Most dads love the “Big Game,” or they at least love the parties and commercials. This “super gigantic we can’t call it by its real name because of copyright issues” matchup is fast approaching, and it’s never too early to begin making plans for the food. The problem is that many parties do great with the big TV and plenty of drinks, but lack planning when it comes to kids. If your children are like mine, they will be running around spilling soda everywhere while screaming their heads off. We love our kids but they can be a distraction during the game. Why not turn that distraction into fun for you and for them.
Here is my solution. I have told you before that I believe kids love putting their own food together. However, there is something they love more–playing with their food. This simple idea will give your kids the chance to have fun, fill up, and you might even want to join them. All you do is encourage the kids to take their food and create monster faces and funny faces with it. The key to this snack is variety. You don’t have to use all the ingredients I suggest, but you should have a number of different types of food for the kids to create with. Try and mix things like chicken nuggets, fruits, vegetables, and dipping sauces.
Ingredients: Popcorn chicken, dipping sauce (cheesy sauce works well), grape tomatoes, mandarin orange slices, broccoli, string cheese, olives, cucumber slices, carrot slices, hard boiled eggs, celery sticks, etc.
Directions: Prepare chicken pieces according to package instructions. Pour dipping sauces into individual cups. You don’t want kids sharing cups that they dip food into with each other. Arrange all ingredients on a large platter. Encourage kids to make their own monster faces and funny faces with their food. Let them be creative and have fun with it. They might need help at first but let them be the ones to go crazy with it. Also, make sure and have plenty of cleanup supplies nearby in case of spills. Ok, who are we kidding these are kids, there will be spills, so just be prepared and hopefully the kids at the party will have just as much fun as you do!
Here are some examples of finished products. The kids really got creative and loved to eat it also!