My son has been planning on a "Super Hero Squad" birthday party for a few months now. As we were putting the finishing touches on his invitations, he told me he changed his mind. He wanted to have a "Star Wars" birthday party. I could have said "tough luck mister", but he is just too dang adorable! This is what we threw together:
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INVITATION
Here are the invitations the two of us designed. He helped choose the characters and colors. :) I thought they turned out pretty cute.
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DECOR
Continuing to keep things simple this year... I covered the entry way with black butcher paper and used a silver Sharpie to draw stars - creating a galaxy. ;)
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Afterwards (into the following day) I let my boys and their friends use chalk to draw aliens, more stars, spaceships and U.F.O.s.
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GAMES AND ACTIVITIES
"I am an Alien!" - They created silly aliens, just like the ones found in Star Wars, from outlines of their own bodies. We had a bucket of white butcher paper, cut into 4 foot long sheets, and rolled up. We began by having the children lye down on a piece of white butcher paper to have their bodies outlined. They were encouraged to be silly. Then they took their paper into the kitchen where they found crayons. This is where imaginations went wild!
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Galaxy Play Dough - I made up a couple batches of play dough and tinted the dough black. I made 1/2 cup balls and placed them into Zip lock bags. The children got to add the glitter themselves, if they wanted to.
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Jedi Training - My understanding was that we had to have a little Jedi Training. Each child received his/her own light saber for this activity. Of course Darth Vader was near. :)
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Pinata - Robbie really wanted one. I found a Darth Vader pinata, he was so excited when he saw it! This one is a pull pinata, which means the children take turns pulling the ribbons. There is only one ribbon that opens the pinata, allowing the goodies to fall. Honestly, I think they would have liked to wack Vader in the head instead. :)
This past week, my daughter celebrated her 14th birthday. Pretty exciting... moving up to the Mia Maid class, but mostly because she can go to the dances now. :)
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This is how she celebrated with her friends: Battleship {in full color}. She gets all the credit for creating this fun game! I am sharing it here for those of you looking for a fun and colorful group activity.
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Of course the board game Battleship was the source of our inspiration. Maddy has been wanting to play human Battleship for awhile now with her friends.
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We changed the game plan after my daughters and I ran (walked) the Color Me Rad 5K this past weekend. Afterwards, Maddy decided to play Battleship {in full color}!
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I found this on YOU tube. It is the closest thing I could find, to what we would love to have happen. Wish we had a crane! :) But, we have no access to a crane, so we created our own version.
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GETTIN' READY
I could not find a recipe for the color chalk bombs, so I had to create my own. I tried a few different concoctions. This was my first attempt. The colors were great!
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INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup corn starch
1 Tbsp water
10 drops food coloring (I used neon)
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DIRECTIONS
I put all the ingredients into a Ziploc bag and sealed it tight.
Next I worked it with my fingers, until it was blended completely.
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My initial test run showed that the powder alone didn't stick. I added the powder to a spray bottle full of water, shook it up and it worked good. It was simply colored water, and a bit washed out though.
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This next concoction is the one that worked best. Vivid colors, more paint like. We filled small water balloons with the color.
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INGREDIENTS
2 cups cold water
3/4 cup corn starch
10 drops food coloring (I used neon)
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DIRECTIONS
In a saucepan, combine cold water, cornstarch, and food coloring.
Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, ONLY until you feel it thickening.
It should take less than 2 minutes.
Remove from heat immediately.
Continue to stir, adding cold water as needed, until desired consistency.
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To fill the water balloons, I poured the paint into spray bottles. It was easy to fill the water balloons directly from the spray bottle. Then we filled the balloons and tied them up - carefully, very carefully. It was a messy process, because a few of the balloons popped. Oops! I made a few extra batches of color to refill the spray bottles. I figured the kids would have fun spraying each other too. I was right! Maddy requested a bunch of water filled balloons too. :)
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THE ARRIVAL
As her guests arrived, they were given either a hot pink or neon green wristband. This was an easy way to create teams. Plus wristbands are cool! ;)
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BATTLESHIP {in full color}
Set-Up: The game was played on a volleyball court. If you decide to play "blind", like the real game of Battleship - spray paint the lines (grid) directly onto the grass with letters and numbers. And use clothes pins and sheets to create a barrier between the two teams. We played with full vision. No barrier. No coordinates.
