Make A Pizza Party A Theme Party

There has never been a kid who was not totally thrilled to be invited to a pizza party, and if it's theme you are after, try one of these three ideas to make yourself look crafty while sticking to a budget.

For toddlers, especially one and two year olds, the theme is really more for the parent. Forget it. Throw a shape party. Stick to one shape or incorporate them all. Have mini pizzas for circles, traditional slices for triangles, and special order square cut pieces as well. Square napkins, circle plates, pineapple wedges, and cookies or brownies all incorporate into the shape theme, and for a craft, toss various cut shapes onto the craft table and pass out glue sticks. You will look clever, kids will enjoy the party, and everyone will like the menu. Who does not like pizza?

For older kiddos, invite all the little chefs you know to your "Pizza Parlor Party." The kids are the chefs. If you do not want to get too involved with preparation, order several plain cheese pies, you can even request them uncooked at some places. Provide all the topping options you can think of and let your little chefs create, create, and create. For a scaled down version of the party, try using English muffins as the crust, add sauce and cheese to the topping buffet and let each chef create a mini personal creation. While the creations are cooking, bring out a game. How about pin the pepperoni on the pizza? Provide a cut out that looks like a crust with different values drawn onto it sort of like a dartboard or bulls eye. The kid who gets the most number of points or who gets a bull's eye is the first to be served.

For the pre-school set, pick a letter. "P" works well. Everything at your party must begin with the letter "p." Guests come dressed like princesses or pirates to your house that is decked out in pink and purple. Everyone can enjoy pepperoni, pickles, and peppermint ice cream before playing pin the tail on the pig. Any letter can be incorporated, by changing the toppings, decorations, and costumes. You can serve cheese and chicken pizza, cheddar bites, chocolate cake, and cherry ice cream. The possibilities are endless.

These ideas really place the responsibility of creativity on the guests. The host is usually the only one who really gets all the details of a theme party, but with these simple ideas, the guests really get involved, and they may even learn a thing or two.