Who doesn’t love a good food? It’s what people always look forward to in a party. A good menu is definitely on top of the factors for having a successful kids’ party. Whether you’re having thirty, fifty, or a hundred guests; whether you’re having a celebration for a kid’s 1st or 7th birthday—the food will always matter. It’s an essential of a great kids’ party. To help you achieve the kind of party that you want your child to have, consider the following factors for a good kids’ party menu:
In planning for the appropriate and a good menu for your kid’s party, you need to figure out first what time you’re holding the party. Usually, there are two ideal time blocks for holding a kids’ party on a weekend. Either lunch time (11am to 2pm), or merienda time (3pm to 6pm). If you’ve set the party to a lunch time, you definitely need to prepare a heavy meal–rice, a few choices of ulam, and fruit juices. Besides that, you’ll also need to prepare finger food just in case your guests get hungry prior to the lunch time.
For us Filipinos, although merienda time implies a time for light meals, preparing a sandwich or two for your kids’ party won’t do. If you’ve set the party to a merienda time, expect that the kids will be hungry after the games and activities. This time block is also like a pre-dinner meal so you still need to prepare something heavy. Besides from finger food, you may prepare spaghetti, chicken, sandwiches, and etcetera.
Your choice of venue can also affect your menu for your kid’s party. If you’re holding your kid’s party at a restaurant or hotel, your choices of food is only limited to the menu of that certain restaurant or hotel. Usually, they also don’t allow outside food to be brought inside their premises.
However, if you’re holding the kids’ party at a function room and you’ve decided to hire a caterer, your choices of food are more flexible. Caterers, like some restaurants and hotels, already have certain menus for a kids’ party. But there are some whom you can actually talk to for any customization and requests. Just make sure that your venue has enough space for the setup of your caterer.
You need to figure out the ages of the kids that you’re inviting to the party. Kids can be picky with the food that they want to eat. Unless they see something they like and familiar with them, they won’t eat it. If you’re having a kids’ party where most kids are 7-years-old, you can prepare chicken, spaghetti, pizza, ice cream, burgers, and etcetera.
After you’ve already prepared for the food of the kids’ party, you can still add something different to make the party more fun! If the restaurant or your caterer is already providing the heavy meals, then you can prepare whatever smaller meals that you could think of. You can make a sandwich stand where you can prepare containers and each one has something of what makes a sandwich–bread, ham, cheese, lettuce, etc. Then you could let the kids decide and make their own sandwiches. This is just one of the many ideas that will get the kids to be interactive and participative.
Yes, you read that right–junk food. Whether we want to admit it or not, kids love it. And kids’ party somewhat gives them the excuse to eat junk food. So for the party, you can prepare finger food like chips, nachos, french fries, or etcetera. For food carts, you can have popcorns, snow cones, cotton candy, and the likes. However, we don’t advise to serve soda in a kids’ party. Serving fruit juices is still the better choice.
We hope this helps you prepare the good menu for the success of your kid’s party. If you have any inquiries, you may contact us at 925-0107 or info@hizonscatering.com
References include an interview with Mrs. Jme Gonzalez, Vice President and Production Head of Party Links Events Corp. (920-0966, 0922-829-6980, customer@partylinksevents.com)
Image credits: Trends4ever.com