The topic of what food to serve at a child’s party can be somewhat controversial.
How many choices should you offer? How can you deal with allergies? What if a child doesn’t eat the food you plan on serving?
Read this post to cut through the ‘controversy’ and make the right choices for your child’s party.
The most popular food served at birthday parties is – you guessed it – pizza!
Remember pizza parties as a kid? The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Dean Martin singing about the moon hitting your eye like a big pizza pie?
It’s no wonder pizza’s a big hit!
A ‘normal’ size slice can be too big for little hands. I suggest asking the pizza place to cut the slices in small half-slices for the party.
Keep it simple and get 1 kind of pizza to serve everyone. More choices do not make life easier on you or the kids. Plain pizza is the most popular.
If want to offer a second choice, the second most popular is pepperoni.
Here are some other food ideas I’ve seen served successfully at birthday parties:
bagels
a tray of assorted sandwiches (meat and vegetarian options)
pasta
hamburgers and hotdogs
sushi
Sometimes, kids won’t want or be able to eat a certain food because of certain diet restrictions, religious reasons, or allergies.
To avoid scrambling for an alternative food option on the day of the party, I recommend putting the following information on the birthday party invitation:
Summarizing the food on the invitation.
Leaving a space for parents to write down food allergies / dietary restrictions on their RSVP
Mentioning whether there’s a 1 parent limit and if siblings are welcome
Including a final date for RSVP’s
Some say, “You get what you get, and you don’t get upset;” while others try to accommodate everyone.
If possible, I suggest trying to find out the underlying need behind the behavior.
There are any number of reasons why a child might not want to eat: he/she might be full, feeling upset about something, or has a legitimate concern pertaining to an allergy, etc.
By anticipating and doing your best to accommodate the different needs of your guests, you can ensure everyone leaves your child’s birthday party with a smile and a happy stomach!
Read this quick post for suggestions about the best time to serve food at a birthday party.