Jedi Training Party -9yr- Training Manual

The Invitation  We bought black fold over cards at the store and printed off a picture with Yoda and the words Jedi Training Academy". The inside said this which is similar to many other ideas I found on the Internet....  Greetings Padawan _(Child's name)____ Recently The Jedi Knights have felt a strong disturbance in the Force. Many Jedi Knights have been lost. The very future of the Jedi Order is now in jeopardy.  The Jedi Council has bestowed upon young Padawan (birthday boy's name) the quest to seek out future Jedi. Your presence is requested to complete Jedi Training on (date of party) in the year 2010. You will need to bring your own light saber to the training camp.  The training will being promptly at (time) at the (last name of birthday boy) System of the (street) Galaxy Docking Bay (street number). After the training pizza will be served and a celebration will be held in honor of young (birthday boy)'s ninth year.  Please advise the Jedi Council as soon as possible if you will accept the challenge of this training camp.  May the force be with you!   

The Menu  There all are sorts of fun ideas on the internet for Star Wars food. These are the ones we went with:  Pizza from the Hut  Yoda Soda (lime icecream and Ginger ale) Death Star Cheese Ball Wookie Cookies (chocolate no bake cookies) Star Wars Cake with R2D2 on top Light saber Pretzel sticks (dipped in red and green candy melts and milk chocolate)   The Outfits  I then made Jedi tunics for all the kids. I made the tunics out of cream colored felt. I made them very simple by folding the fabric in half and making it the length I wanted on each kid. I then cut it out so it when just beyond their shoulders. I cut up the middle and then made a neck hole.  I made the belts out of left over material that I got pretty cheap that looked like fake leather. I cut them long enough that they would wrap around twice and tie in the front. They were honestly fairly simple with no sewing involved whatsoever.   When the kids arrived we had a table set up with a black cover and a sign in sheet for the Jedi Training Academy. We had also downloaded the theme to Star Wars and had that playing in the background. We had all our Star Wars ships etc out for decorations. 

The Training Manual Each child was given a Jedi Training Manual with their objectives to achieve for the day. There were 6 objectives that they had to complete in order to become a Jedi. The Jedi Council brought in Jedi Master Ben Kenobi to train the young Padawans. He was on call and had already been called in that morning so he had his scrubs on under his Jedi Tunic. 

The first objective was proper robing in Jedi tunic. They came into the office and I fitted each one in their tunics and belts. They loved it! 

Objective number 2 was to learn the 4 Pillars of a Jedi.   The 4 Pillars of a Jedi are actually taken from the book "Raising a Modern Day Knight" by Robert Lewis. It's a great read if you are bringing up boys.  The 4 Pillars of a Jedi  Resist Passivity  (looks for ways to be helpful)  Take responsibility (obeys his parents  cleans up after himself etc)  lead courageously (encourages and leads others  to do the right thing)  expect a greater reward (rewards are eternal  God alone is who we serve)  

Objective number 3 was Lightsaber Agility Training. We lined up 2 rows of kids and took 2 kids at a time and they worked on keeping a black balloon off the floor using their lightsabers.  When then went to Objective number 5 which was Jedi History Training. Each kid took a turn in the seat with a blindfold and then the Jedi Master handed around a picture of a famous Star Wars character (Yoda Luke Leia Darth Vader etc) and then the Padawan in the chair had to guess who it was using yes and no questions. 

Objective number 4 was Lightsaber Defense Training. We watched the videos on youtube of the Disneyland Jedi training camp to get ideas. It's amusing to watch even if you aren't having a Star Wars party. The young Padawans were then ready to face Vader. We gave them the guidance of Master Yoda (a small stuffed Yoda) and they took him in a backpack just as Jedi Luke Skywalker did when he was facing the darkside.   We didn't want to spring for the $60 Darth Vader suit so we just hung a cheap Darth Vader mask on a black cape behind a tree and Jedi Master Ben Kenobi went with them to make sure they didn't turn to the dark side of the force. 

Then one of the dads at the party put on the mask and cape and everyone wanted to fight him. It was hilarious. As soon as he came out wearing the mask one of the youngest boys ran as fast and hard as he could across the yard so he could get his lightsaber and go fight Vader. They didn't care that he had shorts and flip flops on they just wanted to fight Darth Vader.   He chased them around the yard and then they went to finish their 6th objective which was to destroy the Death Star.  

The Death Star was a soccer ball pinata that I bought at Hobby Lobby stripped it down and painted it with cheap metallic silver and black paint.  Here is a helpful hint on pinatas. Don't put in candy that breaks up easy like little packages of m&ms and little packages of gobstoppers. They don't survive the beating very well.   The kids went from youngest to oldest and all got to take several hits with their lightsabers to destroy the Death Star.   They really had fun with this and we drug it out longer by letting them use their plastic lightsabers rather than a bat. 

They all became a Jedi we gave them a certificate and we then had the birthday party for the birthday boy.  And there you go!   May the force be with you!  "