Planning a great birthday party, I collected a few ideas along the way....
Games
*Pass the Death Star: To prepare for this Star Wars birthday party game, you'll need a couple of clear (or transparent) balloons, confetti, several small balls (no more than 1" thick), and Star Wars theme music.
Before blowing up the balloons, fill them with a half-hand full of confetti and several small balls. Blow up the balloons and tie them closed. (As the balloon is passed around a circle, the confetti and small balls within the balloon will bounce around as if the 'death star' is exploding.)
Ask the kids to sit in a circle. Hand the birthday child the 'death star' balloon. Explain that everyone must pass the death star around while the music plays. When the music stops, the child holding the death star must "explode" out of the circle. Keep playing until only one player remains.
*Pod Race: You'll need two suitcases (use old suitcases if you have them) or another wheeled item such as little wagon.
Split the Star Wars birthday party guests into two equal teams, and have the teams divide themselves into pairs. One person leads the pod racer, while the other person rides on the suitcase. Have each pair race to one end of the party area, switch places, and then race to the other end and back to their team. The first team to have all pairs cross the finish line wins!
*Holocam Guess: In this Star Wars birthday party game, children take turns appearing as if delivering a message through a Holocam that's lost its sound capacity. (A Holocam records holographic images that enable Star Wars characters to send visual messages to each other.)
Each guest writes down a chosen Star Wars character and then acts that person out, making movements and sounds (but no words). The rest of the children guess who the player is. (Before the game, ask the kids if they'd like to include characters from all the Star Wars films or limit them to a specific sequel.)
*Jedi vs. Sith: First, pick one or more players to be Jedi knights, and everyone else is a Sith. When the Jedi hear command "May the force be with you!", they must try to catch as many Sith as they can. If players get caught, they must go to a designated area called "Sith Prison," where they must stand still with their legs spread apart.
To be rescued, one of their Sith friends has to crawl through the captured player's legs. Keep playing the game until everyone has been caught, or it's time to move to the next Star Wars birthday party game.
*Shapeshifting: In Episode II, Senator Amidala was nearly killed by a creature that could change into different forms to hide its identity. In this Starwars party game, players take on new identities (and silly ones, too!).
To start, you'll need a large bag (or two) filled with clothing, accessories, and costume items (the bigger and the more outrageous the costumes, the better).
Have the players stand in a circle. Play some Star Wars theme music and get the kids to pass around the bag(s). When you stop the music, the player holding the bag must reach in, pull out a clothing item, and put it on. Keep playing the game until all the items are gone. Take photos of the children with their new identities.
*Jedi Obstacle Course: Jedi get to test their skills with this race. Before the game, set up various obstacles in your yard that kids have to go through: jumping over a pile of leaves, walking along a narrow board, running around a table or chairs, etc. (For the indoor course, you can set up wastebaskets, pile of books, chairs, pile of toys, pillows, etc.)
At race time, line the kids up single file. One by one, have them run through a series of obstacles, while you time them with a stopwatch. The fastest kid wins the race!
*Jedi Training: This activity will be a huge hit at your Star Wars birthday party! Before the event, tape-record different sounds, such as a car turning on, a bicycle bell, teapot boiling/whistling, etc. Take pictures of everyday items, and have them greatly enlarged or reduced.
At party time, have all players sit in a circle. Explain that their super powers are about to be tested.
First, test their super hearing abilities by playing the pre-recorded sounds one at a time. Either have the children yell out their guesses to the names of the sounds, or have them write answers on pieces of paper.
Second, test their super-abilities to see. Reveal the enlarged and reduced pictures of everyday items one at a time. Have everyone guess the items.
Finally, test their tasting abilities. Blindfold one of the guests. Bring out a bowl full of items to eat. Make sure to cover the bowl with a napkin so the other kids can't see all of the food items. Take one food item out and let the blindfolded child taste that food. Keep feeding the child different food items until the child guesses correctly. Then move on to the next child.
*Meteor Shower: Before blowing up balloons (you should have three or four balloons per guest), stuff a small toy or prize inside. Then blow up the balloons and tie closed.
Gather the children in the center of the play area. Toss balloon meteors into the middle of the gathering of Star Wars birthday party guests and instruct them to destroy the meteors to uncover the prizes. Toss enough balloons so all the guests have enough meteors to burst.
*Asteroid Rock Search: Wrap prizes in tin foil. Hide foil-wrapped prizes throughout the Star Wars birthday party area. Announce that it's time to search for the prize-filled caters. Watch as the kids search, discover and reveal.
