Star Wars Jedi Training Academy Birthday Party

My seven year old informed me last year that he wanted a Star Wars birthday party. I'm not especially knowledgeable in all things Star Wars so I headed to my favorite source of inspiration--Pinterest--to search for party and game ideas. Now, Pinterest very rarely lets me down and this was one of the few times it did. No matter how much I searched or how many blog posts I clicked through and read I just wasn't finding any ideas that wow-ed me. As I became more desperate I finally went to my husband for help and, as he often does, he surprised me with a bunch of really creative and fun ideas that I loved. As the pieces of this party started to come together I was getting really excited about it. Me. Getting excited about a Star Wars birthday party. That says a lot. The party turned out to be a blast and I think everyone had a lot of fun, especially the birthday boy.

I didn't take a ton of pictures but I wanted to share some of the fun we had to possibly help anyone who may be looking for their own inspiration for a similar type party.

I love to create digital party invitations for my kids birthdays and I love to send them through Paperless Post. They have a lot of fun options other evite sites don't have, which is why I find their site fun to use. I won't share the invitation I made here since it has too much personal information on it but Pinterest and Etsy are full of creative Star Wars invite ideas.

My seven year old helped me create this chalk board art and added his own special touch with the lightsaber drawing. The Jedi robe is a favorite dress up that his grandma made him a few years ago.

Blowing Up the Death Star

As the party began and friends trickled in everyone kept busy making paper air planes and aiming them for the Death Star in an attempt to blow it up.  The kids had a blast and could have done this all day. It was hard to pull them away and move on to the next thing. This Death Star is a beach ball that my son got for his birthday a few years ago. I found it on Amazon for around $5. 

 

Obstacle Course in the Swamp with Yoda

We then headed down to the basement where we trained with Yoda in the swamp. We showed a little clip from the movie on our projector where Obi-Wan Kanobi talks about what a Jedi is and what the force is (because I figured some kids might not know), and then had the kids take this little Yoda through an obstacle course that was set up in the basement.

Using the Force

After that, all the friends got to practice using the force by moving some meteorites. I had two big balls of foil sitting on a long toy shelf. There was some fishing line attached and looped through a beam overhead. My 10 and 12 year olds hid behind the shelf and pulled the fishing line to have the "meteorite" rise as each party go-er  used the force. The kids were really surprised at first to see the meteorites move. It was fun to see the reaction on their faces. It didn't take them long to figure out what was actually happening but they still had a lot of fun.

Lightsaber Training

Then it was time for lightsaber training. I lucked out finding some lightsabers at the dollar store for the kids to use. They worked perfectly for our party and when the party was over the kids got to take one home as a party favor. My husband is the best and agreed to lead the kids in this activity and taught them some moves like they do at the Jedi Training Academy at Disneyland. If you search YouTube you can find a bunch of videos of it to help you understand what I'm talking about. It was fun to see the kids take it so seriously and really enjoy it.

And then . . . (cue the music) Darth Vader walked around the corner and down the stairs! My bestest ever 12 year old wore her little brothers jacket and a Darth Vader mask that I found at Target's dollar spot. Each newly trained Jedi then got to battle Darth Vader (background music included). 

"The force is weak with you. Join the dark side and together we can rule the galaxy!"

Lightsaber Balloon Game

Of course we defeated Darth Vader and celebrated with a bunch of balloons. We used the balloons to play a game using the lightsabers to try and keep the balloons from touching the ground.

We then headed upstairs and continued our celebration of defeating Darth Vader by eating Wookie cookies and opening presents.

These cute little Wookies were fun to make. I used a gingerbread man cookie cutter and added the marks with a fork before baking. Once the cookies cooled I piped on the details using melted chocolate chips and white chocolate chips. I thought they turned out to be a fun treat. The birthday boy sure liked them!

Lightsaber Limbo and Hot Potato Yoda
After treats we still had some time left so we played a few more games that the birthday boy came up with. First we played lightsaber limbo by limbo-ing under a lightsaber. Then we played hot potato with our cute little plush Yoda. I thought they were such creative ideas and a lot of fun!

