How many drinks for a kids party?
Drinks are the cheapest thing on the list and the one people most often run short of. The count below is a two hour indoor party for twenty children, with six parents staying.
The answer
20 children aged 6 to 9 and 6 adults, 2:00 PM for 2 hours.
54drinks
One cup per child per hour over 2 hours, minimum 2 each, plus 0.75 an hour for the adults, then a 10% buffer.
Sourced and our rulePlum DeluxeOccasional Occasions
26bottles
One water each, for the parents and the kids who have had enough sugar.
Our rule
Where we overrode a published number
The standard catering figure is one and a half drinks per adult per hour. It is a real published number, and it is wrong for this room: it describes adult social events, and applied to parents supervising six year olds it works out at nearly four drinks each. We halved it. That line is marked as our own rule rather than borrowing a source for a figure it did not publish, which is the whole point of labelling every number on this site.
This is a snack party, not a meal.
The rest of the list for this party
| Amount | Item | Part of the party | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Snack portions | Food | Our rule |
| 6.5 | Prepared fruit | Food | Sourced |
| 25 | Cupcakes | Cake | Our rule |
| 10 | Round cake (instead of cupcakes) | Cake | Sourced |
| 49 | Plates | Table | Our rule |
| 78 | Napkins | Table | Our rule |
| 22 | Goodie bags | Favors | Our rule |
Your party is not this party
Change the guest count, the ages, the start time or the weather and the whole list moves. The calculator opens on the party above, so you can adjust it rather than start again.
Where these numbers come from
- Planning the quantity food occasion, University of Minnesota Extension. Checked 2026-09-27.
- Ultimate cake serving chart, Wilton. Checked 2026-09-27.
- Beverage math: how much to serve at your event, Plum Deluxe. Checked 2026-09-27.
- Accurate food and beverage quantity guide for your guests, Occasional Occasions Catering. Checked 2026-09-27.
Anything marked our rule is our own judgement rather than a published figure. We say which is which so you know which numbers to argue with.
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