8 Year Old Birthday Party Ideas

You could still let the kids make their own individual sized pizzas and then put them on the grill so that you wouldn't have to use the oven. Getting them involved will be fun for the kids and there really isn't a lot of prep beforehand. You can buy the toppings and pizza shells at the store.

PIZZA PIZZA PIZZA! The kids could even help make it as part of the party! Cooking pie irons meals or hot dogs over a camp fire might be fun if the kids are supervised closely. We used t opicnic at the lake or park when my daughter had parties. She is also a 4th of July 'baby' who will be 31 this year!!!I have gotten really good at making flag cakes in a variety of ways!

Hi J., I have a great idea to share! For my son's 8th birthday we did a homemade pizza bar. I made the dough ahead of time and partially baked personal sized pizza crusts. This was handy as I could bake 4-5 pizzas at a time for a shorter time when they were topped and ready to bake. For the party I set up bowls of pizza sauce, cooked sausage, sliced pepperoni, lots of cut up veggies and shredded cheeses and let each child make their own pizza. I had strips of parchment paper that we wrote each person's name on so that they would be sure to get their own pizza once it had been baked. You can vary the toppings and sauces to be as creative as you want, maybe getting a little more exotic for the grownups. It's great becuase I saw kids choose a lot of vegetables when given the choices which suprised me!'Plus it was very memorable, my other kids keep asking for pizza parties! : ) Have a great party!

Self-serve taco bar and ice cream sundae bar. bowls of toppings, crock pots of beef, pork, beans cheese sauce, etc.

my daughter's friends have enjoyed making their own food. she's a november baby so oven use is no problem but they made pizzas. i used english muffins and put out lots of toppings and sauce for them to use to assemble them. in the summer maybe they could make sandwiches for a picnic. have out different cold meats, cheeses, peanut butter, chips, fresh veggies and fruits and they can make their own lunch and eat on a blanket in the yard. plus i bake cupcakes and put out frostings, sprinkles, choc. chips, gummie bears (however much sugar you're brave enough for!) for them to decorate themselves.

How about tacos in a bag? Easy to make, the kids will enjoy making them and easy clean up! If you don't know how to make them, they are simple!! Brown hamburger with taco seasoning, use very mild for the kids. Cut up all the fixings, buy the snack size bags of chips and use plastic silverware. The only thing that may ruin the idea is not being able to have tomatoes because of the current issue with them.

If you would like an idea that you can do ahead-

Order a few sandwich bread loaves from your local bakery, BUT have them slice it lengthwise. Make sandwiches (NOT layered sandwiches); (example of easy sandwiches…ham/cheese/Beef/ turkey/PBJ/chicken salad), as you would normally on your long sliced bread. Then cut sandwiches in squares then triangles, arrange on a platter. Cling wrap the whole thing and stick it in the fridge. Enjoy the morning of the 4th and all it’s celebrations. Before the party just remover you sandwich platter, a fruit platter- that you cut up ahead of time and wrapped and put in the fridge, chips, veggies, or whatever else you made ahead of time.
**Also another great "do-ahead" move I do is- I line my cupcake tins with cupcake papers, then I scoop my softened ice cream in them and refreeze. So by the time I am cutting the cake there is no hold up on scooping the ice cream, I just put one cupcake paper on each plate. I also have done it with out cupcake papers and put wax paper squares in the tins. (The ice cream will actually stick to the wax paper, you will have to let the ice cream thaw for a bit first-to be able to remove before serving.)
I am the queen of “do- it- ahead” and parties, so if you need any more ideas I will be happy to oblige.

I see that you have received many ideas already. My thought was a taco in the bag. YOu can use fritos, Doritos,(personal size bags) whatever you like and then you have the meat sauce and all the toppings that one can add into the bag. They can eat it out of the bag or pour it out onto a plate. good luck, have fun!
Susan

My kids love taco's in a bag. You use dorito's as the shell. I have also done sloppy joes which works well.

I would also suggest the tacos in a bag, I did that for my son's 7th birthday party and they were a huge hit. We got the idea from a stand at a small town fair and they completely sold out...it was the most popular food stand there. If you want to make things a touch healthier they have the baked chips in snack size, use ground turkey instead of beef and use salsa to season the meat instead of the salt laden powder mix for taco's. Get a variety of veggies: fresh cut tomatoes, julienned carrots, avocado and of course lettuce. Have fun.
K

Hi J., How about buying rotisserie chickens, shred them and make hot shredded chicken sandwiches? Chips and veggies with dip go good with this. I think everyone will like it and it is very easy to make. All you have to do is add chicken gravy to the chicken and its good to go. Hope this helps.

You could do like a theme, like everything is red/white/blue, or do like a taco bar, or all salads, Pizzas, etc. Unfortunately because of the heat involved on that day, it'll be hard coming up with something other than the typical picnic or BBQ style entre'.

Good luck.

