Space Party -8yr- Stick the Fire on the Rocket

INVITATIONS:  My son requested a Space party for his birthday this year.  For invitations, I printed on a quarter sheet of cardstock: Come help us celebrate, Christopher's turning 8!  Launch Date: February 28  Exploration Time: 5:00 - 7:30 PM  Landing Site: Rill Space Center (w/ our address)  Reserve Your Seat: (xxx.xxx.xxxx)  I also put some clipart of a space shuttle, planet, and shooting star on the invitation. 

DECORATIONS:  For decorations, we used inflatable planets and the sun, inflatable space shuttles hung from the ceiling throughout the living room and kitchen (both from Oriental Trading Company -OTC), a black tablecloth that I used star and moon shaped foam stamps to paint yellow stars and moons on.  (Note: I used a plastic tablecloth but I recommend paper if you do this because the paint came of the plastic tablecloth a lot). 

We also put plastic black tablecloths on our super-long island counter and on those we put big cardstock cutouts of the planets and sun that I bought from an education store.  We hung up black and dark blue streamers throughout the house.  We also ordered a space shuttle banner from OTC and they printed my son's name on it.  On the front door we hung a sign that said the distances to the moon, Venus, Saturn, and our party.   

CAKE:  My husband made a moon cake using cake mix baked in a 3 quart bowl.  He used vanilla frosting mixed with crushed oreos.  He also shaped some craters in the frosting and added some yellow tinted frosting to the craters to make them stand out.  He then dropped some small chunks of oreos on the cake for moon rocks.  It was pretty cool.  He made a flag with flag stickers and a toothpick and put an astronaut toy on the cake too.  My son loved it.  We bought space plates from OTC for dinner and plain black plates for cake.  The design my son liked didn't offer cake sized plates for some reason.   

FAVORS:  We also purchased the space theme treat bag kit from OTC for the kids.  They included an Earth squeeze ball, two planet tattoos, an alien parachute guy, a stretchy alien, a planet sticker scene, a little plastic telescope, and a bag with space shuttles glued on the sides. 

GAMES:  For games, we played Stick the Fire on the Rocket".  My husband drew a rocket on paper and cut out and taped it to a piece of black posterboard.  I used my star stamp from the tablecloth to paint stars on the posterboard also.  He cut out orange flames for each child to try to stick to the bottom of the rocket.

For another game I crumpled up aluminum foil into a potato sized ball and we played "Hot Asteroid" (like Hot Potato). 

Another game was "Find the Meteoroids".  I wrapped up a little space alien guy in an aluminum foil ball and hid them all in a room for the kids to find one each. 

Our last game was a treasure hunt to find the pinata.  I used clues that I had made up for a different party and were not space related at all.  It is hard for me to come up with them so I'll post them here to give you ideas. The first clue you will find When you eat at noon In a spot where you would get A knife a fork or a spoon. (Silverware Drawer)  My little baby sister Likes to play all day The next clue is in the seat Where she jumps and plays. (Baby's Jumperoo Seat)  Search for your next clue Somewhere you might have seen Where you need to go To get your teeth or hands all clean. (Bathroom) 

For your next clue You will need to think Of where you could get A sip of water to drink. (Fridge Water Dispenser)  You'll find the  next clue Where we relax On cushy seats That  soothe our backs. (On the Couch) You won't find these outside Because it's not spring time yet But if you look on a table You'll find them in a basket. (In Basket of Flowers) We have a dog Chase is his name.  

For your next clue Look on top of where he lays. (On his crate) Now it's finally time! If you want to have some fun Go to the place in our yard Where the birds sing in the sun. (The tree in the front yard).  The kids loved that game.  I had them go play in the backyard for a few minutes while I hid the clues. 

ACTIVITIES:  I had a few crafts for the to do also.  I printed out coloring pages for them to color.  I also ordered some space scene stickers from OTC.  They were smaller than I thought they'd be but the children still enjoyed them.  The third craft was making a space snow globe.  I bought small jars and you fill half way with water.  Add a drop of blue food coloring glitter and foil stars.  Then my husband filled the jar to the tip-top with water and put the top on so there would be no air in the jar.  When they are turned upside down or shaken it's like a snow globe. 

The kids all thought it was cool. My son got a super cool telescope for Christmas this past year and since his birthday is in winter (gets dark early) and we live in mild weathered Texas we all went outside to look at the moon Venus and anything else we could see in the sky.  It was a huge hit with the parents and kids."