From the amount of fun I saw everyone having I would call this party a success! I think the birthday boy made a lot of fun memories and had a blast with his friends. This will definitely be a party we will remember for a long time.


Check out our other birthday parties:

(Not Your Everyday) Princess Birthday Party

Lets Get Crafty

Pirate Party Treasure Hunt

Baking Birthday Party

Super Hero Party

Spy Party

Pink Dinosaur Party

(Not Your Everyday) Princess Birthday Party

I've been wanting to share with you the princess party my older kids and I threw for this sweet and spunky four year old. Turning four at our house is a pretty big deal since it is traditionally the first year I throw my kids a birthday party with friends.  

My daughter wanted a princess party so a princess party it was. I love designing my kids party invitations and my favorite way to send them is through Paperless Post. I love this online invitation sight over others because it allows me to upload and send the 5x7 invitations I create. They also have a lot of pre-made invitations and unique options that other sites don't offer like envelopes.

My daughter has a lot of friends that are boys so my 12 year old and I brainstormed how we could make this princess party really fun for them too without things being too frilly or girly. We decided that we would take the kids on a royal quest to get to the ball. It ended up being so much fun! This party idea would also work great for a prince or knight party--or even a combined princess/knight party!

When the party goers arrived they were invited to decorate a party bag. We provided lots of stickers and markers for them to make their bag unique and we made sure everyone put their name on it so they wouldn't get mixed up with someone elses.

As the kids were finishing up my 12 year old arrived dressed up like a royal messenger a read to them a proclamation from the king and queen. It said the king and queen were throwing a ball for the birthday girl but they must complete a quest to get to the ball. They would have to cross a treacherous bridge to acquire a enchanted potion, help rescue some baby unicorns, and unlock a secret door to retrieve a magical weapon in case they encountered a dragon. When they arrive at the ball they will be crowed for their brave accomplishments. They were then invited to take their party bag and follow her into the next room to begin their quest and play the first game.

 

Before the kids were sent on their quest they were to receive a farewell token from a prince or princess. We played pin-the-kiss on the prince (or princess). After completing the game each child got a few Hershey kisses to add to their party bag.

We then headed upstairs where the kids were faced with a treacherous bridge to cross. They walked across the balance beam (the balloons represented water) and when they got to the other side they received a enchanted potion (bubbles) to add to their party bag.

Then we headed downstairs to the basement. This is where we had to rescue the baby unicorns. I had an obstacle course set up down there for the kids to complete. When they got to one end of the course they got to pick a baby unicorn from the nest to add to their party bag. They then would finish the course and tag the next friend for their turn.

Our last game required the kids to unlock a secret door to retrieve a magical weapon. To play this game they had to throw a bean bag into the keyhole cutout of a box. After throwing their beanbag in they received their magical weapon. The girls got wands and the boys got small daggers (that my older kids so generously made out of perler beads.)

These weapons sure came in handy too because as they came back upstairs there was a dragon waiting around the corner. To get by they simply had to aim their weapon at the dragon (who was my very helpful nine year old) and he would cower allowing them to pass. 

Getting past the dragon completed the quest! At the top of the stairs the king (who was my very sweet six year old all dressed up) congratulated everyone and crowned each party goer for completing the quest and making it to the ball.

Everyone was then granted entrance into the ball and we had a fun and fabulous freeze dance party.

When we were all tired out from freeze dancing the birthday girl got to open presents and then we all enjoyed some fairy princess wand rice crispy treats.

It was a super fun morning and I think everyone had a blast! I especially have to thank my 12, 9, and 6 year old children who helped me brainstorm ideas for this party (the best ideas were theirs!) and for helping me to pull it off. They are the best!

And happy happy birthday to my sweet four year old! We sure love you! 

I hope this post inspires you if you are creating your own princess (or knight) birthday party.



