Star Wars Party -5yr- Pretzel Stick Saber Snacks

My son loves Star Wars. I'm talking sheets, shoes, curtains, clothes everything he ownes is Star Wars. He can recite the lines from all the movies. It is almost freaky how much he knows at such a young age! Anyway we knew we were going to have to have a Star Wars party for his 5th birthday but he did not just want a party he wanted to train his friends to be Jedi's. So I got busy! Really helps to plan ahead! I started 3 months ahead. It really was worth all the time and honestly because I started early it did not cost a lot!

First invitations:  Since my son was Darth Vader for Halloween I took his picture and then downloaded an icon off the net and using a photo program put my son's picture into the picture of Mace Windu, Obi Wan, Aniken, C3PO, R2D2, and of course Yoda. It looked like Obi had his hand on his shoulder! I wrote the details on the bottom using text and printed them out on 4X6 photo paper. Put the picture in invitation enevelope and mailed away! People loved it when they realized Jacob was in the picture! I have to admit it was pretty cool looking! Haed of time I purchased matching Personalized Darth Vader shirts off e-bay for myself, my husband, the birthday boy and his sister. The shirt said Happy 5th Birthday Jacob on it. I like to wear matching shirts because 1-I don't have to think about what I am going to wear, 2- everyone can find me easily at the party. This is especially nice for the school friend's parents that you may not know too well. The shirts were $9.99 each.

Decorations Gotta love e-bay! Ahead of time I purchased a R2D2 pepsi cooler very cool and practical and it made a great decoration as well off e-bay. (All the drinks and ice were able to fit into it.) I also purchased several Standee cutouts (also e-bay got General Grevious, Obi Wan, C3PO.) We had a talking Darth Vader Standee that I tied black, orange and yellow balloons and that is what greeted the guest.( IT was motion activated very cool as the guest walked by it went off)The standees are now flat and on my son's wall. That way we had decorations for his party and now he has them in his room. Double the fun for your money!

Also got several small Yoda standee centerpieces for the tables. I tied the balloons to these as well.I had purchased plain black table clothes but since we had the party at the park and it was windy I decided not to use them. Actually I think it looked better without them. I took the same picture of my son that was on the invitation and enlarged it and stuck it in the middle of a poster board and wrote the beginning to all the Star Wars movie (the scrolling text) on the top then I tied a black permanent marker to a string punched a hole into the poster board and looped the stringed pen through. I put this out and all his friends and family signed around his picture. (Later I took it to Michaels Craft store and bought an inexpensive poster frame and it is now on the wall of his Stars wars room as a great reminder of his special day.) That was it for decorations,it was just enough to set the mood.

We did splurge and had a bounce house and of course Star Wars theme. As the kids arrived they played in the bounce house. When most of the kids were there we gathered around and played Star Wars Bingo which I made by downloading icons of the net and then scrambling them onto a 5 X5 grid. It took awhile but the end result was nice. The kids loved it! The winner received a Darth Vader mask I got at Walmart for $1.00. Ahead of time I had copied coloring pages from a Star Wars coloring book I got from ToysRUs for $3.00. I told the kids there would a price for the best and most original picture colored and at the end of the party I gave every child that colored a picture one of the Darth Vader mask.. Between the coloring and the bounce house they were entertained until the rest of the kids arrived and the Pizza.

Since my party started at 2pm  I fed them before the training! While eating I passed out a Star Wars Quiz for the adults. The kids had fun watching their parents play and the parents acted like big kids playing! I found the quiz online. They have all different levels I chose easy and still most of the adults did not get them all right! It was funny because they were asking their kids for the answers. The winner got a Star Wars Coffee Mug that I got offG yup e-bay for $4.00. Then it was time for training!

I told the kids that in order to train like Jedis they needed to look like Jedis. Each child then received his tunic. Ahead of time I purchased yards of cheap brown and white (for the girls they were Princess Leias) fabric. I got it for $1.00 a yard at Walmart.  I was able to make 2 tunics from 1 yard. I folded the fabic in half and then cut a V in the middle just enough to go over their heads. This left them with the sides open. I then tied gold cord around their waist like a belt. Simple and yet they looked like little JEDIS. I then gathered all the kids and explained that being a Jedi took a lot of work. The most important trait was being able to follow directions and to listen and work together.

Then I lined them up and I explained the rules of our first game YODA/VADER   this was Red Light Green Light. I had a green light saber (YODA) and a red Light Saber (VADER) when I said Yoda and held up the Green one they had to walk toward me, when I said VADER and held up the red one they had to stop. If someone kept going they all had to go back! The kids loved this so much  we played it twice!

Afterward I rewarded their hard work with edible light sabers which were pretzel sticks dipped in red and green chocolate. They loved them and so did their parents. Next game was to test their eye hand coordination. We played DESTROY THE DEATH STAR. I downloaded an icon of the death star and enlarged it and stuck it in the middle of a poster board. I then made 4 bean bags (made from the triangles of the cut out parts of the tunics sewn together and I put rice in them easy inexpensive!) I put the death star on the ground and put the kids in a line about 2 feet away and they had to try and hit the death star. It was great to hear how the kids cheered each other on they were really acting like Jedis working together!

Next we had to see just how well they could work together by playing SAVE PRINCESS LEIA. I printed out a small picture of Leia and stuck it inside a balloon and then blew it up along with the rest of the bag. Cheap balloons work the best for this game. All the balloons were inside a large garbage bag. I explained that inside one of these balloons was a picture of Princess Leia and they all had to work together popping them until they found her before an egg timer ran out! I turned the egg timer over and then dumped the bag! Once again they really worked together.

After that task I said they had earned their light sabers. They lined up and I gave them all handmade nerf light sabers. I made these out of swimming noodles I got at Walmart for $1.29 each. I cut each noodle into 3 equal pieces and then wrapped black electrical tape to look like a handle on the end. Now they could whack each other and no one got hurt!  I then blew bubbles and they had to use their light sabers to pop them.

After that I said they were ready to battle the Dark Side. My husband came out in my son's Darth Vader Voice Changer mask (needed a mask for protection you will see why) and a cape and his own nerf light saber and each kid got a chance to battle darth Vader. My son loved the idea of batteling daddy and even my older nephews got into this game. After everyone had a chance I told them all to get him. Talk about a great picture. Not sure Daddy liked it though but it is my son's favorite memory of the whole day. I got them off of my poor husband by telling them I they had completed training and I needed them to gather around the table for their certificates.

I made simple certificates on the computer which also served as thank yous for coming to Jacob's party, rolled them to look like scrolls and tied a red ribbon around each. The kids felt important getting their certificate. Since I had all the kids already sitting down I told them to stay there and we did the cake.

Here is a great idea we did a pull apart cupcake cake. Talk about easy! Make 24 or 48 cupcakes then put them on a half sheet or full sheet cake platter. Ice and decorate as if it was a cake covering all the cupcakes. It looks just like a cake but then you have equal size pieces for everyone and you don't need plates or forks! I purchased  the cake decorations off  yup e-bay!!! After cake we did the pinata. (DARTH VADER came from toysrus was only $12.99 the cheapest I have seen).

Before hand I gave everyone a Darth Vader goody bag which already had a package of Star Wars fruit snacks (from BJ's Wholesale Club) Star Wars Stickers, a Star Wars Blower, and a  star Wars Pencil (e-bay). The pinata was filled with candy. Nobody wanted to leave. We had to start cleaning up to give everyone the hint that the party was over! I take that as a good sign of a good party! Most important my little Jedi had fun! Hope these ideas help you!