Category: Caterers

The circle of life

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If your kid can’t stop singing “Hakuna Matata” then it may be time to invite your favourite little animals over for a royal children’s birthday celebration! Below are some ideas for you to pounce on including suggestions for Lion King invitations, decorations, food, favours and free games.

Lion King Party Planning & Invitations

In addition to basic jungle party supplies, like plates, cups, napkins and decorations, you may want to consider purchasing, borrowing or renting the following items for your Lion King party:

 

  • The Lion King on DVD or Blu-Ray

  • The Lion King stuffed animals

  • Animal costumes such as our lion headband.

  • A petting zoo

  • An animal shaped pinata

 

If personalised invitations just aren’t your cup of tea, you can invite your favourite little animals to join your pride for the day with creative handmade invitations! Here are some Lion King invitation ideas you can make yourself or with the help of the kids.

 

  • Record a video of your child singing one of the songs from the Lion King. At the end of the song your child can say “please come to my Lion King party” along with the date and time. Copy the video onto a CD and mail to each guest.

  • Mail each invitation with a small Lion King figure or a CD of songs from the movie.

  • Dress your child in a Simba or Nala costume and take a photo. Upload the photo to your computer to make an invitation by using photo software. On the front of the invitation you can add the words “I Just Can’t Wait to Turn 5!”

    Lion King Party Decorations & Food

Turn your home into a jungle fit for a king with the following Lion King decoration ideas.

 

  • Play music from the movie in the background to add ambiance.

  • To create a jungle canopy, hang a lot of green, lime green and brown crepe paper streamers from the ceiling.

  • Use silk potted plants and flowers to decorate the floor and table of your Lion King party.

  • Place Lion King figurines and stuffed animals around the room.

  • Draw Simba on brown craft paper to hang around the room. You can use the symbol Rafiki draws on the tree as your example.

 

In addition to pizza, chicken fingers, hamburgers or hotdogs, you can add some Lion King themed food into the mix. Here are some fun food suggestions that will tame your ravenous lion cubs.

Lion King Party favours

Thank your guests with roaring party favours! Some of the favours can include:

 

  • Mini stuffed animals

  • Animal wind-up toys

  • Jungle animal stickers and temporary tattoos

  • Fun-shaped sweets

Ice-skating party

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My daughter’s tenth birthday party was fastly approaching and we needed to plan a children’s birthday party that wouldn’t require too much money. That is when my daughter asked if we would be able to do an ice skating party. Of course, I thought this would be a great idea since it was not our home, so we wouldn’t need to clean up or plan much. So, the next day I called up the local skating rink and they told me I could rent a party room for 3 hours for only £80. This was great!

Then, my daughter and I picked up some nice stationary from a hobby craft shop and wrote all the information down on a piece of it – one for each guest (we invited 12).

The day of the party, we went to the rink early to set up the tables and decorations, and to rent the skates (we had called everyone in advance and asked what shoe size they were). The skates were complimentary with the party room.

An hour later, almost all of the guests had arrived so they got their skates on and met up with one of the rink instructors who would be leading the party. For about an hour, she showed them tricks and they played a variety of skating games.

Later, they were called to lunch where they were given their choice of pizza, hot dogs, or chicken nuggets. We also laid out hot chocolate so they could come back from skating to get some whenever they wanted.

When they finished lunch, they went back to skating and there was disco lights and music playing! They all had great fun and skated to a light show for about 30 minutes, when they got tired and decided to come back in and open gifts. Before they knew it, it was time to go.

They were each given their goodie bags which were supplied by the rink. They were a plastic bag with an ice skate on it, an ice skate keychain, sweets, ice skating pencil, and other traditional party bag treats.

This party was great – they had fun, there was no clean up, it was extremely inexpensive, and it required about 30 minutes of planning!

Kids eat free

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We believe all mums deserve to have a break from cooking at home everyday, but sometimes eating out with Kids can be pretty expensive. If you are looking for a place to treat your Kids with a delicious meal without breaking your bank account, look no further! We’ve done the hard work for you by compiling these fab restaurants which offer ‘Kids Eat Free’

Gordon Ramsay Restaurants

Selected location

There are several Gordon Ramsay’s Restaurants which offer Kids Eat Free for every adult main course ordered, including Maze Grill Mayfair, Bread Street Kitchen and The Narrow in London.

Damon’s Restaurant, Lincoln / Liverpool / Sheffield

Kids under 12 years old can enjoy a free main course from the kids menu which available from Monday to Saturday 12-6pm at Damon’s restaurant.

Coal Grill & Bar, various location

Kids aged 10 and under can enjoy a fun free meal from Coal Kids Menu per adult spending £10 or more, available from Monday to Friday 12-5pm.

Brewer’s Fayre / Beefeater Grill / Thyme / Table Table – Premier Inn, Countrywide

Enjoy up to two under 16s free Premier Inn all-you-can-eat breakfast per one full-paying adult. Kids can choose from hot and cold breakfast, as well as freshly-baked pastries, fruits and juices.

