OK, in the USA it's easy: pizza & birthday cake. Here I notice that the moms put out a big spread of (usually home-made) stuff first.

My son's 9th birthday will be celebrated here at the house on Saturday, 6 pm. He's invited his classmates and a few others. Could be about 20-25 kids and maybe 10 mothers. What should I serve?

I'll put out chips and popcorn, some little rolls with cold cuts (salami, ham, turkey), and what else? We could bring in some pizza at around 7:30 once the oven across the street is lit, and I'll make cupcakes and order a cake...or make a simple one layer one with Nutella (always seems to be popular)...but I need more FOOD! Any suggestions for something fairly easy, quick, and well-liked by Italian kids?

Also, is it customary to give the kids a favor (small gift) as they leave?

Most kids parties I have been to seem to be catered by a rosticceria. Well, actually i think they all have actual caterers/ waiters but that is the type of food that seems to be present. Should be pretty easy (and relatively cheap) to find yourself. ALso don't forget at least 1 bottle of sparkling wine (for the adults) to pop with the cake!

ANd they DEFINITELY give gifts to all the kids as they leave. Usually elaborately wrapped up and have a few sweets/ chocolates etc incorporated. Things we have received have been a little ceramic money box, drink bottle, brightly coloured mugs, colouring book and pens etc. Depending on how much money you want to spend you could also go down to one of the numerous gift shops and see what type of things they have for kids. The shops that sell bomboniera (?sp) are the ones to go for. Even if you just go and get some ideas, i'm sure you'd save a heap of money doing all teh wrapping etc yourself.

I have so far avoided giving any parties myself (my daughter is only 1)but when i do, if things are different (bound to be), it will just be put down to my foreignness so i wouldn't get too worried about it.

I think presents at the end must be a regional thing - no-one here in Florence does unless they are English or American! I even checked this and was told, no it's not normal to give a party bag - so I would ask someone!

My daughters birthday cake was a huge lattice jam tart, chosen by her from the cake shop! No-one batted an eyelid. The food you are doing sounds fine - I have also noticed, again in Florence, that Italians like the cultural differences and to experience them, so don't worry too much about being "different". Didn't you ever go to another cultures party in the States? Whenever I did I wanted it to be "traditional" for them and would have been disappointed if they had made it too English!!

However, wine and some food for the adults is a given - I think they would be put out if they weren't included! This is the one difference I do cater for!

Birthday parties here are always pretty much the same. Either a party at McDonald's or a party at a local rec center. Very rarely they are done at people's houses.

Food wise we all do the same, chips, popcorn, tremezzini, panini on rolls, and pizza and ciaccino. Then there is the dessert table. I normally do brownies, cheesecake squares, cookies and then the birthday cake (two layered chocolate cake).

Oh and yes, here everyone gets a little treat at the end. Normally some silly little fake jewellery for the girls and weird boy things. We can get them at our toy store for a euro a piece.

From the kids parties I've been to here it's normally little bread rolls with ham/cheese/salami, little pizzas and little bread rolls with nutella. Think I've seen this food at practically every kids party. I'm sure whatever you do will be fine. Any kind of birthday cake is acceptable IMO. Oh and non-stop Coke is always present too.

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Originally posted by Cristina:
Oh and yes, here everyone gets a little treat at the end. Normally some silly little fake jewellery for the girls and weird boy things. We can get them at our toy store for a euro a piece.

Having said it isn't the norm in Florence, one party I did go to, a few days later a photograph of Antonia at the party was brought over in a clip frame! Which I did think was a lovely idea, but for 25 - 30 kids a little impractical!

I crossposted to the food board.

This said, don't forget that kids LOVE junk food, and a party is the right setting to allow them to stray into junk food otherwise forbidden field. ;-P

Well we have been to many and had a few. You are already on the right track. You can go to the local super market or pasticceria and get a tray full of those little appetizer things, pastry around, tuna, cheese, mini winners, etc. We have had them at home and at the church rec. room. Kids also love those mini pizzas, so do the adults, pizza is good but consider weither or not you are offering dinnner, since it's at 6 probably over at 8:30 bringing in some pizza is a good idea.

Don't worry it will be a success, just give kids some junk food, and coke and they think they are having fun. You can also put out some wine for the parents, they may or may not drink it. I always try to get the moms drunk, but it never works. Those Italians just don't want to over indulge. Have fun relax, enjoy!!

Many thanks to all for your suggestions. OK. My good friend, an ex-chef, is making a tiramisu. She assures me the kids will eat it. I'm pretty sure the adults will. I'll also have 30 cupcakes (half with nutella, half with buttercream frosting) and chocolate chip cookies. I may need to make some lemon squares or brownies or something else as far as sweets. The cupcake tower will be his "birthday cake".

