Three Party Ideas to Cut Back on Food Waste
Reducing Waste at a School Party Is Easy With These Treats
Jan 24, 2009
Children have small appetites but big eyes when surrounded by party food. The following school party ideas reduce food waste by keeping party treats in simple, single-portion sizes. All three ideas work for celebrations that are secular and religious and can be customized to the particular holiday or season.
Decorate Sugar Cookies to Reduce Waste
Decorating sugar cookies is one of the easiest school party ideas for children. Parent volunteers provide homemade or store-bought sugar cookies, frosting or icing and toppings. Each child gets two or three cookies, a small cup of frosting and a choice of toppings.
“Decorating cookies after baking them requires that you apply some kind of liquid-based substance that will adhere to the baked cookie, or that will act as a glue to attach other items,” says Mimi Cummins, co-author of Christmas Cookies Are for Giving. Cummins recommends using cookie toppings such as sprinkles, colored sugars, non-pareils, raisins, dried fruits and more.
Instead of focusing on eating a big plate of food, the children are focused on decorating their cookies and licking the icing off their fingers. Sugar cookies also reduce food waste because they travel home well if the children do not eat them.
Single-Portion Sizes Reduce Food Waste
Ice-cream cones are another great treat in single-portion sizes for a school party. Regardless of whether it is winter or summer, many children like ice cream so there is little food waste. Parent volunteers provide chocolate and vanilla ice cream, ice-cream cones and sprinkles. Each child gets his or her choice of chocolate or vanilla, sprinkles or no sprinkles. Adding a holiday craft or seasonal game to the day makes it a party.
Serve Holiday Cupcakes to Reduce Waste
A hands-on activity for elementary-age children is decorating cupcakes with a holiday or seasonal theme. For this party food, parent volunteers provide plain cupcakes, colored frosting and candies or other items to decorate the cupcakes. Instead of the cupcakes being the desert after a huge pile of food, they are the main event. Children can decorate their cupcakes, sneak and eat the decorations then devour their decorated cupcakes. Websites like FamilyFun offer ideas for simple and creative decorated cupcakes.
Reducing food waste at a school party for elementary-age children doesn’t have to mean the children don’t have party treats or fun. Selecting treats children love in single-portion sizes and adding a few party games can make it easy to reduce waste in the classroom. Parent volunteers are still able to help out with providing treats for the children, with less financial burden. And single-portion foods like cookies, ice-cream and cupcakes fit with any holiday theme, regardless of whether it is a religious party or a secular one.
To learn more about reducing waste, read “How to Reduce Paper Waste in the Kitchen.” Parents of elementary-age children may be interested in “An Easy, Cheap Way to Organize Craft Supplies.”
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