Indiana Jones Party -6yr- Reptile Trainer

Invitations: I took an image of Indiana from the new movie poster to use as a background.  As text I wrote:  Join Indiana Andrew on his birthday quest to find treasure!  To take part in the adventure call or email.  Wear clothes you can jump run and crawl in!   I glued these print outs to brown construction paper and folded them in half.  Each looked like a journal. 

Decorations: I twisted green crepe paper and hung it low across the entry way, dinning room and living room which made it look like jungle vines.  From the entry way chandelier, dinning room chandelier  and the crepe paper I hung snakes we had made out of paper plates cut in a spiral and colored with crayons in different snake patterns ( my  kids had fun making these ahead of time but it could be a fun project for arriving guest to do as well.)  I had Indiana Jones music playing in the background.   In the backyard my husband set up tunnels out of refrigerator boxes which we taped a plastic snake and lizard border to from Party America.   The kids enjoyed playing in there while waiting for the activities to begin. 

Costumes: I dressed Andrew up as Indy with a brown fedora bought from Mervyn's.  Khaki pants and of course a whip-with action sounds, so cool (from Target)! 

Activities:   Of course Indy is scared of snakes so we tried to teach the kids a little about them!  We hired a snake guy to come to the house to show the kids several tortoises, lizards and snakes.  My son, as Indiana Andrew, was his assistant and bravely carried each animal from person to person while the snake guy taught them about each one.  Everyone including the adults loved it.  Lots of great photo ops here!  The show was an hour long and well worth every penny as it was informative, different and exciting! 

The second activity was an obstacle course.  I first explained, for those who had not watched the movies, that Indy is a world traveler who loves adventure and retrieves lost artifacts.  As each child began I gave them a small plastic tiki cup (dollar tree) to carry throughout their journey to find the lost treasure.  Once they found the treasure, they were instructed to dip their cup into the chest and bring back what treasure they could and put it into the pinata.  The first station was to put together a foam map of the continents (dollar tree) because Indy needs to know where he is going. 

Next they had to cross a snake pit filled with 3 ft long stuffed snakes (dollar tree) by walking on a plank of wood (like in Raiders of the lost ark).  If they fell off they had to go back again.  Next they came to the stepping stones, which were just 3 rolls of nonslip drawer lining, unrolled, forming three columns and taped to the patio floor.   I wrote six letters on each roll evenly spaced and divided by a line to look like blocks (think hopscotch).  Once laid next to each other, the children had to step on the letters that spell my sons name A-N-D-R-E-W until they got to the end (like in the last crusade where Indy had to spell Jehovah).  Then they made their way through the cardboard tunnels.   

At the end of the tunnels I had set up a hut with a treasure chest inside (small Styrofoam ice chest spray painted gold-looked Aztec when I was done, also from dollar tree!) and filled to the brim with candy.  Each child dipped their cup in and raced back through the tunnels back over the stepping stones and across the snake pit to the pinata.  They took several turns each until it was filled.  The pinata (food max) was a large star shaped once since I couldn't find a skull (which would have been easy to paint light blue like in the new movie) I glued skulls (made from plain paper plates again-to the sides of the pinata and my son loved it.  Once filled they took turns busting it open and collecting the candy.  

Cake: I was going to bake a cake shaped like a snake but then I saw an Indy cake from Safeway and offered my son the option.  He chose the Safeway one which was great!  It has an Indy action figure running away from a huge boulder which drops at the push of a button!    When Andrew opened presents I had each child give him their present and sit next to him for photo ops and crowd control.  Around Andrews's neck I hung one of the stuffed snakes and I also hung them from the closed armoire as a great background for pictures.   

Favors: As take home, each child took home their candy bags and each got to pick out a stuffed snake to bring home.  The kids loved this and each left the party with a snake around their neck!!