My fave for that age group is "bitty dogs in sauce"...little smokies in a sauce of catsup sweetened a bit with brown sugar....make lots because the adults will love it too.
But kids ought to love the cheese too.
Years ago, we started doing "heavy hors d'ouvres" for Christmas eve because the little ones were so excited they couldn't sit down to eat. We did cheese fondue, a cheese board, shrimp cocktail, bitty dogs, meatballs and tiny ham sandwiches, with carrot and celery sticks as a nod to a vegetable! But we were trying to make a whole meal.
Linda C
Linda C

My grandchildren loved it when I made quesadillas cut in little wedges for an afternoon snack.

Jim

My kids loved little fruit and cheese kabobs when they were small. I just alternated cheese cubes and grapes or pineapple on cocktail skewers. They thought it was very special! LOL

All good suggestions. Like Chase, my one son liked little ham cubes with canned pineapple cubes on toothpicks. They also seem to like little pretzel sticks and cheese whiz.

Or ask the mom(s) what they would eat. At a big family gathering, it is nice for them to find something familiar, even if it is just a bowl of grapes or cheerios.

Good luck!

Alexa

Also Chex Mix (not the spicy/bold one). All the kids seems to LOVE this stuff!

A

I second (or is it third?) the fruit and cheese cubes. Here's a cute presentation. You can scale it down a bit by choosing smaller fruit for the 'body.'

Here is a link that might be useful: Fruit Gobbler

Wouldn't the mini-meatballs you're making already work? If you think the sauce is too spicy or not something they'd eat, perhaps just make an alternate plain version.

For a 2-year old and a 3-year old, I would check with the parents and have available something they would eat. When you said kids, I was thinking school-age children. Toddlers need little bites of something specific that they will eat, sliced fruit, goldfish crackers, cheerios, etc. Ask the parents what you can bring for these little folks.

Hi Busy:
Haven't seen you for awhile and you are right around the corner.

I thought of mini pizza's with all kinds of toppings.

How about a Turkey made of different fruits , or

Fruit filled cookies, ( shaped like Ravioli's )

I don't think you would want Marinated Baked Scallops or
Small Shrimp . ???
If I think of something else I'll put it in here.
LOU

Hey Hawk, yep, still here, but super duper busy. Here it is Nov and still am not done canning to get ready for the farm show competition!, lol

Think I will make the Gobbler Kabob, my teen can make that while I am doing other things. This is only one of 2 T-day dinners for me that day. Going rustic for the pies for the other, a few pate brisse and a relish tray with my pickled veggies.

I have made the fruit gobbler and it was a major hit with the kids. I also made extra skewers and had them on a plate fanned around the "bird". Great fun!

The two and three year olds might just like the food you are making for the adults.

I know when my son Matthew was that age he would have eaten the tart for sure and probably the meatballs. Although I know he wouldn't eat the meatballs now because he is like his mom and doesn't like sweet sauce on his meat.

Ann

"The two and three year olds might just like the food you are making for the adults."

I think so too. Adults tend to stereotype kids' food preferences and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. They are given nothing but "kids' food" and become trained to like nothing else. Thus, a lot of "fussy eaters".

I know different kids even in the same family are different. But my daughter ate everything her parents ate as soon as she was able and enjoys almost everything.

OK, so here is a suggestion for an appetizer I think would appeal to adults and kids alike. Edamame. Little kids and grown-up kids like myself find them tasty and fun to eat.

Jim

I agree that 2 and 3 year olds might like some of the same food as the adults but it's important to consider what their little tummies can handle as well as the size, shape and texture of the morsels. I've seen a little one joking on a something they picked from a cheese plate....very scary.

I think the fruit turkey is just perfect.

I have seen a toddler choking on a grape.
Don't cube cheese for little kids and don't serve them whole grapes unless you know for sure they know hot to deal with it...half grapes are better and slices of cheese to take a bite out of...or tiny dice.

I think the fruit turkey is not only cute but that the kids will love it. Fun choice.

Our kids loved black olives when they were little. When I needed something for them to munch during adult dinner parties I would pat dry & stick a pitted olive on the end of a pretzel stick.

