Turn on the oven and cook up a delicious pizza party with our Pizza Party Ideas! Read on for general party planning tips as well as great pizza-themed decorating, food, game, and activity suggestions.
Party Planning
For peace of mind, begin planning 6 - 8 weeks in advance to allow time to purchase and mail invitations, as well as to give your guests time to RSVP and make travel plans, if needed. Don't panic if you find yourself short on time; you can still plan a great party! Planning ahead simply reduces the risk of conflicts with guests' plans and may increase attendance.
To simplify the rest of the party planning process, check out our Party Planning Timeline, take a look at our When & Where to Have the Party page, and read the paragraphs below for information on selecting decorations, supplies, activities, and more for your child's party.
What Do I Need for the Party?
If you plan to use paper tableware and themed party supplies, our Suggested Party Supply List may be helpful when placing an order. Please note that you may not need everything on the list; it is intended only as a guide.
Decorating & Food Ideas
Fun Ideas To Set The Mood
- Visit your local pizzeria and ask to purchase personal size pizza boxes in which to mail the invitations. Most pizza parlors will give you the limited number of boxes you need free of charge. Your child can get involved by decorating the pizza boxes with paint or markers. Once your child has them all decorated, place an invitation into each box and mail. Postage should only be a dollar or two for this unique delivery method.
- Place a red and white checkered table cloth on the dining table.
- Small, aluminum pizza pans can serve as plates.
- Make a centerpiece out of a chef's hat, oven mitt, wooden spoon, and pizza pan.
- Place chef hats (one for each guest) on helium-filled balloons. (To make sure the hats stay on the balloons, fill the balloons inside the hats.) As your guests arrive, give each one their own hat and balloon. The children can use markers to draw faces onto their "balloon chefs." Later in the party, the chef hats can be used as party of a craft activity. (See our "Decorator Chefs" activity below.)
- Using construction paper, cut out round pizza shapes, and decorate them with pieces of paper cut to look like pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, olives, etc. Hang the paper pizzas on the walls throughout the party area.
- Place a sign in the front yard or on the door directing guests to "[Birthday Child's Name]'s Pizzeria"--e.g. "Robert's Pizzeria".
Italian Edibles
For this party, pizza is the most appropriate food to serve. Partygoers are also usually content to eat hotdogs and sandwiches, which is certainly much easier on the hosts! However, if you would like to serve some other pizza-themed treats, consider these suggestions:- Decorate the birthday cake to look like a pizza. Ice a round cake with light yellow frosting to represent cheese. Ring the edge of the cake with light brown frosting for crust, and add various "toppings" such as pepperoni (red icing circles), olives (black frosting O's), mushrooms (black frosting T's with slightly curved tops), onions (white frosting circles), etc.
- Serve other Italian foods such as spaghetti, salad and garlic bread.
- Keep drinks simple; soda pop, water, and milk would all be good at a pizza party. However, you may wish to keep juice or other beverages readily available in case guests would prefer something else to drink.
|
