A Few of My Favourites

Hello, it's been a while!  I hope you've enjoyed yourselves!  I've been busy with a few parties, having lots of fun and a few challenges with some interesting themes, such as Numberjacks (a children's TV programme about superhero numbers that live in a sofa) and Paddington Bear.

My parties for younger children are taking a different turn, as I have found that 3 and 4 year olds don't always want to join in party games. Some are too shy, some don't have the maturity to persevere for the whole game, some just don't want to!  It's important to me that all children have activities to keep them busy, so I have started to take along alternative activities for them to access independently. 

The 2 favourites of these seem to be my big box of coloured rice, and my homemade playdough. 


Quite a few parents have asked how these are made, so I thought I would share my tips with you.

Coloured Rice 

Coloured rice is basically rice that has been coloured.  It is really tactile, and children (and adults) love to let it run through their fingers, and have even been known to sit in it!

You need;
4 bags of rice.  (I buy mine from Lidl for 40p a bag)
4 different food colours - I use red, blue, yellow and green.
Baking Tray
Parchment / Greaseproof paper.
Mixing Bowl

Empty 1 bag of rice into the mixing bowl.  Add a couple of capfuls of food colouring.  (You may not need that much, depends on the intensity of colour you'd like.) Mix the colour until all the rice is coated.

Put the baking parchment on the baking tray.  Spread the coloured rice on the tray.

Cook in oven (temperature approx 160C for 15-20 minutes, until the colour is set.

You may want to stir it around once or twice.

Allow to cool. (This can take a while - if you want to make more than one colour =, transfer the warm rice -which feels amaaaaaazing - into another container to cool. )

Repeat with another colour.

Playdough

I love playdough!  I like to roll it as thinly as I can, then cut it into thin lines.  I'm not sure what that says about me, but it's very therapeutic!  My favourite recipe comes from Activity Village . It hasn't failed me yet...

You need;

1 cup of plain flour
1/2 cup of salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp cream of tarter.  (I can only find decent sized pots of this in Waitrose!)
1 cup of water
food colouring.  (I like to use Sugar Flair as it gives a better depth of colour. Which you can buy in Hobbycraft etc)
Vanilla Essence.  (Just to make it smell nice!)

Put the flour, salt, oil, cream of tarter and vanilla essence in a saucepan.  
Dissolve the food colouring in the water.  (if you use Sugarflair, you only need to put a little on the tip of a teaspoon handle to get a good colour.)  
Add the water to the other ingredients.
Heat the ingredients, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon, until they come together to form a dough.  Do not let the dough over-cook, otherwise it becomes too dry.
Tip out onto a work top, and knead with a little extra flour to finish.

Store in an air-tight container, or wrapped in cling film.  It will keep for a couple of months if you look after it.


Don't forget to visit my FACEBOOK page for party reviews. Like my page to hear of a special one day August offer, and ready for the chance to win a party worth up to £90 in September.  

For party details, head over to 

www.partyeaseportishead.weebly.com

Let them Eat Cake! (and other party food ideas.)

I asked on my Facebook page what people liked to offer for a party tea.  There weren't many suggestions, so you'll have to put up with the party teas that I've seen.  Sorry!

So, here are the answers from those who answered my facebook page - thanks Abi and Jennylee for your interaction. :-)

• Chopped cucumber, baby tomatoes, cheese cubes, cheesy puffs and hula hoops, party rings, sandwiches / pizza slices / mini bagels, cakes. 😛

  
  
• Fairy bread, party sausage rolls, cocktail frankfurts, fruit platter (grapes, orange, kiwi fruit, watermelon are usually the favourites here), cheese cubes, cabana, cucumber and baby tomatoes

For those wondering, Fairy Bread is pictured below - sliced bread, buttered and covered with sprinkles.

I had to use Google to find out what fairy bread was...

My research suggests that Cabana is a Polish Sausage.  (Jennylee, if you read this, then please correct me if necessary.)

What would I suggest?  Well, for my son's birthday, we supplied the following:

Not the party tea we supplied, but you get the idea...

Cheese / Ham sandwiches.  (I buy a loaf of brown and a loaf of white, and use a slice of each to make two-tone sandwiches.) Sausage Rolls, Cocktail Sausages, Cucumber Sticks, Cherry Tomatoes, pizza slices,  crisps (cheesy puffs, and some other type, like Hula Hoops,) Chocolate finger biscuits, party rings (because they remind me of parties from my childhood,) mini muffins,slices of fresh apple. 