Morrisons, Countrywide

Morrisons offers one free kids meal (for under 16 years old) with any adult hot meal (over £4.50) from 3pm every day.

Crown Carveries, Countrywide

Visit your local Crown Carvery any Sunday (and bank holiday Monday) to get free kids carvery for each adult ordering a roast or pub classic meal. ASDA, Countrywide

Kids can eat free on weekdays after 3.30pm for every adult meal purchased worth £4.

Do some monster baking

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Halloween is becoming more and more popular in the UK, make sure this year you are ready to make some Halloween children’s party food that will impress your little monsters!!

Ghoulish Ghost Cakes

Dariole moulds are the ideal shape or these spooky little cakes but you could cheat and use a mini chocolates rolls under the white icing!

 

175g butter

175g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

3 eggs

175g self-raising flour

800g ready-to-roll white icing

1 tube black writing icing

 

Beat together the caster sugar, butter and vanilla essence until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time with a tablespoon of flour for each egg. Beat well and fold in the remaining flour.

Spoon into 8 greased and floured dariole moulds, place on a baking tray and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Cut the top of the cakes off to form a flat surface and then turn out onto a board or plate. Leave until completely cold.

Roll out the white icing on a surface dusted with cornflour and cut out 8 x 16cm circles (can use a saucer as a guide). Drape these over the sponge cakes to form ghost figures. Draw the ghost’s features using a tube of black writing icing

Makes 8 mini ghost cakes

Spider And Bat Cakes

These are fun to make with your children. You can make five of each design, divide the cake mixture in two and add one tablespoon of cocoa powder to half of it .

 

Fairy Cakes

100g (4 oz) soft margarine

100g (4 oz) caster sugar

2 eggs

100g (4 oz) self-raising flour

(substitute 2 tbsp cocoa powder for 2 tbsp of the flour for chocolate fairy cakes)

1 tsp pure vanilla essence

Spider Cake Decoration

100g / 4 oz milk chocolate

liquorice laces

10 chocolate marshmallow teacakes

Assorted liquorice sweets

Sugar-coated coloured chocolate buttons

 

Bat Cake Decoration

100g / 4 oz softened butter

175g (6 oz) icing sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp milk

1 tube black writing icing

black liquorice sweets

edible silver balls

 

To make the fairy cakes: pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Cream the margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy and then beat in the eggs one at a time together with 1 tablespoon of the flour. Add the vanilla and fold in the remaining flour. Line a bun tin with paper cases and half fill each case with the mixture. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. Remove and put on a wire rack to cool before decorating.

 

Spider Cakes

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Using a palette knife, cover each cake with some of the melted chocolate. Arrange six liquorice strips for the spider’s legs and stick a teacake in the centres. Finish with assorted liquorice sweets and sugar-coated coloured chocolate buttons as eyes.

 

Bat Cakes

To make the chocolate frosting, beat the butter until creamy. Sieve together the icing sugar and cocoa and gradually beat into the butter together with the milk using a wooden spoon. When the cakes have cooled, cut off the tops of the cakes and cut into three sections and use the two curved ends to make wings (reserve the middle section).

 

Draw a ‘V’ with black writing icing on the wings. Spread a thick layer of chocolate frosting over the surface of the cake, position the wings to that they stand up: you will need to cut small squares of cake from the middle section to position under the wings to prop them up. Stick edible silver balls on top of black liquorice sweets for the bat’s eyes.

 

Makes 10 to 12 spider cakes

Tombstone Sandwiches

You can use a variety of fillings like Marmite, Peanut Butter, Egg Mayonnaise, Cheese and Tomato to make these spine-chilling sandwiches.

 

Sliced bread

Grated carrot

Grated cheddar cheese

Mayonnaise

Salad cress

 

Cut the crusts off the bread and cut into rectangles. Using a plain round cutter or a saucer as a guide cut the top of the sandwich into a round tombstone shape. Mix together the grated carrot, cheese and mayonnaise (or use a filling of your choice) and sandwich the bread together with this mixture.

Arrange the tombstone sandwiches upright on a plate and sprinkle the cress around the sandwiches before serving.

Menu’s for fussy eaters

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Children are the most honest of guests. – If they don’t like something they won’t eat it. Some children won’t like ham, others won’t like tuna – so put on an even spread of sandwiches with a variety of fillings, so you aren’t left with some kids that don’t want to eat anything grand then go home hungry.

Trying to trick your own children into eating fruit and vegetables may be a constant battle at the best of times, but in a party scenario it could prove even harder. And it is a party after all so perhaps now isn’t the best time to worry too much about healthy eating.

That said, learning to hide the greens is still possible – have you thought about cooking a delicious vegetable cake, for example a carrot cake?

Our suggestion though would be to have a good mix of sandwiches, fruit and veg that can be eaten by hand.e.g. cherry tomatoes, cucumber and carrot sticks, cheese cubes, then a nice range of crisps and sweets. A simple range of food like this makes life easier and also reduces allergy issues.

