Have A Cereal Party

As a children’s cooking instructor, one of the services I used to offer clients was a hands-on children’s cooking party. I would bring all the supplies and make foods as complex as chicken cordon bleu to foods as simple as pizza. The simple foods were always the biggest hit with kids, and often they enjoyed the creating more than the eating.

To me, kids’ parties are the best and most fun if they are active and novel. Moonbounces and trips to pizza play places are active, but they do not necessarily engage children in creative play. And, these kinds of parties are expensive and not terrifically memorable. This year, do something totally new and kid-friendly: a breakfast cereal party.

I came upon this idea by accident. Last year, I was a teacher and advisor to a group of eleventh graders, and the tradition at our school on the final day of class—when juniors become the oldest students at school—was for them to tailgate in the parking lot and to get their senior class shirts so they could wear them as they entered the school building. The previous year, students had been a little less than responsible using grills to cook breakfast, and the administration banned them. Disappointed and angry, the kids turned to me as their advisor to appeal—sorry, but I agreed with the principal and told them that we would come up with something spectacular that did not require cooking. I remembered hearing about a chain of restaurants that served breakfast cereal and was inspired by the concept. So, I got several kinds of cereal and put it in foil pans with plastic scoops from the party store. I got the traditional cereal toppings—bananas, blueberries, and nuts—as well as many non-traditional ones, including gummy bears, marshmallows, chocolate candies, coconut, exploding “rock” candy, and more. I bought chocolate syrup, caramel sauce and malted powder. To top it all off, I bought several small jugs of flavored milk: chocolate, strawberry, cappuccino and, of course, plain old white. With bowls and spoons in their school colors, I have never seen a crowd of kids so delighted by their creative concoctions.

This idea would be terrific at a birthday part for children, especially at a sleepover. Set up all the cereal, toppings, syrups and milk on a long table protected by a plastic tablecloth. Children can become cereal chefs, first by mixing up cereals and toppings (nothing wet) in a container (I love using small, colorful Chinese takeout cartons) as their signature cereal bland to bring home. Make labels on your computer (labels in all sorts of sizes can help you be creative) so kids can customize their boxes. Crayons, markers, stampers and stickers will help kids get creative. Then, let kids make another mix to eat at the party, adding syrups and milk.

To further the cereal theme:

• Invitations could look like cereal boxes or advertising, or could simply have one piece of cereal hot-glued on a plain card.
• Ask guests to come in pajamas, even if your party is in the afternoon.
• Incorporate cereal into classic party games like relay races, guess the number in the jar, and charades.
• Plan cereal crafts such as making cereal necklaces using licorice strings. Buy plain party hats and have kids decorate with cereal.
• Decorate your cake or cupcakes with cereal.
• Give themed party favors such as fun spoons, cereal bowls or crazy straws.
• Play classic “Saturday morning cartoons” on the DVD player in the background.
• Get photos of each cereal chef with his or her creation. Make into magnets and tuck in with thank you cards.

By the way, the cereal buffet works great for Saturday morning bar and bat-mitzvahs and is an extra fun, memorable and economical way to send off out-of-town wedding guests. For these events, cereal, toppings, syrup and milks look amazing in clear glass containers. For any occasion, your cereal party will be a showstopper that amuses and delights guests of all ages.

You can contact Jill Bloomfield by emailing: jill@teachkidstocook.com

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 3:59 pm and is filed under Kids Activities, Kids Cereal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.