if need be)
• Cucumber sandwiches
• LM sausage rolls, cut into pieces (if you are happy to buy/eat them, I think most supermarkets do cheap value frozen ones - yup, 98p for 50)
• HM cheeze and potato pies
• Bought party nibble selection i.e. bhajis etc. (1.98 for pk of 18)
• Crisps (whole multipack of smart price ones in a big bowl, 48p)
• Bombay mix (huge bag from £1 shop)
• Pickled onions (smart price 62p per jar)
• Carrot sticks (7p each at Asda - about 8 sticks each)
• HM mini apple pies and macaroons (though you could buy smart price/value apple pies - 36p for 6.)
• And birthday cake i.e. HM sponge with ready to roll icing, pretty sprinkles and candles

I have never had to do goody bags yet - I just send everyone home with a piece of birthday cake

Hope that helps with some ideas. Whatever you decide on I hope you all have a fab time

zippychick

Hi Trying to change

I see you have quite a few ideas already. I found an older merged thread with ideas for you - help with catering for childrens party please

There is also an older thread which may offer some ideas.

I'll read back at your suggestions so far, and merge this with the first link later

good luck!
zipx

soon2bjobless

I never made a sponge cake for my kids when they were wee - I just used to make a giant cornflake crispie cake in the shape of the number they were (in your case an easy 7 - 8 is more tricky!) I used to take down one of my pictures, cover the back with silver foil and make up the number on that- cheap as chips!

maryb

Make a tray bake, ice it with the same colour icing as the proper cake and cut it into squares before the party, wrap in a paper napkin then make up the goody bags beforehand if you are giving them, otherwise let them just take a portion of cake and a balloon with them when they go home.

You can buy ultra small fairy cake cases (Petits fours cases) which they can eat in one bite. Brilliant for children's parties as they don't drop sticky bits of fairy cake everywhere. Easy to decorate with chocolate butter cream and a single Smartie on top

Buy a pack of chipolatas and twist each one into three then cut apart before cooking in the oven. Much cheaper and nicer than cocktail sausages.

If you make sandwiches, cut them into 8 rather than 4 per round etc

Basically keep it small - there will be much less mess and it will look more partyish.

meritaten

copy the way the kids party venues work. work out how much each child will eat - kids dont tend to eat many sandwiches so two round of bread should be cut into four triangles (I find that you can cut them into half across and then into thirds making six finger sandwiches and the kids will try them because they look different). then serve two sausage rolls each, buy the frozen ones they are better value than ready cooked. some cooked cocktail sausages - kids like these and will eat four or five usually. some cubed mild cheese with grapes or bit of pinapple on a cocktail stick like a kebab. packs of own brand crisps - ready salted but put in large bowls so the kids wont know whether they are walkers or not.
for the cake - my local aldi sell largish square cakes like chocolate sponge that would cut up enough for 12 you could get a few of those cut up for serving but keep one back to put the candles on and let the kids do the birthday song and the blowing out of candles bit.
I know £20 isnt much but it can be done - just watch the portion control carefully. if there is any money left over then buy some seasonal fruit such as strawberries, grapes and melon. dont hand out goody bags - look in pound shops or supermarkets for items to give them to take home - such as a bottle of bubbles or a nice pencil or pen....in multipacks so they are cheap! most of the goody bag gifts are rubbish and they are binned when the kids get home!
my local pound shop do packs of balloons - all sorts from the ordinary ones to super large! and kids do love balloons.........you could blow up a few dozen and let the kids take home two or three????

memelalou

Ive had a look on the tesco website for you and all this comes up to 14.83 so you could get the plates and cups with the change - tv is for tesco value

3 tv medium white loafs {makes around 10 sandwiches per loaf) 47p each
1 tv brown medium loaf 50p
tv soft cheese 25p
tesco sandwich ham 10 slices £1
tv small mild cheddar cheese £1.48 or look on the cheese counter for cheaper
tv jam 34p
2 pks frozen tesco sausage rolls 35 in each bag £1.03 each
tesco 40 cooked sausages £1.75
1 gooodfellers cheese pizza £1.24
4 tv strawberry jelly 7p each!
4 tv fairy cakes plain but only 46p each if you have any extra money you can always get
toppings and get the kids to design their own for entaiment.
tv orange squash 48p
tv blackcurrant squash 58p
tesco prawn coctail big bag snacks 87p
tesco cheese puffs 75p

hope this gives you a idea