It's our 1st party for kids -- need ideas

[Neera]

Thanks in advance.

We're having a 5 yo's party and are having pizza, juice and of course cake. Is this sufficient? This is post-lunch. I was thinking of adding some great whole oat choc chip cookies we found? And I know we could just get extra pizza, but we don't want to be left with boxes of pizza and be devouring them ourselves the next day or be tempted to. I am wondering whether we shud budget 2 slices for every 4-5 yo child coming?

2ndly we're trying to keep this as healthy as possible. So, we are getting whole wheat pizza. We'll try to get flash pasteurized juice. Couldn't do much about the cake but we did order it from Whole Foods since the sugar at least is controlled and it doesn't have those weird looking food colors and teeth stinging icing. Any more suggestions?

Is a book ok as a party favor? Dd has usually got toys or a whole lot of stuff coming out of a pinata.

Thanks.

Edited by Neera - 2/2/12 at 7:23am

[LuckyMommaToo]

Yes, a book is great. We have done that as favors.

If it's post-lunch (like, say, 2-4), I would do more like string cheese, pretzels, cut-up strawberries, the whole oat cookies, maybe yogurt tubes. There's nothing wrong with pizza, it's just that my kids are grazers. If you go that route, two slices seems like a lot for kids that age, especially at a non-meal time. Maybe 1-1/2 slices per kid?

Do you have some activities planned? For that age I've found that some structure is better.

Have fun!
-e

[Neera]

Thks. 3 slices for 2 kids sounds pretty good. We love pizza but we don't eat it for health reasons. Dairy just doesn't seem to suit us. But I know that that is what kids seem to enjoy. Dd loves pizza but we just restrict it. So, my question has changed a little. Is pizza and the cookies enough? We have been to parties where there have been tons of snacks and tons of foods.

Forgot to say, it's great to know books are fine. And thanks, the activity is planned. The kids know what they will be doing.

[Imakcerka]

I would maybe add one more item, like carrots and dip.  Otherwise sounds good.  Are you planning on feeding parents too?

[pianojazzgirl]

Yes, I would add one more item too.  At all my kids' parties I always do a veggie tray (carrots, cucumbers, peppers,celery sticks, etc).  Sometimes I put out a bowl of grapes and/or strawberries too.  I also often do pizza, but what I do is get those rectangular pizzas because they cut up better into smaller pieces.  If you need to feed parents too I might also put out something like tortilla chips and salsa, or pretzels or something like that.

Re. the book as a party favour I think that's a fantastic idea!

[Neera]

Thanks. I didn't mention it's at a place where the parties are timed for 2 hrs. We have taken a tiny bit of extra time. Most parents will be leaving the kids but if they want to hang around they could. The activity is going to be about an hr long. And there's probably 1/2 hr for food and drinks and later another 1/2 hr for the cake.

[Elcie]

We just did my daughter's birthday at an outside facility and this was for dinner, not between meals.

The kids were almost all too excited to eat, and averaged (barely) one slice of pizza each.

ADVICE: if you're ordering pizza ask the vendor to go easy on the sauce and to double cut the pizza. Makes it much easier to eat.

We also had strawberries which went over very well, carrots and pretzels ok, and two kinds of juice.

We also had a small cake and frozen yogurt tubes instead of ice cream, which was easier to serve.

No complaints.

We did books as favors at my son's 6th birthday and the parents especially liked that. 

[LizFischer]

It might be fun if you let the birthday kid pick the extra snack...like just go into WF and let them decide what looks awesome and healthy to share.

The book is a GREAT favor...it's a million times better than sugary snacks or plastic garbage that is broken or discarded before the guests even get home.

[Neera]

Thanks. We did ask the pizza to be cut into double the no. of slices. We have the whole grain cookies for snacks.