Yes, the hour is strange and I will have to provide some type of dinner. I will have the little sandwiches, check into the availability of the little appetizer thingamabobs, and order about 4 kilos (about 140) of those little pizzas from a local forno. I will deep fry (outside, so as not to stink up the place) some croquettes and maybe even have some french fries done in the oven. Plenty of coke, less wine. Chips and popcorn no problem. Someone suggested some mini chicken hotdogs, cut open and fried go over well? I have to think about that one... And then there was a suggestion of some kind of nutella log made with split-open baguettes laid end to end down the length of the table? I'll have to have my husband listen to the "how to" on that one as I got too confused.

Yes, I think the most important suggestion for me is to relax and have fun. And another glass of wine!

And what would be a party without pigs in a blanket.
Kids go ape nuts over them.
Just buy some pasta sfoglia and some hot dogs - wrap the hotdogs in the pasta sfoglia - cut into bite size pieces and bake.


I always do a vegetable platter - just cut up some carrots, fennel , clelery and red pepper and throw it on a plate..... It such a stupid thing but everyone loves it and is good for the guilt factor of feeding kids a bunch of junk (which is fine since it is a party and who doesn't like junk food )

... and it looks good on the table.

Most importantly, purchase disposable everything, so that you're not left washing dishes! Do you have a "tutto 50cent store" close by? You can find lots of great things there from cutlery, plates, glasses and even your party favors.

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tutto 50cent store

We don't have these in Bologna - just the 95 cent and the 99 cent store! Everything is more expensive here

A friend did the cupcake tower for her son - it look great. She used a cardboard stand. Are they from here, as I had never seen anything like it before, but the kids loved it.

The cupcake tower is by Wilton, I brought it with me from the US. It's rather small, but fits 12 cupcakes nicely on three levels. I think they have a bigger one too, for 20 or 24! I put candles in 9 of the cupcakes and a big wax '9' candle on top and voila!

And Kelly, thanks for reminding me about the pigs in a blanket and how one would make them here! I've added them to the menu.

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Originally posted by C in Bo:

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tutto 50cent store

We don't have these in Bologna - just the 95 cent and the 99 cent store! Everything is more expensive here

We had the mille lire shop but it turned into the euro shop when the euro came in.

Wow I found this all interesting, my children are 12 and 9 so have been doing the b-day party thing for awhile. Actually the home parties have been the favorites for my kids. Kids usually don't remember the food, they remember the entertainment(games) and the dessert! a great web-site is family.go.com it has many ideas. FYI the best gift I ever gave the kids at exit was little whoopie cushions from the dollar store!
My best advice keep it simple so you can enjoy the party. A theme is big in the U.S. and always makes planning easier I think. Have fun!

one other quick suggestion if you don't have games covered. My kids love treasure hunts, I put the kids into two teams and plan an elaborate treasure hunt, the little gifts they took home was the treasure.

Thanks alll for your help! The party's over...some arrived as early as 5 pm (so his Mom could go to work) and the last ones left at 9:30 pm. There was lots of crazy running around, especially at the beginning, but they settled down somewhat for the games, especially the memory one (see "games for kids party" thread). That was great...a few minutes of whispering in groups, and peace for the adults!

At one point, while we were frying the french fries, I brought out some coloring pages I had downloaded from the internet and a big bag of crayons: Winx and Dragonballz and a few Barbie. Instant interest and quiet!! It was amazing.

The french fries were a hit, the "pigs in a blanket",the Tiramisu, Cristina's brownie recipe and the chocolate chip cookies I made. The adults loved the homemade onion dip I served with the potato chips too. I have lots of leftover little pizzas in the freezer, guess I bought too many of those! I gave out the cupcakes and other leftover sweets in doggie bags as the kids left. Whew!

As treats/prizes I gave trading cars: Winx, Dragonballz and Soccer. We distributed them about halfway through the party so kids would have time to trade. Worked out well. Now the house is a mess and I'll spend a good part of this morning cleaning up!

Gifts received were almost all practical: a new backpack, notebooks, colored pencils and clothing. Not one toy or gift certificate, which would have been more common in the States. All in all, a great time was had by all (even me, as I poured myself a glass of wine from time to time ). Thanks again!

(Now I won't have to throw another big party until Halloween--as Americans, we've become THE Halloween destination!)

I knew it would all work out! You can start planning Halloween now.

Glad it all worked out! KISS always works well, especially with kids !

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(Now I won't have to throw another big party until Halloween--as Americans, we've become THE Halloween destination!)

That sounds like an idea we should try. Having the kids over that evening for a costume party would probably be a big hit here too.

In early October I have my sister-in-law send me a box full of different types of mini-candy bars and the little trick or treat bags. All night long we're playing games like tossing the candy into the jack-o-lantern (get it in, keep the candy!) or how many candy corns are in the jar. I think the kids love a chance to wear their carnevale costumes again and try different types of candy (they're BIG candy eaters around here!). It's lots of fun. Since there's no birthday gift involved, lots of mothers also sent along a goodie to be shared on the food table. It was fun!