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Ammunition: We used the mini color bombs, water balloons, and color filled spray bottles.
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Game Play:
Blind - Have each team create 5 ships, by having team members lie on the ground in groups or individually. Choose a commander who calls out coordinates. Keep track of hits and misses on a piece of paper. When someone gets hit with a {full color} missile, call out "IT"S A HIT!" When a full ship of people get hit, they all yell out "YOU SUNK OUR BATTLESHIP!"
Full Vision- Everyone anchored themselves, sat down, on their own side. Once they chose a spot, they could not move - unless it was their turn. In turn, one team member would toss a playground ball over the net, trying to hit one of the other team's "ships". If the ball hit, bumped, or rolled into someone, then that person gets bombed or sprayed with color, by the person who had tossed the ball. I honestly thought playing this way would make it way too easy to hit someone, but these kids kept missing! It made the actual hits exciting!
When I could tell they had had enough of the one hit at a time, I yelled out, "All Attack!" They all ran in and grabbed the remaining color bombs, water balloons, and color filled spray bottles. It was an all out battle!
The sun had gone down, it was dark, and they had to play in the light of a lamp post. But they didn't care. They played Dragon Tails a couple times. When it came to Trash Can they played 3 times. I hadn't realized how competitive this group was!
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I heard afterwards that a number of them said it was the most fun they had had at a birthday party in a long time. I attribute that to the laughter, the cheers, being active, and their friendships! They didn't have their phones in their hands. There was no texting, no web browsing, nothing taking them away away from where they were. They were "all there"!
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LET THEM EAT CUPCAKES!
We went back to the house and let them hang out for a bit. Maddy requested FUNfetti! cupcakes. Easy peasy. We frosted them with our favorite homemade butter cream frosting, tinted bright ocean blue.
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I frosted enough for them all to have one, but I made plenty more. I left the extra cupcakes and frosting out for them to frost their own. They were not shy!
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MOVIE TIME
My husband suggested the movie, Battleship. It was on pay-per-view. I put it on for them to watch, as they waited for their parents.
Our little dinosaur turned four this year! And once again he asked for a dinosaur birthday party. How long will this obsession last? :) * We kept it simple. He's four. He likes dinosaurs. He likes his friends. Simple.
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Here's my birthday boy, enjoying his simple yellow cake, topped with dinosaur toys and four candles. Easy to please. Love him!
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INVITATION
* THE ARRIVAL His guests were greeted by his new favorite dinosaur, T-Rex! *
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My daughters read the children dinosaur stories while we waited for everyone to arrive.
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DINO MUSEUM
Robbie set up his very own Dinosaur Museum. :) The one and only exhibit included his personal collection of dinosaurs. He was excited to show his friends!
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PALEONTOLOGY FUN!
We did this last year, but Robbie insisted that we go on another dinosaur egg hunt. Here is the recipe I used:
INGREDIENTS
2 and 1/2 cups Flour
2 and 1/2 cups Dirt
1 cup Sand
1 and 1/2 cups Salt
Water
small toy dinosaurs (one per egg)
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DIRECTIONS
Mix together all dry ingredients. (except for the toys) :)
Gradually add water until the mixture holds together.
Shape a handful of dough around one of the small toys and form into an egg shape.
Place the eggs onto a cookie sheet covered with foil.
Let them sit in a dry place until they are dry (about 4 days).
In a rush, I have also placed them into a warm oven to speed up the drying process.
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We made our way into the Ice Age. I simply placed small dinosaur toys into an ice tray, added water, and froze them overnight. The children had a race to see who could free their dinosaur first. Honestly, they could have cared less that there was a race. They just enjoyed watching the ice melt and the dinosaurs appear. :)
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DIY TERRARIUM
They each made their own dino terrarium. Started with a mason jar, a scoop of pebbles, a layer of Spanish moss, a cup of soil, a small rock or twig, and their dinosaur discoveries from earlier. Nothing too complex, they are four years old. :)
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TAKE-A-WAY
Robbie's guests all went home with their own exploration bag (a small garden tool tote found at the 99cent store). We tucked surprises into every pocket: dinosaur toys, sweet treats and there was even room for their new dino terrarium.