*Decorate Your Home Planet: Hand out two paper plates (stapled together) to each guest. Instruct the kids to decorate their "home planets" with glitter, paint, sequins and markers.
*Millennium Falcon Relay: Cut four Millennium Falcon shapes (about 8" to 10" circles) out of cardboard. Let the birthday child color them with markers (or wrap them in aluminum foil so they look like the real Millennium Falcons).
Divide Star Wars birthday party guests into two equal teams and give the first person in each line two Falcons. Explain to kids that the Falcons become the only thing they can step on as they travel from the front of the line, around a chair and back to the line again.
On the command "Go," have children place one Falcon on the ground and step on it. Then they place the other Falcon on the ground in front and step on it. Next, they pick up the first Falcon and place it on the ground in front of the other. When they reach the finish line, they hand their Falcons to the next player in line. The team to make it all the way around the course first wins.
*Movie Scene Act Out: Rent or purchase the birthday child's favorite Star Wars film. Select a scene with favorite characters and write down all the dialogue on index cards (one card for each character). Purchase props and costumes appropriate for the scenes. Set the videotape or DVD so it will begin playing at that scene.
Gather the children around and explain that it's time to act out a Star Wars scene. Show the guests the scene by playing it on video or DVD. Assign several kids their parts and give each one a card with their dialogue. Other Star Wars birthday party guests will watch until the scene is acted out. Then the children that formed the audience switch places with the actors
Next I purchased some items to complete some of the games that I had in mind. On ebay I found a lot of Star Wars masks and a Yoda backpack. So now I could plan the games and decorations. I purchased approx. a dozen black tablecloths along with some black and blue balloons at the Dollar Tree. I moved almost all my furniture from our living room into the dining room (with the exception of the sofa and entertainment stand). I then covered the large windows with my son's Star Wars comforter - hangin it so the main scene was visible and looked like a large wall decor. Then I blocked out all light from the window using black tablecloths. I hung the black tablecloths the whole way around the room - making it look very dark inside. I also covered the entertainment stand and cut out the opening of the tv (so they could still view the dvds). I placed colored light bulbs in our floor lamps (blue and black) to give the place a different look. I also covered the end tables with black tablecloths. On the end tables and the top of the entertainment stand we decorated with my son's Star Wars lego sets and other Star Wars toys - this was an easy way to decorate with not spending alot of money. I hung pictures that I had printed out (from the activity center) in our family frames around the room. Outside we put up a canopy for the Cantina - red and black and put tablecloths down on the sides of the canopy to give it a darker feel. Then the party began. First thing that we did was bring all the kids into our living room. We had approx. 10 kids. Three girls and the rest boys. We had them check into the uniform station (only two can in uniform). I purchased brown white and tan material (almost like a felt type). I used approx. one yard per child. Along the fold I cut a place for their head to go thru and tied them at the waist with a belt made of the same material. Boys had brown and tan girls had white. After this was done my older daughter (dressed like Padme) and niece (dressed as Leia) came into the living room to welcome the Jedi trainees. They introduced themselves and had the trainees do the same. We had originally planned on giving them badges and name tags but ran out of time in making them). They actually sell these at the Disney parks with the Jedi training logos on them if you are close by and want to purchase them. After introductions Padme introduced me (I was Jedi Master Siri Tachi). I asked the trainees if they knew the ways of the Jedi (some of girls didn't) and told them why the Sith was after Nickolas and what we would be doing to become Jedi's.
Yoda Strength test.
Using the Yoda backpack I purchased on ebay (you can also buy these at Disney) the trainees had to go thru an obstacle course in the backyard. We connected them to a clothesline strung thru and around items using a keychain clasp. Following the clothesline all trainees had to go one at a time carrying Yoda to see if they could master this challenge. It was a lot of fun and they cheered each other on!
Save the Princess and Queen!
Using white and black balloons that we had blown up the night before we put a picture inside two balloons (one of Padme and one of Leia). They had to pop the balloons in order to save the Princess and Queen and find their pictures. This was quite a challenge as the wind was blowing wildly! Once this was complete a visitor showed up (my oldest son dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi). He had all the trainees set down and showed them how to handle a light saber. Using different techniques they learned the ways of light saber handling. He then passed out light sabers to each of the trainees. I actually got a great deal on the light sabers at Wal-mart the week after Halloween (they were only $2 each!). The trainees were told that they were going to be given the light sabers but the sabers would only used for a couple of challenges and then be given back the the Jedi Master until a time that the trainees turned into Jedis. The next challenge was a light saber remote challenge. In this challenge the trainees had to keep balloons in the air using the light sabers. This was even more of a challenge since the balloons kept blowing around with the windy day and when they touched the ground they popped! Moving on the the next challenge Princess Leia and Obi-Wan had the trainees practice team training using the light sabers the trainees had to destroy bubbles blown at them without hitting their team mates with their light sabers. After this challenge their light sabers were taken away as they all completed light saber training.
