| 1) Choose your menu - What you choose to | | | | food. I typically do a mixture of both. Buy food |
| serve will be dictated by the time of day of your | | | | that has a long shelf life or can be frozen until the |
| party. For example if you are having an early | | | | party and prepare the items that should be fresh |
| afternoon party then snacks will be fine; if you | | | | the day of. |
| are having a late afternoon party to early evening | | | | 5) Food fun - Any food items that look like |
| then heartier fare would be appropriate such as | | | | something else are going to be a hit regardless of |
| pizza. Keep in mind if you are having a slumber | | | | the food. Forexample, Hotdog worms: cut |
| party then you will need to provide dinner, snacks | | | | hotdogs into strips then boil them, they will curl. |
| and breakfast. | | | | Serve the curled hotdogs and call them worms. 2) |
| 2) Prepare ahead - Prepare as much food as | | | | Serve pizza with toppings designed to look like |
| possible prior to the day of the party. There is | | | | faces, monsters, animals, etc. You can get |
| plenty of kids party food items that can be | | | | creative with the toppings. 3) Ants: serve celery |
| prepared a day or two in advance and stored | | | | sticks with cream cheese, put raisins on top of |
| such as rice krispie treats, snack mix and cookies | | | | the cream cheese and tell the kids it's ants. |
| to name a few. | | | | 6) Presentation - Tailor your presentation to the |
| 3) What to serve - Ask the birthday boy or girl | | | | theme of the party. Food is a great way to pull |
| what food they would like to have at the party. | | | | your theme together. For example: serve chips in |
| Be sure to have a few of his/her suggestions as | | | | a cowboy hat (clean and lined with paper or |
| a special treat. With that said, finger foods work | | | | plastic) at a Cowboy party, serve punch in a |
| best at kids parties. Finger foods are easy to set | | | | hollowed out pumpkin at a Halloween party or put |
| out and easy for kids to eat. The rest of the | | | | plastic bugs on a serving tray at a bug party or |
| menu should be simple, kids are not fussy and so | | | | Halloween party. |
| the tried and true favorites still work great such | | | | 7) Extras - It's a smart course of action to keep |
| as hotdogs, pizza, nachos, sandwiches and chicken | | | | extra snacks and ingredients just in case you |
| nuggets. | | | | have a few extra people. Sometimes more |
| 4) Store bought or homemade - Whether to | | | | parents will stay then expected or parents will |
| serve store bought food or make everything | | | | bring siblings of the invited guest. |
| from scratch is up to you. Consider how much | | | | 8) Moms and Dads - If you are planning to have |
| time you have to prepare the food, your budget | | | | moms and dads at your party it's nice to have at |
| and your cooking skills. Don't feel guilty about | | | | least 1 item they would enjoy. If you're serving |
| buying store bought food, remember kids are not | | | | pizza then no need to provide something extra |
| picky and truthfully most kids prefer the store | | | | but if you're serving hotdog worms then possibly |
| bought food they recognize over homemade | | | | sub sandwiches for the adults would be nice. |