Planning food for children’s parties can often be a challenge, as one has to always think about the dietary requirements of other kids. It’s quite possible that you will have some children with allergies or intolerances. Often the parents will have told you if this is the case but it is worth checking yourself to be sure. (maybe ask parents to mention this on your party invites)

If you do have certain allergies or dietary requirements to cater for then you may want to ensure the food for that child is on a separate plate so it makes life easier for them and also doesn’t run the risk of contamination of their food with things they can’t have e.g. for nut allergies.

There seems to be a law of balances involved at every stage of the menu planning process. On the one hand, too much sugar can turn your party into mayhem, whereas on the other, too little could make your food too boring.

Aiming at the middle is the way forward. Cake, crisps and jelly are the traditional vouch-safes; but you could also consider throwing in some chocolate-dipped fruit or fruit juice for good measure.

If presented with a choice, children will almost always opt for the sugariest option. Preparing drinks on a tray before-hand and distributing them as a matter of course can help deal with this issue. You could even try distributing glasses of milk, should the sugar intake be reaching dizzying levels. But to make life easier we’d suggest juice boxes as they’re nice and easy to put on the table, reduce spillages and are easy to throw away.

Tips on catering

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An important part of any child’s birthday celebrations is the party food, and parents who are choosing to do the spread themselves will want to create a feast that is guaranteed to get eaten. Naturally, dishes you choose will be dependent on what kind of party your child is having but there are a few ways in which you can make sure that your party food goes down a treat.

It’s always fun to create your own fun dishes. You can get loads of ideas form the internet. No matter what you do it’s almost certain that some dishes will be more popular than others. You therefore should aim to create a spread that is a mix of good party food staples like cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, sandwiches, etc.…with ‘experimental’ plates like party themed cupcakes, food shaped as characters from a theme, etc.… Whilst planning the menu, make sure that you consider what leftovers you may have, and how you would use them too as there can be a lot of food left over.

With classic party food such as crisps and biscuits, buying multipacks and refilling will mean that any leftovers you have are fresh and easily used in lunch boxes and for snacks. With more ‘experimental’ dishes, make sure that you and your family will be willing to eat them if left untouched.

When sending out the invites, it might be suitable to request any dietary information from parents that will help you create a spread that can be enjoyed by all. Parents of children with severe allergies or special dietary requirements may already know they need to contact families prior to attending birthday parties to avoid issues on the day, but some will assume that they will be catered for or forget to mention it.

By asking families to provide details of special diets, you can include (or not include) certain dishes that means no one at the party goes hungry.

Do try not to add unnecessary stress or pressure on yourself. Most parents are on the quest to create the perfect children’s birthday celebration and therefore may think that presentation of their party food is essential. Of course it’s fun to make things look nice and show some thought. Although presentation and display of party food may be important to adults, do remember it’s not necessarily noticed by the children and it is a kid’s party after all.

If you have the natural creative flare and want to put on a great spread of fantastic looking party food, then why not!! But if it’s going to stress you out then do remember that with all the excitement that is created from entertainers, party games, and celebrating with friends, when it comes to picking from a selection of party food, children won’t be too fussed about any delicate arrangement, but more about taste and variety and you could have gone to all that trouble only to find it not being appreciated afterwards.

Of course if you’re making party food together with your children, before the party, then your kids will love this as it gets them involved in their party even more and it’s a great activity to do with your kids.

Budding archaeologists

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If your child is into ancient History, then maybe an Egyptian party would be just the thing;

You could ask your guests to come dressed as an Egyptian (not only would it be great fun but also very educational)

There could be lots of crafty making (seeing as the Egyptians love to build things) why not have a Pyramid building competition which cardboard recycling could be put to very good use. All you need it glue, glitter pens and the children’s imagination to build an amazing Pyramid!!  

PARTY GAMES & ACTIVITIES;

Mummy wrap game;

Divide the children into 3 teams and had them wrap one person as a mummy. Best wrap in 5 minutes’ win.  You will need lots of toilet tissue, try and buy the more expensive stuff as the cheap tissue will rip easily.

Next game is a scavenger hunt. Divided into teams and gave them hieroglyphic clues which they had to translate. There are a lot of websites that give ways to translate hieroglyphics, but not all of them use the same letter-to-hieroglyphic translations.  Tell the children that archaeologists weren’t always given complete information!

The first clue led them to an archaeological dig site (the sand box). They had to dig up a ring, necklace, gold coins, and their next clue. Use one of the pyramids to give instructions — particularly, one item per person; I wanted everyone to get one of each.

The second clue took them to buckets that they had no idea what was inside.  There were all sorts of horrible feeling things inside for example, Jelly, baked beans and custard and they had to dig deep to get their clues!!

The third clue took them to the Nile River. Planks were laid out in the garden and pretend water was underneath them.  The idea is that they balanced and didn’t fall. At the end of the Nile was a crocodile’s nest. They had to get the eggs from the crocodile’s nest for their next clue. 

Final stop was Tutankhamun’s tomb, for their prize there were sweets and prizes all stuffed into a treasure chest 

KIDS PARTY FOOD;

Sandwiches and crisps were laid out and ice cream scooped into bowls, so just had to bring it out from the freezer.  Oh and of course a Pyramid Cake!!!