Ocean Theme Party for a 1 yr. old that could be adapted to any age child.  When my youngest daughter turned 1, we decided to have an ocean themed party. Her bedroom is decorated with brightly colored fish (which she loves), so I felt that this theme was a perfect fit (not to mention, I knew that everyone would be admiring her room as well!)  I started my decorating by taking a trip to Party City and buying a bunch of hanging fish decorations. I used push pins to stick these colorful ocean creatures to the ceilings in my house so that our guests would think they were underwater in the ocean! (If you use small thumb tacks, their is hardly any noticable hole left when you take the decorations down!) I also took lots of stuffed ocean creatures and used them as weights for the bright colored helium baloons I put out.  In addition to buying these decorations, I bought ocean themed table cloths that were mainly blue/purple with lots of brightly colored ocean creatures on them. In order to keep the cost down (since paper products can get very expensive very fast) I only purchased the decorative plastic tableclothes, and I bought dinner plates, dessert plates, napkins, silverware, table cloths, etc. in a variety of matching bright colors as I fould them on sale/clearance at different stores.  (I found blue forks, yellow napkins, pink knives, orange spoons, turquoise dinner plates, etc.  You get the idea!) Planning the food was loads of fun, and everyone commented on how well everything supported the ocean theme. (I had little note cards by each dish telling what it was, and I think that added to the enjoyment!)  For snacks we had goldfish, dolphin, and whale crackers as well as Swedish Fish. These were put on the tables in small, plastic clam-shaped dishes (Party City).  Dinner included "submarine" sandwiches, "Seaweed" (a green garden salad) "Peanut Butter and Jellyfish" sandwiches (PB & J) for the kids, more goldfish crackers, etc.  Except for the sub sanwiches, all of the food was served on "fishy" platters or in "fishy" bowls.  As I was planning the food, I realized that I had quite a few platters/bowls, however, I fould Target to have a nice selection of inexpensive "fishy" serving pieces as well. For dessert I made a yellow cake in a small rectangle pan, took it out of the pan, covered it with chocolate frosting, and accented with tin foil to look like a treasure chest. (I used pieces of the tin foil to make the hinges and a key hole.) I put it on a large foil-covered baking sheet, and placed colorful bead necklaces and plastic coins all around it (Oriental Trading).  Just like at most 1 yr. birthday parties, my daughter was given the opportunity to "dig in" prior to us cutting the cake.  As she sat (a little stunned) at her high chair, all of the kids gathered around and started "digging in" themselves. They seemed to think the cake really was a treasure chest, and they were attracted to the colorful beads that surrounded the cake. It was very amusing to the adults, and all of the kids were happy becuase they all got some beads to wear (and a few chocolate fingers to lick!)  We served vanilla ice cream with the dake, as we reminded our guests that ice cream is made from sea weed (just another tie-in to our ocean theme!)  Since that party took place on a nice May day, we were able to spend a lot of time outside. I had purchased 2 different dolphin ring toss games that I left out for the kids to play as they wanted. To end the party, all of our little guests were sent home with gooding bags titled, "Treasures from Under the Sea!"  I took small plastic ocean bags (that matched the pattern of the table cloths) and filled them with bead necklaces (Oriental Trading), bubble gum that looked like gold coins (Oriental Trading), a fish shaped squish ball (Dollar Store), a pack of goldfish crackers, and a glow stick to represent the deep sea creatures that create their own light (Dollar Store).  Everyone loved the theme just as much as the party itself! Once you start lookng, you realize that fish/ocean creatures are everywhere, so you really could adapt this theme to just about any age level! Have fun!!!