Indiana Jones Party -7yr- Gross-Out Table

With the arrival of the new Indiana Jones movie so entered a whole new fan base for the movie without much party supplies. My husband and I had to get extra creative this year for our 7yr old son. We had an Indiana Jones Movie marathon and we were able to create an Indiana Jones Adventure Party.

The invitations were about the only thing I found that was pre-made with Indiana Jones on it, they were sent out reminding parents to bring the kids in PLAY CLOTHES! I also asked the moms to let the kids watch an Indiana Jones movie so they would understand. For decorations we did green streamers (jungle vines) and lots of bugs, spiders and of course snakes. I had several shrunken heads, crystals, gold coins,(anything Halloween worked!) scattered around the yard as well. We had black table cloths and mulitple colors for plates/napkins that matched the invitations (blue, orange, yellow, red). I also found an Indiana Jones fedora and whip that were placed on the cake table along with extra snakes, 2 skulls (candy dishes) with bugs crawling out, gold coins and crystals. 

The party started with an obstace course from there everything fell into place.It started with a river" crossing (a tree branch going across a little creek) where they had to avoid stepping all the snakes then the path led through a creepy tunnel (the tunnel was created by my husband using 2X4 and 2 extra large tarps then decorated inside with spiderwebs spiders bats rats bugs etc) the trail then led down a little hill where giant boulders rolled after the kids (the boulders were 4 ft beach balls that were painted in a camo style to look like boulders. We tried to do paper mache but the to make giant boulders would have taken too much paper so we also had 2 paper mache mini boulder. My sister and sister-in law rolled the boulders after the kids as they emerged from the cave.) the kids then ran from the boulders to a rope swing that they had to swing across to get back to other side of the "river" while avoiding the deadly crocodile (we had a rope swing with a foot rest tied in so the kids could easily swing across the creek.

There was a cement stepping stone in the shape of a crocodile placed in the creek that they had to swing over). Then they ran a maze following signs (I made about 8 signs they said things like "To find the treasure you must be brave if you dare go through the cave.") that were placed along the course leading to the treasure chest. I spray painted an old styrafoam cooler to make the chest and had the goody bags hiding inside. The goody bags were made from paper lunch bags with sign that said "supply rations" on it and then tied with twine. Inside the bags I had gold coin bubble gum toy snakes and bugs gummy candy in the shape of worms snakes spiders and other insects. 

We had a "gross out" table where we "served" Eyeball soup Snake surprise and Monkey Brain- just like in the 2nd movie. The Monkey Brain was created using a jello mold of a brain (be sure to use the "jigglers" reciepe which uses less water and creates a firmer mold) the others were 2 buckets covered with a black plastic table cloth and the kids would reach their hands inside and not be able to see what they are feeling. Inside they would feel for eyeball soup a mix of jello and tapioca pudding with olives and stewed tomatos. For snake surprise it was jello with spagetti noodles and a little bit of olive oil to make is feel slimy. Be sure to have LOTS of paper towels and a bucket with a soap/water mixture for them to wash off after feeling the gooey substance. The Gross out Table was a HUGE hit with the little boys! 

For games we had a version of "Hot Potato" but we used a snake. Before the game I asked the kids if they knew what Indiana Jones one fear was and they all started yelling "Snakes!" I then asked who knew how to play hot potato and explained that we would be playing Pass the Snake but it was just like hot potato. The music was the Indiana Jones Sound Track. The winner received a huge gummy snake to eat later. We also had a snake toss. We wrapped a hula hoop with green streamers (vines) and the kids had to toss the snake threw the hoop as many times as possible in a 30 seconds. The winner received a bag of gold (gold coin bubble gum). We also did a timed race through the Obstace Course and the winner received a gummy snake and gold bubble gum coins. The kids spent the remaining hours racing threw the obstacle course.

Our snacks were all finger food with silly name tags on them like Fried caterpillars (Cheetos)Beetle wings (chips)snake eyes (grapes) and spider sacs (olives). My husband made the cake and purchased an Indiana Jones action figure set that he placed on top with Indy swinging across the pit of doom!  The party was fairly inexpensive. I used all my old Halloween stuff and borrowed other things from friends had lots of "Dollar Tree" finds for paper plates/table cloths streamers and all of the plastic bugs/snakes were ordered in bulk from the Oriental Trading Company. The Cave was created with left over wood from a remodel project we did have to purchase the tarps but will use them this winter to keep things in the yard dry. The most expensive single item was the Indiana Jones Sound Track. The kids all had a blast and I've had several moms tell me that their little boy wants an Indiana Jones party and would I please be the party planner. I'm not sure that we'll be able to top this party next year!"