Children's Party Food Calculator — How Much Food for a Kids' Party

This calculator uses base portion sizes for a standard 2-hour party (aged 5-7), then adjusts quantities based on the age group, party duration, meal format, and spare allowance.

Base portions (per child, 2 hours, age 5-7, ‘Mixed’ meal type)

The figures below assume the ‘Mixed’ meal type, where no extra meal-format weighting is applied. Choosing ‘Finger Food’ or ‘Sit-Down Meal’ adjusts some categories (see ‘Meal type adjustments’ below).

• Sandwiches: 2 (small triangles or fingers)
• Crisps: 1 small packet
• Fruit: 1 portion
• Cake: 1 slice
• Drinks: 2 (juice boxes or cups)
• Savoury snacks: 2 items
• Sweet treats: 2 items

Age adjustments

• 2-4 years: 60% of base
• 5-7 years: 100% (base)
• 8-10 years: 130% of base
• 11-13 years: 160% of base

Cake is the exception: it stays at ~1 generous slice per child whatever the age or party length — a single birthday cake is shared once, so it does not scale up with age or duration the way snacks do.

Duration adjustment

Each hour beyond the standard 2 hours adds 30% to the snack, sandwich, fruit and drink quantities (children graze for longer). A 3-hour party is ×1.3, a 4-hour party ×1.6, and so on. Cake is not affected.

Meal type adjustments

On top of age and duration, the meal format reweights individual categories:

• Finger Food: sandwiches ×1.2, crisps ×1.2, savoury snacks ×1.3, sweet treats ×1.3 (fruit, cake and drinks unchanged) — the default, so a grazing buffet inflates savoury/sweet by ~30% and sandwiches/crisps by ~20%.
• Sit-Down Meal: sandwiches ×0.8, crisps ×0.5, savoury snacks ×0.7, sweet treats ×0.8, fruit ×1.2, drinks ×1.2 (a hot main means fewer snacks but a bit more fruit and drink).
• Mixed (Buffet + Hot): all factors ×1.0 — the ‘base’ figures above apply as-is.