Veggie Tales -5yr- Chocolate Pizza & Bingo

Veggie Tales/Pizza Party      I had a Veggie Tales/Pizza party for my daughter's 5th birthday.   She had her heart set on going to Fazoli's (cheap Italian style restaurant) which worked out well (no mess for me and I could still tie it to the theme).  

For the invitations I printed out a picture of a pepperoni pizza on a square of cardstock and then I cut out and glued a picture of Veggie Tales (I had scanned it and printed it out) in the middle of the pizza.   Then I added confetti party hats to some of the Veggie Tales.   The actual invitation was printed on the back of the cardstock and I added a magnet so they could hang the invitations on their refrigerators (something I do whenever we receive an invitation so I don't lose it!).     

At Fazoli's each child got to tour where the food was prepared while given an explanation of what everything was used for and then they were allowed to go into the walk-in freezer (this was a BIG hit!) and then each child got his own piece of pizza and added sauce, pepperoni, and cheese to it then while it baked we played a BINGO type game that had pictures of things you find at a party (cake, hat, balloons, etc.) and several blank spaces for you to fill in the party guests' names.        

When their pizza slices were ready they ate them along with all-you-can eat breadsticks and soft drinks.   They also each received whatever Fazoli's was handing out in their kids meals and I added them to their goodie bags; this time it happened to be Ravioli key chains (The cost for this was about $2.50 per child which is the cost of a kid's meal there).         

I did not have a cake; instead I made cupcakes and iced them with green icing (I used Veggie Tale cupcake liners available at Wal-Mart.   Little hint:  Use white or yellow cake mix instead of chocolate if you want the Veggie Tales to show up on the liners) and since I could not find any Veggie Tale cupcake toppers I made them by sticking 2 Veggie Tale stickers back to back around a toothpick and sticking it in the cupcakes (since then I've seen Veggie Tale confetti that would probably work and the actual cupcake toppers).   I also made a chocolate pizza (more candy than anything; recipe below) and before it hardened I propped up some Veggie Tale bath stick ups (they were new :0)) in it and served it in a(n open) pizza box.     

For goodie bags I bought some paper sacks at the Dollar Tree.   They were white with different colored ribbons all over them.   Then I scanned a picture of the Veggie Tales and added "Thank you for coming to Cassidy's 5th birthday party" across the bottom, printed them out, cut them out and glued them on to the front of the bags.   I put in candy and other party loot I'd picked up along with a bookmark printed and laminated from: http://www.dltkkids.com/crafts/cartoons/mveggieboo kmark.html  (This site also has Veggie Tale paper crafts and a Pin the Nose on Bob game that we played and some coloring sheets that I printed out and handed to the kids when they arrived along with crayons so they would have something to do until the tour started) and some Veggie Tale stickers.   Then I added different colors of tissue to each bag (you know how gift bags are; sticking out of the top) to add even more color. 

Chocolate Pizza (great for ANY occasion!)   Ingredients: 2 cups semis-sweet chocolate chips 1 pound almond bark 2 cups miniature marshmallows 1 cup crisp rice cereal 1 6 ounce jar of maraschino cherries, cut in half and      drained 1 1 pound bag of peanut M&Ms (I suppose plain would work    if you didn't care for nuts or you could use plain and    add peanuts, walnuts, or pecans separately) 1 teaspoon oil  ~Combine chocolate chips and 14 oz. almond bark in a 2   qt. glass bowl.   Microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes.     Stir.   Microwave for 1-2 minutes longer or until   smooth, stirring every 30 seconds. ~Stir in marshmallows and cereal. ~Spoon on to a greased 12" pizza pan.   Top with cherries   and M&Ms. ~Microwave remaining 2 oz. of almond bark with oil in 1   cup measuring cup for one minute; stir.   Microwave for   30 seconds to one minute longer or until smooth,   stirring every 15 seconds. ~Drizzle over pizza and chill until firm.   Store/serve   at room temperature (Because of the cherries it cannot   be kept out indefinitely, but it is usually eaten before   this is a problem!). ~Cut into wedges to serve.   I have also chilled it and    broken it like bark to serve, but it looks great as a    pizza and is easier to eat at room temperature. ~Yields at least 12 servings…it is RICH!