One thing that I truly enjoy doing is throwing a party for kids. A cooking party is definitely a lot of fun to plan and to host. The best part is that you don’t have to spend tons of money to have a kids cooking party. The following tips and suggestions will help you to throw a successful cooking party for kids under the age of 10. I have found that it is best to get your kids involved in the planning part of the party. Have them help you with the invitations, decorations, and even choosing which foods they want to cook. The list of suggestions below should help you with this process. With our family these types of parties are usually best during the winter months. Since it may be too cold to go outside, this may be a great solution for the kids to get together with their friends.
1. First you will need to decide how many children you plan to invite to the cooking party. This will vary depending on the size of your home, and how many kids you can handle. It may be a good idea to recruit a little help form one of the other parents. Once you have a set number you can pick your date.
2 Set the date. The weekends are usually best for kids and parents or you can choose to have it when the kids have off from school. This will help the parents not have to worry about their kids and give everyone something fun to do.
3. Create your invitations. This is definitely where the fun begins. You can have your child design the invitations, using the computer. Even a three or four year old can assist you in designing invitations on the computer. You simply show them different designs and pictures and let them pick which ones they like. Or you can take them to the store and have them pick our invitations that they like and use those. Then have your child assist you in sealing them all in the envelopes and mailing them.
4 Now you have to decide what you will be cooking. Of course these are young kids so you want to pick something that is age appropriate and something that the kids will enjoy. For our parties we always like to start by having each child make individual pizzas. This is so much fun and it allows the children to be creative. Then they get to eat whatever they made. For the pizza idea you can purchase ready made dough or you can make it yourself a few days before the party. I personally like to make the dough myself from scratch and have the children help me. We use a family recipe but if you don’t have one than search the internet for a simple and easy dough recipe. One good website to try is www.foodnetwork.com.
5. Create little party packs. There is nothing like leaving a party with a gift pack. Each child should have a party pack with their name on it. You can put the names on them once you are sure they will be attending the party. Then include items that every good chef needs. Some of The items we like to include in our packs are, aprons, chef hats, safe kids cooking utensils. You should also include a few items that goes along with whatever food you will be making. If you have enough money in your budget you can even have each child’s name printed up on their aprons as well.
7. Decorations are definitely a must for a kids chef party. Since this is a Chef’s party you can have the kids make chef hats using construction paper. You can draw the design for them and then have them decorate them and cut them out. Once they are all cut out you can punch holes in them and then run a string through each of them to hang them up. Put these decorations all around the kitchen and the living room. You can also decorate your kitchen by using a decorative table cloth on the table where you will be cooking. This will help to make clean up a breeze. The kids can each their fabulous creations right at the kitchen table where they were created. Try to have your kids come up with other fun decoration ideas to make the party a hit. A few party balloons are also always a great touch for the party.
8. Set up your cooking table. You should make sure that each child has a chair and table space to work out. You can set all the little areas of on the day of the party. Be sure to have your kids help you .
That’s all there really is to planning a fun kids party. You will find that you have just as much fun as this kids with this party. Remember to not plan out every little detail just have fun. One final tip is to have a few toys and games set aside for a little free play time while there food is cooking. Then you can store a handful of dough in Ziploc bags. Make sure that you have at least three bags of dough per child. Another suggestions is to create little pizza kits for your guests. This will include a small rolling pin, small pan, and whatever other supplies you will need for your pizzas. We usually also purchase little boxes that each child can decorate and take home a little pizza for their parents. If you don’t like pizza then allow your children to pick meal that they like and plan accordingly. You can also try baking individual cakes, cookies or even bread.
