Movie Party -8yr- Hollywood Premiere

For my son's 8th birthday party he wanted to bring his friends to the movies.

For the invites I used my computer to create a small card, on the front it read, "Coming Soon to a Theatre near you, Connor's 8th Birthday Party", the inside included more movie clipart and the where, when and how details. I then punched a hole in the corner of the invite and a microwavable bag of popcorn, tied together with curling ribbon, put them inside small manila envelopes and made a label with a film accent and the child's name.  His birthday is in November and just happened to coincide with the release of "Harry Potter's Sorcerer's Stone".  I had promised this before all the craziness that surrounded the release! With the help of a couple of my friends and their "Mommy-vans" we picked the kids up from school for the second matinee show.

I used the advanced ticket purchase option that my local theater offered and we walked right in! We also applied a lighting bolt tattoo to each of the kids foreheads,(I even gave some to the movie staff)! We had the kids sit all together in two rows and sat behind them.  I bought a refillable large popcorn and divided it among the children with brown paper lunch bags. I also provided juice boxes. After the movies we went across the mall to the pizza restaurant and had pizza, soda and cupcakes. 

For the cupcakes I made chocolate with white frosting in silver foil cups. I cut mini-marshmallows in half and pushed them back together, then put them all over the top of the cupcake. This made them look like popcorn! I then used a small paintbrush to "paint" them with yellow food coloring to simulate butter!  The kids loved them! 

For favors I found several post-Halloween bargains! I bought small plastic cauldrons, 1/2dz. for $.99, and filled them with tattoos, stickers, plastic frogs and plastic skeletons. There was a reporter from the local paper who interviewed the kids at the restaurant about the movie.  Their comments were in the paper the next day, what a keepsake! My son felt like he had been to a "Hollywood" movie premiere!

For Thank you notes Connor wrote with invisible "magical" ink and sent along a reveal marker as well.  Another idea would be to interview the kids in a reporter like fashion and include their comments in the form of a thank you newsletter!  The kids had a great time and so did we! Another couple of tips I picked up in the planning are these: When trying to choose an appropriate movie with a certain release time/party time check with movie companies online for upcoming dates and ratings, you can usually watch a trailer too!

Check with your local video rental store for release dates on the latest in videos! Also remember to contact your movie theatre's management to "announce" your party so they can plan their staffing appropriately and also to inquire on any group rates and or party facilities they may have. I hope these ideas help your party be as fun and effortless as ours was!