Wookie training. Using cross bows (Nerf) they had to shoot at Chewy (my oldest son using a mask that I had purchased). Chewy also had a crossbow and was shooting back at the trainees. Each trainee had five crossbows to shoot (they came back again and again to shoot at Chewy!).
Blaster Training! Using water guns (they looked like Blasters) the trainees had to try to shoot Clone troopers (adults wearing masks). We divided the trainees from the adults using our driveway - everyone had a blaster and could shoot until out of water (no refills). The adults got wetter than the kids (more kids then adults). But the kids had a blast!
Food and Drink
Mos Eisley Cantina Each trainee was given a menu that looked like this:
Wookie Cookies - a delicious cookie filled with wookie filling made up of peanut butter oatmeal and cocoa (plus wookies) - (these were actually no-bake cookies).
Darth Dogs - twice the heat of one darth - these dogs "invade" your taste buds (using hot dogs - cut in half - put one half thru wooden skewer stick - then the other - leaving opening in middle - wrap pillsbury bread stick around middle of stick - bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes. Looks like a darth maul light saber.) Pizza the Hutt - not as "thickskinned" as Jabba but as tasty as they come (delivery from a local pizza place by one of our friends).
Edible Ewoks - these little guys are squeaky clean no fur to be found (gummy bears) (we had also thought about doing chocolate covered gummy bears but the birthday boy doesn't like them - so we left them out).
Padawan Popcorn - set your sights on the "Padawan" at their fullest - don't go for the ones not popped to their best! (micro-wave popcorn).
Hoth - see what happens when a meteorate hits this snow planet (cookies and cream dessert - Oreo pieces mixed with Cool Whip). This was a big hit! Mini Land Speeders - can these speeders cruise right into your mouth? (regular potato chips). Speeder Fuel - don't forget to refuel your speeder! (sour cream and onion dip)
Tribal Horns - can you hear the call or do you make up one of your own? (Bugles snacks - they're shapped like horn!) Light sabers - choose your color - are you light or dark? (chocolate covered pretzels - red blue and green chocolate on 2/3 on pretzels foil wrapped aroune handle).
Yoda Soda - Drink do you dare? (green hawaiian punch mixed with Sprite and green sherbert).
Jawa Juice - a fine mix part jawa part juice (red hawaiian punch mixed with cranberry gingerale) At the table I included name cards for each item. The kids loved trying to figure out each item as they were thru the buffet line.
Once training was complete we brought out the birthday cake - I made a cake of Han Solo's ship - the Millenimum Falcon. I used a football helmet cake pan - cut off the mask part to make the front the ship - added it back on to round out the sides of the ship and also added a part on the top and bottom of the cake (using a round 8" cake cut in half-thru the middle) to give the ship more of a rounded look. Using an additional piece of another 8" round cake - I made the cockpit of the ship. I had to use skewer sticks to hold the cockpit in place. I used icing with a shade of tan to cover the ship and pipped in the lines of the ship all around. Overall it was a good cake - but due to heat - it was starting to shift a little by the time it was cut.
Food and Drink
Star Wars Birthday Cake:
*Solar System Cake: Bake one 9" round cake and one mini round cake. Prepare or buy several cupcakes.
Arrange the cakes like the solar system. (Star Wars takes place in a galaxy far away, but it is similar to our galaxy in many ways.) Use licorice ropes for the rings around Saturn.
Frost one cake green and blue (use vanilla icing and food coloring) for Earth. Frost the cupcakes in various colors using frosting and food coloring. If you frost thickly, pressing with different size measuring spoons, then you will be able to make craters on some of your planets.
Star Wars Birthday Party Food Ideas:
*Space Dogs in a Blanket: You'll need hotdogs, cheese, and refrigerated crescent rolls.
Slice hotdogs lengthwise about halfway through, making sure not to cut apart. Cut cheese into strips. Unroll crescent rolls into individual triangles. Place a hotdog (with a slice of cheese inserted into a cut) onto roll. Roll up crescent and bake as directed, or until golden brown.