Check out our other party ideas:

Star Wars Jedi Training Academy

Lets Get Crafty

Pirate Party Treasure Hunt

Baking Birthday Party

Super Hero Party

Spy Party

Pink Dinosaur Party

"Let's Get Crafty" Birthday Party for Tweens

My daughter turned 10 this month.  Man, does that make me feel old!
My kids get to have a birthday party with friends every three years. It feels like I was just throwing her 7 year old baking themed party--and just like that it's three years later and time to start party planning again. It's amazing how time flies! To celebrate turning 10 she decided on a craft themed party this year. My daughter is super creative and very talented artistically so it wasn't surprising that she chose to spend time with her friends doing something she loves.

I like to involve my kids as much as possible when planning their birthday parties so it turns out to be everything they hoped for--and my daughter is a great party planner; she had been doing it since she was four years old after all.  I put my daughter in charge of decorating the party invitations because I knew she would be great at it. She had fun using her creativity to make them each unique. She used my stash of washi tape to create her designs. I like how she made each one different. They turned out so cute!

This birthday cake one was my favorite.

I loved how these invitations folded in the back.

They opened up to display all the party details.

We decorated in pink and blue--my daughters favorite colors . . . and mine too!

When friends arrived they got to pick from these adult coloring pages to color while waiting for the other guests to arrive.

After everyone arrived I introduced the girls to the projects we would be working on. The first was a monogram canvas art. Beforehand I drew the first initial of each girl on the canvas for her to decorate. (I did them lightly in pencil--so that's why you can't see them in the picture below.) I pinned several ideas on my craft party Pinterest board to share with them and to help them brainstorm ideas of how they'd like to decorate their canvas. I decided to have them decorate with sharpie markers instead of paint. Paint just felt too messy for me. I added some buttons to the table too if they wanted to use them as part of their art. I wish I had snapped a picture of the final product--but I got too busy hosting a party and all.  They all turned out unique and creative.  It was fun to see what everyone came up with.

After the canvas art we made these washi tape frames. The girls loved this project! I was worried this craft would eat up a lot of time but they were actually able to complete them pretty quickly.

I provided them with a variety of washi tape to choose from and a blank wood frame. I bought a ton of different styled frames from Michaels so they would have a variety to choose from.  Funny enough they all chose the same style frame.

Next week I will share a more detailed tutorial on the frames but here are a few of the completed ones. I think they turned out so nice.  The girls got to choose a quote to put inside their frames before they went home--I'll be sharing those next week too.

Here's the birthday girl with her completed frame. It looks so cute sitting on her dresser in her room now.



I provided some snacks for the girls to munch on while working on their projects.  Popcorn, fresh cut fruit, and for my sweet tooth birthday girl--candy cups filled with sour jelly beans, strawberry licorice and pomegranate gummy bears.



After the girls completed their projects we played a few games. I tried to come up with games that included drawing to keep with the theme of the party.

The first game we played was called The Sentence Game. It's kind of like the game telephone but instead of whispering a phrase you write a sentence, then draw a picture, then write a sentence. Once your paper makes it around the room and back to you its fun to see how your original sentence ended up. It was a fun and silly game. You can find the free printable game and detailed instructions at The Red Headed Hostess.

To fill in our extra time after opening presents and before parents came we played pictionary. I used these printable Pictionary words.  I set up our easel white board and split the girls into two teams. Some of the words I marked with a pink dot. If they pulled one of those words it was an all-play and either team could guess. The girls had a great time.

Instead of cake my daughter decided on these rice crispy treat paint brushes. She spied them on Pinterest and thought they looked like fun.  I don't think you can really go wrong with rice crispy treats. I used Mel's Brown Buttered Vanilla Rice Krispy Treat recipe and they tasted amazing. We dipped them in a blue icing and added a stick to the top. So fun and festive!

Each girl was given a small goody bag before she left. I tried to keep them pretty simple since they had their crafts to take home too. The bags were filled with a small note book, pencils, and a few pieces of candy.


Hooray for celebrations and a successful party day!

