Familiar Foods

• Turn foods kids are familiar with into party appetizers. Cut peanut butter and jelly sandwiches into star shapes with cookie cutters. Set out fish sticks with ketchup and perhaps tartar sauce for dipping. Make pinwheels of ham and cheese by placing a slice of cheese on a slice of ham. Roll it up and secure with a toothpick. Refrigerate over night, remove the toothpick and then cut into pinwheels. Apple slices appeal to children. Buy them already peeled, sliced and bagged.

Adult Food

• Make some of the appetizers for the adults appropriate for children by leaving out some of the spices and herbs. Tame spicy tomato soup for the kids by setting aside a portion before you add the cayenne pepper. Serve in individual cups with toast points for dipping, while the adults dip with crostinis. If you're serving buffalo wings for adults, set out the kids' portions before you add the hot sauce. Rather than blue cheese, serve with ranch dressing. Ripple-cut the carrots sticks for a touch of whimsy for the children.

Little Food

• Save the 6-foot-long sandwiches, giant burritos and overstuffed pita pockets for the adults. Serve the kids tiny sandwiches, miniature burritos and baby pita pockets. There won't be as much waste if the child decides he doesn't like the appetizer. Kids seem to be more comfortable with smaller portions. Try a miniature six-layer salad: In a small, clear 4-oz. plastic cup, layer shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, shredded carrots, corn chips, pinto beans and a dollop of mild salsa. Each child receives her own cup.

Funny Food

• Tickle the taste buds and their funny bone with fun foods. One of the classics is "ants on a log" -- celery stalks stuffed with peanut butter, dotted with raisins. Play off the kids' imagination with blood and guts: tiny nests of cooked spaghetti bathed in tomato sauce and topped with a dollop of pesto sauce. Make spiders by sticking crisp Chinese noodles into green and black olives. A head of cauliflower becomes brains when dipped in a red food coloring solution. The red gathers in the depressions of the cauliflower. Serve with a red dip such as whipped cottage cheese blended with cherry tomatoes and a little tomato paste.