*Green Space Popcorn: For this Star Wars birthday party recipe, you'll need 2 cups sugar, 1 cup light corn syrup, 2/3 cup margarine, 2 packs flavored powder drink mix (green), and 1 tsp soda.
Boil sugar, corn syrup, and margarine together for 3 minutes. Stir in soda and powder drink mix. Pour over 6 quarts of popcorn. Bake at 225°F for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Remove from oven and break up immediately.
*Star Cookies: Prepare the birthday child's favorite cookies. Cut into star shapes (using cookie cutter) before baking. Decorate with sprinkles or jimmies.
*Chocolate Lightsabers: For this Star Wars birthday party treat, you'll need white and dark chocolate, lightsaber or cigar mold, and tin foil.
Melt chocolate. Pour into mold and refrigerate. When solid, wrap one end of each in tin foil to form the lightsaber handle.
*Grilled Sandwiches
*Macaroni & Cheese
*Fruit Kabobs
*Potato Salad
*Veggies & Dip
*Ice Cream
Star Wars Birthday Party Drink Ideas:
*Pink Space Slushies: To prepare this Star Wars birthday party drink, you'll need cherry soft drink, raspberry sherbet and maraschino cherries.
Mix sherbet with soft drink for a pink, frothy beverage (best when prepared in a punch bowl to minimize mess). Garnish with some cherries.
*Yoda Soda (add lime sherbet to ginger ale)
*Darth Malt (mix vanilla ice cream and strawberry soda in a punch bowl)
Crossing Mustafar (the lava planet). I placed red table cloths on the driveway divided the trainees into two teams they had to work together to cross Mustafar using cardboard "stones" placing them one in front of the other (they only had one per each child and two extras per each team. The first child had to place the stones until the last child was on a stone and picked up the one behind them passing it to the front of the line doing this after each step until all the trainees were across. They they did it back across again using the last person as the first to cross this time. They liked this one so much that they did it over again!
detonator training. They had to pass a detonator (a ball with a light in the middle) until the light went out (the person holding the ball was out). Like hot potato - but with no actual winner. All the trainees were given a choice of wearing a mask - I bought 13 from ebay - they liked being able to change characters. Just make sure that their are some for girls if you invite girls to your party!
Imperial Ship Destruction My oldest son created a chalk drawing on our driveway of the Imperial Ship. Using water balloons the trainees had to bomb the Imperial Ship to make it disappear. There were rules - no throwing at each other - and they had to stand so far away from the ship. This was a big hit!
The other games that we ran out of time for were destroy darth vader (my oldest son made a Darth Vader picture) we were going to use Nerf guns to shoot Darth vader. We also made pod racers (using boxes) - they were to have pod racing around our yard. We also had a Darth Vader pinata that was filled with candy that we forgot all about!!
the Knight ceremony I presented the trainees with their offical certificates (I printed them using some pictures I found online - a Jedi logo - and word perfect). They read: "Jedi Training Certificate of Achievement" "This certificate announces that on 07-03-09 (Name) has proven to be worthy of training to become a Jedi. The bearer of this honor is now a Padawan a student devoted to the ancient training of the Jedi Knights. Fom this day forth remember a Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense never for attack. The Force will be with you always." I signed each of them "Siri Tachi Jedi Master". When I handed them their certificates I also handed them back their light saber that they had used in training. They were surprised that they got to keep their light sabers. At this time parents were coming already for pick up. We still didn't get to do a couple of things (due to time) so we passed out the favors (yes more things!) which included : park buckets (these were Halloween buckets - purchased for $.50 each at Wal-mart the week after Halloween). Inside was a small activity book ($1.00 each Wal-mart) Star Wars yo-yos Darth Vader pencil glow braclets (pack of five $1.00) Star Wars pez ($1.00 each- dollar store) and a Star Wars happy meal toy (looked at yard sales for these) and a couple of the edible light sabers. They got these buckets their light sabers a blaster (squirt gun) their certificate and a plastic cup from the Cantina ($.79 Toys R Us) that they used earlier (we put their names on them).
Planning an end of season team party is a ball. I tend to think that my children probably won't remember those nights that we spend at home just hanging out quite as vividly as they will the unique experiences that we can create to make memories for them. So for me, planning events is a great joy.
I really enjoy party planning. I REALLY enjoy celebrating my children. And birthday parties are a great time for me to get to do both!