I'm not sure having a 2 year old wandering around with a sauced sweet & sour meatball clutched in his/her little palm is such a great idea? Maybe it was just our kids but even if the meatball was on a toothpick our kids would have almost immediately plopped it down on the sofa while they grabbed something more immediately interesting. :)

/tricia

Well - there are always "hazards" when one is talking about feeding 2 - 4 year olds. Whether it is messy fingers, or choking issues or using the skewers as weapons, the parents have to take a little responsibility. I'm not saying the concerns aren;t founded, but if we get too hung up on the "what ifs" then we might all as well live in bubbles......

Have fun with the turkey fruit thing, I think the kids and adults will love it!

Alexa

I usually don't post in this section but it's that time of year, and I'm enjoying reading all the cooking threads. I didn't know if you wanted to stay simple or make something special but what came to mind are:

Homemade chicken nuggets which are fried but should be easy enough to transport,
Parmesan cheese straws, recipe should be on the back of pepperidge farm puff pastry box,
Plain old polly-o mozzarella sticks,
I love the olives idea as suggested above.

I like the fruit turkey, but wouldn't that be difficult to transport?

That turkey scares me to death too. A friends granddaughter died from choking on a grape while she was in the highchair and the friend was right there doing dishes. If you want to do the turkey do as Linda said and cut the grapes in half and use squares of sliced cheese or if you have any cute small cutters you can stamp out little flower shapes or something. Same thing goes for olives, halves are best. I know sometimes we seem overly cautious but that's one horror no one wants.

I think something easy is empanadas/turnovers. A simple ground meat with some cheese in it works for most all kids. More or less a cheeseburger in a package. Easy and neat for them to eat. Baked ahead they can easily be served warm or room temperature. If your making crusts anyway, your teen could make squares and fold them over a simple filling.

Yes, I wasn't planning on using grapes, no way. Have lots of cutters, used to make sandwiches for my daughter when small and used them to make fun shapes in her lunchbox. Had to make alot, all the kids wanted them.
The worst I ever saw at a party with kids was when my kid was about 3 years old,plus all the friends kids were about the same age. My SIL invited a few 20some year olds to a big holiday bash. When I went to the buffet table I saw plastic shot glasses with pretty colors. They brought jello shots with grain alcohol! I flipped that they were not placed high because I grabbed out of the hands 2 little ones about to eat them.

I asked a friend who has a 2 year old. Here is her take:

DS LOVES meatballs of any kind pretty much but i would cut them into pieces probably, if they are mini meatballs then cut into quarters. He is kind of a picky eater though but he does love cheese, slices would be safer than cubes I agree. He is pretty good at chewing things though and seems to give extra care to things that need it but you can't be too vigilant, 2-3 is way too young for cubes of cheese or whole grapes. I might even quarter them depending on the size.

We generally do not make much in the way of accommodations for him... he eats what is there (what he is interested in at least) and if not then we give him some nuggets or something when we get home. I am not very particular about food. He is pretty much always ok with some kind of bread or crackers, so cheese and crackers would be pretty ideal. He eats nuts, I just break them into smaller pieces. BTW per my pediatrician, cheese sticks are a pretty big choking hazard too! As are hot dogs. Things that are appropriate for 5-6 year olds are not for a 2-3 year old.

And my concern about offerings on the stick got this reply:
I would not give DS a stick but if they wanted to serve it that way I would basically just take it off of the stick to give to him. It wouldn't bug me if i saw stuff on sticks but i would not give it to him "as is." I prep most things before I give it to him in some way or another, and I think most moms do. 2 year olds are generally not serving themselves either.

So, not sure if any of this is helpful, but I thought I share.

What my grandsons love is Edamame. I buy them frozen at the market or TJ's, dump them in boiling water for 5 minutes and then drain them until cool. Salt them while they're cooling.
The kids love to POP them out of the skins and into their mouths. They're not messy and they allow them to "play" with their food. If choking is an issue, I'd have little nibbles shaped with Thanksgiving cookie cutters. But frankly pigs in a blanket seem to be a perennial favorite!