Recipe(tried): Child's birthday party ideas

All great ideas from Micha! I have a few extras for you.

We made an assortment of sandwiches, some with mayo some with mustard using either turkey, ham, or roast beef. We then cut out jungle shapes to match the party theme. I took the scrap meats and used in other snadwiches the next day and took the bread scraps and kept in a plastic bag. the next day we made sandwiches with leftover meat, just piled onto bread, and took the bag of bread scraps to the park and fed the geese and ducks. My son loved this! You can also make mini pizzas using non-flaky style refridgerated biscuit. Use one biscuit per person, smash flat and add toppings. You can do this in a topping bar type setting for the kids and let them make their own, or simply make them, all ahead. A staple at all parties is rotel cheese dip. Many varieties abound, but simple and inexpensive is always better for kids. use velveeta, and a can of diced tomatoes with green chilis, pour into crockpot an hour or so before party. start on high then turn down to low after 20 minutes. serve with fritos, tortilla chips, or ruffles. Don't know about your family, but my kids love fruit. We always have fresh fruit on a tray with a good fruit dip. I am always trying a new one! I have a friend who buys the cheap juice type drinks in small bottles and ices them in a cooler instaed of serving punch or soft drinks. The kids can grab one as they want without you having to continually pour or serve. One last idea is to make cheese straws. I saw these made in long straws and served in tall glasses. It was really cute and takes up almost no table space. Here's my recipe:

2 sticks butter, softened
2 C grated cheddar cheese
2 C flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 t red pepper
2 C rice krispies

Mix butter and cheese. Add flour, salt and pepper. Add rice krispies. Roll into small balls and flatten or pipe out onto cookie sheet in the shape of logs. Bake at 350 8-10 minutes. Makes 18-24 straws.