Pizza is a great social activity to use when hosting a party. Kids especially will love to make their own pizzas. Have plenty of pizza dough available. You can make it ahead and keep it in the refrigerator. Simply take it out about an hour before you are ready to use it and let it come to room temperature. You can portion out the dough and show the kids how to toss it. Have plenty of toppings, cheese, and sauce, and let them top their pizzas themselves. While each one is baking, you can have the next child make his or her pizza, and can quickly move them through your oven, since each one only takes about five minutes to bake. Give prizes for the “Most Creative Pizza” and the “Best Tasting Pizza.”

If you want your party to have a whole pizza theme, you can make invitations that look like a pizzeria menu. On the front write, “We’ve got the recipe for fun!” You could also make circular invitations with a drawing of a pizza on the front or triangular invitations decorated to look like a slice of pizza. Set your tables with red and white checkered tablecloths. Place Chianti bottles on the tables with candles in them (leave the candles unlit if you have lots of little ones running around). You can also give your guests chef hats and aprons.

Finally, decorate your cake as a pizza. Make a round yellow cake and decorate with red frosting, spreading the frosting not quite to the edges to resemble the edges of the crust. Top with grated white chocolate (for the cheese), and sprinkle with sliced fruit and candies for the pizza toppings.