This was enough to serve 30 children (and hungry parents who tucked in once the children had finished), and worked out to be quite cheap. 

Pros - everything is done in advance, nothing needs cooking or heating up at the venue.  There's a choice, so most children will eat AT LEAST something!

Cons - preparation - making the sandwiches, having everything ready on plates, buying a variety of items. The potential for waste.

What else have we experienced?

Takeaway Pizza.

This was the easiest option ever!  Phone up your local Pizza Place.  Order enough pizza for lots of hungry children, arrange to have it delivered at the desired time.

Pros - how easy is this?  You just need some paper towel to serve it on, and off you go!  Most children LOVE pizza.

Cons - Not ALL children love pizza. Deliveries aren't always on time.  (When my son attended a party where this was done, the delivery was 30 minutes late, and the hired entertainment didn't entertain while they were waiting!)  You need to think carefully about how  much to order, to make sure there's enough for everyone.  Can work out expensive.

Fishfingers/chicken nuggets and Chips.

Quite a few parties are now happening over lunchtime.  (My preferred time is 11am-1pm, as it does encompass lunchtime, so children are hungry.)  It's quite nice for them to have a meal which fills them up.  This option works well for that.

Pros - child friendly food.  Easy to prepare in large numbers.  Fills children up.  Not too costly - just remember the ketchup!

Cons - Logistics.  You need to have a friendly relative who can cook everything at home and transport to venue as speedily as possible, or else a venue which has cooking facilities.  You need to consider health and safety with moving hot tins/trays around.  The washing up!

Lunchboxes

This option is becoming more popular.  Buy a job-lot of cardboard lunchboxes, pack a lunch in them, pop them on the table (or floor, depending where you'd like to eat) and let the children unpack and eat!

Pros - Everything is organised, less possibility of over-catering, less mess. Easy to prepare.

Cons - These boxes take up quite a bit of space once assembled - with everything else you may transport for a party (unless you've booked an amazing party host, like er... PartyEase Portishead) you need to consider this.  Lots of rubbish - 30 boxes?  An outlay of about 30p per box, before you put anything in it...

I think that the most important thing to remember is that it doesn't have to be elaborate.  Children are hungry, and so long as they like it, they will eat it!

I would love to hear of any other party food suggestions you may have.  Please leave a comment below.

Thanks.

(By the way... Messy Play went really well. Thanks to those who attended.  Photos can be found on Facebook.)

You don't want PartyEase? Here's something to remember.

Wouldn't the world be a boring place if everyone wanted the same kind of party? Different types of party are what makes the excitement for the guests.  What games will they play?  Will there be a magician?  Will there be party bags? What will they eat?

My son is in a class with 25 other four and five year olds.  They all share a sense of excitement and enthusiasm, and a growing awareness of the importance of a birthday party at a young age.  Each invite is studied with curiosity and questions about the type of party it's going to be.

Since September, he has attended parties with magicians, a Star Wars themed party, Soft play parties, and traditional parties (one of which, was a PartyEase one...) Each party had a common denominator - SIMPLICITY.

As PARTYEASE grows, I have had some fabulous conversations with parents - those who have chosen to use our service, and those who haven't.  All parents have a common denominator too - they want their children to have a fantastic and memorable party. I'm the same.  I want my child to be smiling, genuinely happy, with a residue of excitement, but slightly tired by the end of his party.  As parents, we seem to have an impression that our children have high expectations of us and their parties, and it is important that we GET IT RIGHT!

I'm going to share a secret with you.

Parties do not need to be elaborate.  Children want to be entertained, they want to be involved, they want the opportunity to be active, but also to have a quiet space to retreat to if they need to. 

This is why PARTYEASE works.  The concept is simple, children are encouraged, but NEVER forced to join in, they are kept active, they have fun, they have a dedicated party host who works hard to build a relationship with them, and continuously interacts with them during the party.  (and keeps going until the child is collected.)

Basically, what I'm saying is that if you choose not to use PARTYEASE, remember to keep it simple, but keep the children occupied with lots of fun.

However, by the time you've thought of the food, prizes, party bags, venue, cake, tea and coffee for the parents who stay, decorating the hall, clearing up afterwards etc, the thought of keeping 30 five year olds interested might be a step too far... don't worry, I'm still here ready to help!

http://partyeaseportishead.weebly.com

rachieparties@gmail.com