Planning Your Three Year Old's Birthday Party: Food

Young children tend to eat little at parties, so don't go overboard on food.
They're busy bees, so it's worth focusing on food that enables them to eat and be on the go.
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Anything small, bite-sized and attractively colourful works well, such as:
• cucumber and carrot sticks;
• crackers;
• mini sandwiches;
• sausage rolls;
• crisps;
• iced biscuits;
• mini cupcakes;
• chopped banana;
• slices of melon.
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Put out savoury foods first, sweet things later, to encourage balance.
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If your party has a theme, you may want to tie the food in with that. You could serve star-shaped sandwiches for an outer-space party, for example.
Or put butterfly or flower-shaped sprinkles on cupcakes for a fairy party.
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Parents who are staying for the party will appreciate a bit to eat too.
You could make extra sandwiches, with more grown-up fillings.
Lay them out separately from your spread for the children if some of the fillings may be unsuitable for small palates. But if you don't want to lay on food for adults, most parents will be perfectly happy with cakes or biscuits and a pot of tea or coffee.
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🎂As for the birthday cake, a traditional sponge is a sensible option. Gooey cakes with fudge icing look tempting, but are likely to end up squished over your sofa or carpet.
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Cartons of juice or milkshake, with straws, are a good idea for this age group.
Some guests, especially the younger ones, won't have perfected their fine motor skills, and drinks served in beakers may get spilled.
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You can play it safe and avoid the foods that children most commonly choke on, such as whole grapes, popcorn and cherry tomatoes, or at least make sure you halve the grapes and tomatoes before serving up.
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❗️If any of your child's guests have food allergies, their parent should let you know.
It'll reassure the parents to know you've excluded the trigger food group from your spread.
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❤️if it is useful.