Monday, October 8, 2012

Super Hero Party (free templates included)


My oldest son turned four last month.  Turning four at our house is a big deal because that means you get to have your first birthday party with friends.  I love planning parties for my kids.  It's so much fun for me.  Because I was excited to start planning I asked him several months ago what kind of party he'd like to have and threw out some ideas.  A teddy bear picnic (he thought he was too old for that), ninjas, a spy party like his cousin, knights and dragons, pirates, or super heros.  My son didn't have to think about it for long.  Super hero's it was!  I thought it was a great choice.



I kept the decorating pretty simple.  Decorating is something I can easily get carried away with so I had to remind myself that a bunch of three and four year olds don't really care about a bunch of fancy decorations.  I made my super hero garland using some free images found online and this free download from One Charming Party.  I also downloaded this awesome free font called Sound FX from dafont.com.  It's full of pow and bang and zaps.  Really fun.  Check it out.


Next, the cake.  I have officially declared myself cake challenged.  When it comes to making and decorating cakes things never go how I have planned.  My grandma, mom, and aunts all make incredible cakes, but unfortunately I didn't inherit the cake decorating genes.



I wanted to find little super hero figures to decorate the cake and had a hard time hunting something down.  I finally spied these cute little guys at the bookstore.  They were perfect!!!  And after eating the cake and washing them off they're a new favorite toy for my little boy.


When the kids arrived at the party they each got to decorate a super hero mask using fabric markers.  I made the masks out of a thin pellon.  I wanted a material that was somewhat stiff so it wouldn't flop over and something that had a smooth surface making it easy to decorate with the markers. Pellon seemed like the best bet.  (See below for mask template.)

Then it was time for some super hero games.  I put my husband in charge of the games because he's so much better at that stuff than I am.  I can't remember everything he did, but here are a few ideas.

Superhero Obstacle Course
For this party game, get your Superhero guests to save the world by going through an action hero obstacle course. Set up an obstacle course around your yard or inside your home using cardboard boxes, garbage cans, old tires, bicycles, ropes, sports equipment, logs, trampolines, basketball and hula hoops, chairs, pillows or anything you can find to create a challenging course. You can have challenges like ball throwing, long jump, balance beam walking, climbing, crawling through a tube, running faster than a speeding bullet, bouncing a super ball very high, etc. Use a stopwatch to see how fast each child can complete the course.  If there is time have them try the course a second time and see if they can beat their time.

Kryptonite Toss
Take a bucket and cover it in tinfoil as if it were a planet. The "kryptonite" are ping pong balls painted bright green. Have the kids throw the "kryptonite" into the "planet" and see how many they can throw in, every time throwing from a tougher distance.

Lava Pit
Place some red fabric under a beam to create a lava pit and bridge.  Party goers try and cross the bridge without falling in the lava in order to save innocent citizens (or toy dinosaurs or other toy)Once on the other side the superhero rescues the "toy" and then crosses the bridge again to bring them back to safety.


After games, and cake, and opening presents my son gifted each of his friends with a super hero cape of their own.  These were a lot of fun to make (plus simple and easy to whip out several) and a big hit with the kids.  They loved running around in their capes until it was time for mom or dad to come pick them up.

I couldn't resist making them reversible.  Makes for double the fun. (Templates included below.)

Superman and The Flash for the boys . . .

and Super girl and a princess cape for the girls.

Except for my six year old, who was not interested in a princess cape at all.  She has been dying for a bat girl cape.  So bat girl it was.


 We just never tire of super capes at our house . . .

They're well loved and played with often.


 Each guest got to bring home the mask they decorated, their reversible super cape, and this simple goodie bag which included superhero fruit snacks and stickers, a batman pencil and a punch balloon.


It was one. fun. day.
 Happy birthday super boy!  I sure do love you!


As promised, here are my templates for the super masks, batman and flash logos.  For my cape template, super man and princess logos please see this post.  I hope they come in handy for you!

(To print templates: Click on picture and then copy and save to your computer.  Open in a document and reduce your margins to zero.  Expand to 100% and print.)




Have a SUPER day!




16 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for this post. I want to let you know that I posted a link to your blog in CBB Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, under the Page 6 post on Oct. 08, 2012. Thanks again.

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  2. What a fun idea. I love the capes! Found you on Sew Can Do's link up.
    Jen @ CraftyMisAdventures.com

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  3. love it! I have two girls who watch all the superhero stuff with dad. I am thinking my 6yr old will want a superhero party in November for birthday 7. Thanks for the ideas!

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  4. Love the superhero capes! I totally want to do something like this for my next little boy birthday party, thanks for sharing!

    Heidi
    www.heiditakingtheplunge.blogspot.com

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  5. I love the superhero capes! Those are too much fun. I know they aren't Halloween costumes, but I'm planning to feature them next week in a post with other costumes shared at my Throwback Thursday party. Hope that's okay! I think they'd be great for Halloween costumes as well! I'm also pinning because I know I'll be making {at least} one in the future :) That is such a great idea to make a bunch for a party, I'm sure those kiddos were crazy happy! Thanks for linking up to Throwback Thursday :)

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  6. Thank you so much for linking to my party! These are so great and I just had to feature them. Your models are precious too. Thanks again.
    ~Gay~
    itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com

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  7. These capes are awesome. Our local moms' group is sponsoring a festival at our school to raise money for a six-year-old fighting brain cancer, and the theme is super heroes. I am going to share this with them for ideas on booths!

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  8. What an amazing party!! Bet his little friends will be dying for his next birthday to come around! :)

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  9. could you tell me what fabric you used to make the capes? also did you sew or are the logo iron ons? thank you.

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    1. To make the capes I just use whatever solid cotton fabric is on sale or the least expensive. The logos are iron on using wonder under. You can sew around the edges too but it sure is a lot of work.

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  10. Amy, your superhero cap is one of the Top 5 features from our Pattern Party at Get Your Crap Together! This is such a cute party idea! Thanks for linking up! Hope to see you next month! Make sure to come grab our feature button!

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  11. I'm so doing this for Mr. 4's party this weekend! :D Awesome idea.
    My take on it: http://chaoswithacurve.blogspot.com/2013/05/superhero-party-part-i.html

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  12. Looks like such a fun party! I love doing parties for kids. The capes look great!

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  13. I just realized I commented earlier. I guess I feel the same second time around.

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  14. Thanks a lot! i used your templates to make superhero costumes as a gift for a social organisation which works with kids. I used to work there, too. I posted a link to your site here at my blog: http://nur-noch.blogspot.de/2014/07/superheldenmasken-und-ein-schild.html#more. To my surprise the kids didn`t know the superheros (they are mostly german and turkish) but I guess they will get to know them quickly :-)
    Ronja Lotte

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