Pirate Party Treasure Hunt

Turning four years old is a pretty big deal at our house. It means you get to have your first birthday party with friends.  My son has been looking forward to his first party for a long time and was excited it finally came.  His party was actually a few months ago but I'm just getting around to sharing it.

My recently turned four year old loves everything!  Big construction trucks, police men, firemen, knights, super heroes, you name it--so when coming up with a theme for his party I knew he could easily change his mind from one day to the next.  For a while a pirate themed birthday party had been brewing in my head--because what's more fun than a treasure hunt?  Luckily I was able to convince my four year old that was what he wanted to do--and he loved the idea!  Even months later he still talks about his pirate party.




Invitations:

I love to create digital party invitations for my kids birthdays and I love to send them through Paperless Post. They have a lot of unique options that other evite sites don't have, which is why I find their site fun to use. If you've never used Paperless Post I highly recommend you check it out. I think you'll love all the options they provide for creating a great invitation for your next event!

Decorations:

I'm not huge on decorating for parties.  I usually do a lot of balloons and maybe a banner or two.  When the kids are this young I think they could care less about fancy decorations and I don't care to spend my time and effort on them.

Walking to the front door I drew a path to follow and "X marks the spot" with chalk.  Simple but fun.

I'm finding that my chalkboard easel from IKEA makes an easy detail for parties.  I've used it for a couple of parties now and decorated it to fit with the theme.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the decorations but balloons are my favorite way to decorate lately.  They are inexpensive, fill the space well, and what says party more than balloons?  I love to put balloons on sticks like this and put them in dollar store vases to create a balloon "bouquet".  It's a great way to add balloons all over the place and I love that my sticks can be used over and over again.

When the kids arrived they got to decorate their "pirate loot bag".  The bags were used throughout the party to hold the prizes they received at each station.  I had lots of pirate stickers as well as a sticker with their name on it (that I printed off onto labels) so we could keep track of who's bag was who's.  These bags also doubled as their goody bags that they got to take home at the end of the day.

After that the kids gathered round to begin the treasure hunt.

Each stop on the map had an activity or game and when complete they got a treasure/small toy to add to their loot bag.  The hunt ended with a treasure chest pinata.

I hung pictures on the wall at the location of each game that coordinated with the pictures on the map. This way the kids knew what to be on the lookout for and could find our next activity.

For the first game we headed upstairs to walk the plank.  The balloons represented water and the kids had to walk from one end of the board to the other without getting "wet" or touching a balloon.  When they made it to the other side they got a toy for their loot bag.

We then headed back downstairs to find that our ship was under attack!  Cannon balls were flying everywhere.  Each child had to pop their black balloon to save the ship.  Once popped they got another toy for their loot bag.

We then headed for the kitchen table and did a pirate craft.  When planning the party I came across a lot of cute pirate crafts but knew things could get crazy fast with a whole boat load of four year olds.  I decided to keep things ultra simple on my part and and bought a dozen of these pirate sticker scenes for the kids to decorate.  The sticker scenes whet in their loot bag when they were done.

After that we followed the map to story time.  I love reading stories to this age group.  They love stories!  How I Became a Pirate by David Shannon was a hit.  When the story was done they got some more loot for their bag.

We then headed into a dark cave (or the basement) where we were greeted by some vicious crocodiles blocking our course to the treasure. 

The kids used these knobby balls to blast them out of the way.  Once our path was clear of crocodiles the kids got to add one of the balls to their loot bags.  Then it was on to the treasure!

Pinatas are the best kind of treasure, right?  Instead of their treasure chest being filled with gold nuggets there were fruit nuggets for everyone.  I thought the fruit nugget were fitting and the kids seemed to like them.

With the treasure hunt being done we headed back upstairs to open presents and have a treat.  Since my son isn't eating wheat or dairy right now I decided to make rice crispy treats instead of the traditional cake and ice cream.  I shaped the rice crispy treats like treasure chests and added some details by piping on chocolate.  The kids thought they were great.

And here's the happy birthday boy!

Yo-ho-ho!  It was a fun adventure filled day!