When I was a kid, my best friend’s parents were super into football. They had parties almost every weekend and I was always invited to be the one kid to keep my friend company amidst all the adults. I always had fun hanging out with her but let’s face it- most football parties aren’t set up with kids in mind. The food is spicy, the game can get boring, and it’s just more adult-focused. So now that I’m the grown-up, I decided to make our football party kid-friendly!
It was actually really easy to do, too. We started with a trip to Target where we got some of our favorite candy, and picked up some snacks kids actually like while we were there. We got some decorations in team-neutral colors {to avoid rivalry and to make it easy to reuse the decorations for any game!} and created a fun printable game for the kids to play. It was a blast! Here’s how we managed to have a fun football party for kids:
Beverages: We made Starburst Sparklers topped with whipped cream & sprinkles! To make them extra festive, I served them in mason jars and used white-out to draw on the lines like a football! Here’s the super easy recipe:
Ingredients:
10 Starburst {any one flavor} per glass
2 cups lemon lime soda {caffeine-free} per glass
Whipped cream
Sprinkles
Directions:
1. Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, until warm.
2. Add Starburst to pan and once they begin to melt and bubble, stir often.
3. After about 4 minutes, add lemon lime soda and reduce to simmer.
4. Stir occasionally and heat until Starburst are completely dissolved, about 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and allow to cool before adding to mason jars {or other desired glass}. It will be very hot and you don’t want to 6. burn yourself or serve it until it’s cooled down.
7. Once cool, top with whipped cream and sprinkles just before serving!
Snacks: We had your basic football food, but toned down a bit to be more kid-friendly. Instead of buffalo wings we did honey barbeque, and we included some sliders that were the perfect size for kid hands!
One of the biggest hits {other than the candy, which was obviously the best} was the “wing kit” that I assembled. I made these football field snack trays and printed them out and assembled them. Then, I put a container of ranch, a few sticks of celery, some baby carrots, and a few boneless chicken wings in each one. It was perfectly portioned for the kids and all they had to do was grab one and go!
We also had chips & popcorn and as the star of the show… dessert!
Dessert: Since kids {and adults} love candy, we made it both the dessert and the decorations! I put some colorful Skittles in a football bowl, and had two vases- one contained green & purpleish-brown Skittles & the other contained green & brown M&M’s! I also lined the centerpiece with Snickers {original and peanut butter}.
What else was on that tray? M&M’s Cookie Dough Footballs! You can make them too using the recipe below:
Ingredients:
1 cup salted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup water
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup M&M’s
12 oz baking chocolate or chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Blend butter and all sugars together in a stand mixer {or with a hand mixer} until well-mixed. Add vanilla extract.
2. Add flour and mix until well combined and add 1/4 cup of water.
3. Stir in mini chocolate chips and M&M’s.
4. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Shape dough into balls, press lightly down onto baking sheet, and pinch edges until they look like footballs.
5. Refrigerate balls for about 20 minutes {make sure they are firm before moving on to the next step!}
6. Melt baking chocolate or chocolate chips in a bowl until melted- start at 1 minute and continue in 15 second increments until melted {stirring after each microwave session}.
7. Dip footballs in melted chocolate- I found this easiest to do with my {clean} hands, but you could also use a toothpick or a fork.
8. Place back on the baking sheet and return to fridge for at least 30 minutes, or until chocolate has solidified.
For entertainment for our party, we brought the football action to our house! Well, we brought the goal post and put it on our heads- and then we tossed inflatable rings at it! We all took turns wearing this hilarious inflatable goal post and tossing the inflatable rings at each other. It was a little interesting trying to get the kids to balance the post, but that was half the fun! Our bellies all hurt from laughing so hard when we were done!
I also put together this Game Day Word Search for the kids to work on while we were inside. You can download it for free and use it at your own football party here!
Our kid-friendly football party was a lot of fun for kids and grown-ups alike. The food was great, the activities were fun, and of course- we enjoyed the football game! If you’re a football-loving family, these simple ideas will help make your next football party kid-friendly. {They’re perfect for the Big Game coming up!}
It was so easy to set up a fun game day party spread for the kiddos- I might even set it up next week as a Super Bowl party!
What is a must-have snack at your football party?