How about having a "Build your own" party. Put out things to build your own tacos, sandwiches/wraps, subs, salads and hamburgers. For the subs, just provide hot dog buns. For the tacos, use flour shells that way they can also do wraps if the want instead of sandwiches. Instead of using a decorated cake, do cup cakes or cookies with a larger cookie, with the decoration and her name on it. I think you may be surprised how these kids like to do things on their own and will make things to eat that they like. If you have a portable pizza cooker, you can also do make your own pizzas using the flour shells again (these take half the time to bake and are a lot better for you than the thicker flour crust). You may find that the adults love this idea too because they then can eat what they want and how much they want.

I would suggest finger foods. The kids are generally too excited to eat very well anyway and something that takes silverware or is sloppy will just leave you with a bigger mess. I have a recipe for tortilla roll up sandwiches that has never failed to please! If you are interested let me know and I will forward it to you when I am at home (I am at work now and I don't know it by heart). You basically take burrito wraps fill them with a heavenly cream cheese mixture and then add your fave sandwich fixings. I generally make ham and cheese and turkey-bacon roll ups and cut each into 6-8 pieces. Easy! Also, try making mini-hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls. Fun and easy. I also love rumaki (bacon wrapped water chesnuts in a BBQ sauce); put them in a slow cooker to keep warm and stick them with toothpicks. A fruit salad rounds it out well and you can throw in a pasta salad like cold tuna or shrimp salad if you want.

I love planning parties -- have fun!
K.

J., I was recently at a wedding shower but thought what they served could go for any occasion. They served taco salads, which you filled with items of your choice. They served shredded chicken and beef, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, olives, etc. and had a two sided buffet line with all of the toppings in bowls. For the kids, they could assemble their own tacos etc. THen they served chips/salsa and had build your own sundaes for dessert. Good luck.
D.

Does it have to be a big dinner/party?
A fun idea is to do an ice cream sundae type party! Ice cream dishes, serve up ice cream with a buffet of toppings! Kids love this, and so do us adults!

Have your 4rth of july cookout/pot luck whatever with friends and then do the party ice cream sundae bar in her honor! Can set it up under a sign that says......"'her name''s Birthday Ice cream parlor" and get cute ice cream dishes to serve in...many toppings, and walla!. It can be cute, simple and fun! Happy birthday to your daughter! Birthdays are always so fun!

J.,

There's always pizza!

Papa Murphys take and bake pizzas are tasty and cheap. You can get them the day before the party, keep them in the fridge and bake them up when you need to! We've done this for many birthday parties and both kids and adults love it.

We just had a birthday party for our one year old and served pulled pork. It was a big hit and very easy not to mention it was in the crock pot so it could sit in there as long as you needed.
3lbs pork roast
onion
bbq sause
chicken broth
soy sause
mustard and honey
Put the onion in the bottom of the crock pot and then the roast with the can of chicken broth and bbq sause. Cook on high for 4-6 hours and before serving add the rest of the ingredients. Good luck

I'm doing wraps for an upcoming party and they always seem to be a hit. Use different types of tortillas, different meats, veggies, even PB&J for the kids and best of all they can be made up several hours ahead of time, wrapped in plastic wrap and put in the fridge till it's time to cut and serve. Good luck!

We have done party subs from Subway. We get a little bit of everything and it's a hit with everybody.

We also have extra add on's like banana peppers, pickles, onions, etc.

We like a taco bar at our house! I set out all the ingredients and folks make their own through a buffet line. I've done taco salad this way (crunch chips or doritos first, add lettuce, etc) and have done burritos (start with tortillas). The kids always ask me to put black olives on. Adults ask for guacamole!

We also like shish kababobs. I fill some with veggies and others to include pineapple.

Enjoy!

When my dd turned 7 or 9, can't remember which, I did a home version of Libby Lu. I wasn't about to spend $25/guest to go there so my sister and I did nails and hair, and I paid a teen $10 to do make-up. I told the girls to bring dressy clothes to change into for a fashion show at the end and invited parents for the last 10 minutes. I played Madonna's Vogue and had them come one at a time down the open stairway into the living room of mom's. They had a great time and of course goody bags included hair stuff and nail polish and lip gloss. don't forget the pixie dust/glitter spray!!

Oops sorry I didn't see you just wanted food suggestions. My kids love the tacos in a bag w/ Fritos as suggested. :)

I went to a party for a 2yr old and they served chicken wraps and egg salad wraps. All the kids and adults liked them.

You could do something like make your own pita pizzas and cook them on the grill. Tacos would be easy.

Pizza is always a favorite, but if you want to do something different, my suggestion is a "taco bar". Its fun and everyone gets to make their own. It does have a lot of components, but almost all of them are condiments so you don't have to prepare them. Have hard and soft shells, taco meat (if you are really adventurous you can do chicken and beef, or just do beef), sour cream, shredded cheddar, shredded greens, salsa & guacamole. Done.
:-)

This year for our 4th celebration I am planning to serve beef and chicken kabobs as well as fruit kabobs.

In the past, we've had a lot of success with chicken nuggets, string cheese, carrot sticks, apple slices, and pretzels. It call be eaten easily with fingers and minimal mess.

Pizza Burgers are a HIT among kids too