Party Food

The foods you serve at a child’s birthday party depend largely on the age of the children attending.  If your child is just turning one, you won’t be serving pretzels or pigs in a blanket to the children. 

However, you may have to serve adult foods if you have family members coming to the party.

Food for young one: Keep the menu for your little ones simple.  Small squares of sandwiches with the crust cut off are good for children 1-2 years old, and you can also serve snacks that are easy to chew and will not cause choking (cheese doodles, small diced cubes of cheese, etc.).

Food for children ages 3-5: For this age, you can be a bit more creative.  You can buy appetizer boxes at warehouse clubs or stores (small chicken nuggets, pizza bites, or pigs in a blanket) and serve snacks as well. Some toddlers are fussy about eating, so you may want to have cookies on hand to serve along with the birthday cake, just in case someone doesn’t like strawberry. 

Be sure you know if any of your guests have food allergies, so you are prepared to serve them an alternate menu, if necessary.

When you plan your cooking approach remember not to microwave foods you are feeding to very young children. These can scald or burn a young child’s mouth because they are often much hotter at the center than on the surface. Try to keep foods warm in a WARM oven and cover them so they don’t dry out.

Drinks: If possible, stay away from soda and stick with natural juices or lemonade.  The more sugar you pump into these little house guests, the harder it will be to control them. Sometime, plain water is perfect.

Food for children 6-10: You can fall back on that old favorite:  pizza or you can get more elaborate with hot appetizers or go with cold sandwiches. Of course the standard cookout works well for this age group too.

Food for those 8-10 year olds: You can also consider a Mexican fiesta kind of buffet where the kids can pile cheese and other items into taco shells. These tend to be a bit messy, so be sure you serve this kind of food in a location that is easy to clean up. You might even go with a Fiesta Theme and decorate in bright reds and yellows with games to complement the theme.

Remember: A birthday party is not a time to try out a new recipe or food.  Most children go through a stage of being a fussy eater.

If you give them something they’ve never seen before, you are just about guaranteed that they will turn up their noses as a group and you will have no acceptable food to serve. Stick with what you know will work. Children rarely talk about how good the food was at a party! They will remember the cake and they will remember if you do something special to make the food LOOK different. 

Cakes: If you are not baking the birthday cake yourself, you can tell your local bakery what theme you are contemplating and see if they can decorate a cake to complement that theme.

If you DO plan on making your own cake, there are plenty of cake recipes to match nearly every theme you might consider. 

Here are some sites that have examples and recipes designed for just such an occasion. 

http://www.birthdayexpress.com/bexpress/planning/BirthdayCakes.asp

http://childparenting.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=childparenting&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nickjr.com%2Ffood%2Fcake_finder%2Findex.jhtml

If you don’t see what you want here, you can search online to find more such sites or consider the themes I included below and see if a standard cake mix with some creative decoration can satisfy the theme.

Cutlery: Serve your food on paper or plastic plates.  Stay away from breakable dishes and glasses for a child’s party. You are only asking for trouble. 

Where to serve the food: Plan where and when you will serve the food AND the cake and be prepared to handle spills and crumbs. If you can serve outside in the summer or in the kitchen where clean up is easier, you will find it less difficult to accommodate those clumsy little hands.

If you must serve in a living room or family room, consider a themed motif that allows you place blankets or fabric on the floor. You can place plastic underneath these fabrics and if a child spills, the fabrics will soak up the liquid or sauce and you can minimize drink spills by serving drinks when the children are seated at the table, and pouring the drinks yourself.

If you are serving older children, this concern is not as great, but you will still want to be prepared for the spilled drink or lunch.

There is no doubt that having your party in a hall or outside location will greatly reduce the chance your Great Aunt Sophie’s vase is broken or your favorite pale yellow carpet is permanently stained.