Easy Party Foods

When planning a children's party, one of the main considerations is party food, and unless you are lucky enough to be able to hire a caterer, then finding quick and easy party foods to prepare is the key.

In order to help you save time and money we have put together some ideas for easy party food to make your child's party go down a treat.

Party foods for kids can be made very easily and to suit most tastes, themes and ages. It is always worth bearing in mind that a growing number of children have food allergies. Parents who have a child with an allergy are usually proactive in informing other parents if their child is going to a party where there may be food. Some may even offer to provide ‘safe' alternatives for their child. As a general rule to eliminate some allergic reactions and choking do not offer nuts as a snack at a party.

Children (generally) get very excited about parties and especially the food, so spending a little time thinking and planning your menu will make the preparation much easier. Making sandwiches and then using biscuit cutters to make different shapes / animals / characters is an easy party food solution, but listed below are some more ideas in detail.

Party foods for kids

If you have already chosen a theme for your party then plan the food to go with your theme. Party foods for kids need to be fun, exciting and interesting, this is easier to achieve than you may first think. Try to achieve a balance and include sweet and savory dishes by using the ideas below.

• Fairy / cup cakes are an easy party food , ideal for using with any party theme. If you don't have the time to make them yourself most of the major supermarkets sell packs of a dozen ready made fairy cakes. These can then be decorated in line with a theme. Adding a little food colouring to plain icing makes a good base for additional decorations, or for a colour themed 'Pink Party'. Once the base icing is on there are many decorations in the supermarkets that can be placed on top – flowers, characters, shapes, pictures, numbers and letters. If you are feeling more adventurous and artistic then ready mixed tubes of icing colour are available. This can be a simple or as complicated as you like. Whilst some people may choose to take a great deal of time making intricate patterns and pictures, a simple smiley face (blobs for 2 eyes, a nose and a line mouth) is all you need to get the children talking about and eating your cakes! An alternative is to let the party guests decorate their own cakes as an activity. Just provide the cakes (with or with out icing base), tubes of ready mixed icing colours and bowls of decorations on a wipe clean table cloth.
   
• Labeling up food to accompany a party theme makes party foods for kids more fun, and this way you can provide easy party foods with a twist. Chocolate biscuit fingers can be 'pirates fingers' (pirate party), pasta tube salad – 'train tunnel pasta' (train party), swiss roll slices – 'helter skelter cake' (fairground party), marshmallows – 'fairy pillows' (fairy party), cherry tomatoes – 'clown's noses' (clown party), jelly beans – 'monsters teeth' (monster party) etc. Encourage the other adults helping you to refer to each food by its party name; this will further amuse your guests.
   
• Rainbow jelly. Jelly is a traditional easy party food, and although very easy to make can be made more interesting by using clear plastic cups and several colours of jelly. Two jelly colours can be added a day (one in the morning and one at night), you can make stripy jelly or make a full rainbow effect, by sharing the jelly between the cups and allowing to set before the next colour is added.
   
• Sandwiches can be multi layered. By using small cutters many shapes can be made and then skewered onto a cocktail stick (for older children) or for younger children on a displayed on a plate as bite size mouthfuls.
   
• 'Swiss roll' like sandwiches are an easy party food – these work best with contrasting colours . eg cream cheese on brown, or jam / yeast extract spread on white. Spread a slice with filling, trim crusts off and roll the slice like a swiss roll. Chill for 30 minutes then slice into 1½cm wide slices and place on a plate. These often get eaten more than other savory foods as they look appealing and are different to other sandwiches.

These suggestions for party foods for kids may not be suitable for older children who often wish to have some input in the choice of their party food. Involve them in the decisions for a menu as much as possible, they may choose to have a pizza party, or even prefer a takeaway with some friends. This makes party food much easier and then all you need to concentrate on providing nibbles and perhaps a cake if they are agreeable.

First Birthday Party Food Ideas

A first birthday party is a very special and memorable event in any family's life. Many parents choose to celebrate their child's first birthday with perhaps a few other parents with similar aged babies/toddlers and family members, grandparents, aunts and uncles etc. First birthday party food ideas usually have to accommodate the adults and older children at the party as much as the one year old.

As you are catering for adults and older siblings it is possible to make sandwiches for everyone. When making sandwiches use cutters to make smaller shaped sandwiches that a one year old child can enjoy. They can also have in small amounts of jelly, ice cream and other party foods. It is generally not advised to give very small children nuts or crisps because of the choking hazard, but the can enjoy specifically produced toddler biscuits.

Although first birthday party food ideas revolve around catering for all guests, when it comes to the birthday cake it is a good idea to make this as child centred as possible. Perhaps choose a character that your child recognises, or an object that they are familiar with, such as a teddy, dolly, car or train. Although your child may not be able to blow out their candle, it is usually this moment that is captured on camera or video, so their cake is the focal point of the party.

Party foods for kids can be made very easily and to suit most tastes, themes and ages. Quick and easy party food does not have to be boring or bland, and with a little imagination everyday foods can be transformed into fun party snacks.