The Virtual Caterer
HINT PARADE
AUGUST, 1998
TOPIC: CHILDREN
If children are included in your summertime entertaining, be prepared. Children can have, and be, a lot of fun at summer daytime parties, but as the host, you will be expected to plan for them as well as for the parents. 1. Have simple foods just for the kids such as hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken legs, boiled eggs, watermelon, potato chips, fruit juices, Kool-aid, popcicles, and cookies. 2. Children get tired and cranky. Have rest periods such as--everyone out of the pool for watermelon. 3. Have organized lawn games such as horseshoes. 4. Keep bandaids and spray antiseptic available. 5. Have a couple of mats or blankets in a shady area for naps. 6. Take a group picture as well as individual pictures. The little hams love a camera! 7. Organize a clean-up detail. Hand out paper lunch bags, each with a child's name on it. Instruct them to search for any trash (paper, food, wrappers, etc.). Tell them there will be a reward for each of them. 8. Give each child after the clean-up is done, a bottle of soap bubbles. Very inexpensive but watch them have fun! 9. Have a few inexpensive towels available. Someone always forget to bring one. 10. You must set the rules from the beginning. What's off limits--where to go to the bathroom--what time food will be served. How can you tell if a child is physically tiring from too long in the pool? Press your thumb firmly in the center of the bottom of the heel. You will notice the flesh turns white. If the color has not fully returned in five (5) seconds, the child needs to come out of the water for at least twenty (20) minutes. (Saying "ONE ONE THOUSAND" = approximately one second)
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