Throw the best birthday party ever!

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Show them how special they are

Your child’s birthday is the perfect time to show him or her how special they are. A “you” centered day is the perfect time to make an impression that your child is likely to remember for years to come. 

For most of us who don’t have a mattress stuffed with money in the back room, a little bit of creativity is in order to make this day memorable on a limited budget. If your youngster loves the movie Star Wars, a theme party is sure to make your little Jedi overflow with excitement. Read on for the best Star Wars party ideas around.

Play the theme up

If you are going to do a theme party, a modest amount of effort can elevate your shindig from amusing to over the top. The goal here is to transport your birthday child and guests to a galaxy far away from here. Let’s make the setting something that is out of this world.

1. Put some extra effort into the invitations

These important mailers will convince little party goers that this is going to be a great time. Your child will be excited to mail or hand out invitations that make people go “WOW”. When it comes to a well known theme like Star Wars, resources abound.

• Make invitations that invite all of your child’s friends to come participate in Jedi training.
• Create invitations that look like tickets to a Star Wars movie.
• It’s pretty hard to go wrong with invitations made to look like a light saber.
• With so many Star Wars pictures to be found online, images can be grabbed and printed onto card stock as the background to create your invitations.
• If time is something you don’t have tons of, there are some attention grabbing invitations that can be ordered from online retailers. Your child can choose:
•  these Star Wars rebel invitations

• or join the other side with these invitations from the dark side.

Create the setting

Once you round up your child’s friends for a day of fun, be sure to create a setting that draws everyone into the merriment. It’s interesting how the idea of fun goes hand in hand with making a person feel special. That’s what it’s all about.

2. Dress the adults up

Although this suggestion may elicit moans and groans from the macho members of the family, the effort pays off in the end. When there are adults at a birthday party that are in full costume and playing the part, it creates a theme park environment that no little person can resist. Check out these stellar adult Star Wars costumes:

• Darth Vader may be the quintessential bad guy, but this is one bad guy that every child thinks is cool. Maybe it’s the shiny black suit or the iconic heavy breathing. Whatever the case, having Darth Vader present at the party brings things up a notch or two.
• On the slightly more exotic but lovable side, Chewbacca is always a good addition to the party. As is the case with any convincing costume, be sure that you won’t scare your younger guests into soiling themselves. Once everyone is comfortable with the big furry guy in the room, the fun and role play can begin. With any luck, your nosy neighbors may call animal control to report that you are keeping a brown bear in the back yard.

• Aside from Darth Vader, the Storm Trooper may have one of the coolest looks in the movie. Hip looking battle armor put together with yet another neat helmet makes this a great character for your party.

3. Let’s take this costume thing too far, shall we?

There is only one thing better than having real Star Wars figures running around a birthday party: pets in costumes. Yes, you heard me. Convince Fido to take one for the team and you’ll not only create an environment that screams “Star Wars” at every turn, you’ll be sure to induce a lot of laughter and good times as well.

• Dress up your furry companion in this Ewok costume to make her the four legged life of the party. Who could resist a cute dog in a costume?
• If you have a medium to small dog that you would like to humiliate for the amusement of your party guests, try this Star Wars Jedi costume. After the party is over, stash it away for when Halloween comes around and you are good to go.

• My personal favorite is the Princess Leia head bun costume for cats. Since we all know that cats just love to make humans happy, Fluffy may actually enjoy dressing up as Leia. A pinch of catnip may go a long way toward avoiding a punitive hairball coughed up on your pillow the next day.

4. Don’t even attempt a Star Wars party unless you have these

It’s all about the light saber. Search your feelings. You know it to be true. All of the coolest characters in Star Wars are sporting a light saber. The Storm Troopers are pretty cool. There is no doubt about that. But do you see the way they follow Darth Vader around as if they’d just like to try on the black cape for a moment? It’s because they REALLY want to be him. Vader has the ultimate Star Wars badge of achievement, a light saber. No Star Wars party can even take place unless you have light sabers for your guests to paddle each other over the head with.

• Homemade pool noodle light sabers are the way to go for many reasons. Simply cut a pool noodle to your desired saber length and then use a combination of grey duct tape and black electrical tape to create a realistic looking handle. The end result is a fun but reasonably safe saber that kids will love. Parents will appreciate the fact that no trips to the emergency room were needed.
• As an added bonus, place a small LED flashlight inside the handle of your homemade light saber. This will be easy if your pool noodles have the typical hole down the middle.

5. Nerf blaster Jedi training

Set up an exciting Jedi blaster training course for your guests with a handful of Nerf guns and balloons.

• Buy some balloons like these Star Wars VII themed ones and inflate them.
• If you are inflating them with helium, tie a length of ribbon to them and weigh them down with something. Going without helium will work just fine as well. Simply use the ribbon to hang the balloons from the ceiling.
• Be sure that the balloons hang at different heights around the room.
• Add to the excitement by including a few cardboard obstacles. A complete obstacle course can be arranged in a circle around the room with an entrance and exit.

6. Pin the tail on the donkey with a Star Wars twist

When it comes to fun times at a birthday party, nothing beats blindfolding a child and setting them loose with a tack in search of a poster on the wall to stick the pin in. Let’s revamp this classic party game with a Star Wars twist that won’t present an impaling hazard to bystanders. While directions for a “pin the bun on Leia” game can be found online, let’s change things up a bit and make a “Pin the saber on Yoda” challenge.

• Grab a cardboard stand-up poster of Yoda online. The link to this particular Yoda stand-up will work well because Yoda has his hand out as if he is holding something in it. This is perfect for a light saber!

• Use cardboard and craft paper to make a Yoda sized light saber. Distribute a generous helping of Sticky Tack on the back of the light saber so it will stick well.
• Place Yoda up against a wall.
• Use something with a Star Wars theme as a blindfold. A Storm Trooper helmet with the eyes covered on the inside with electrical tape will work great.

Players can take turns trying to use the force to place the light saber in Yoda’s hand without the aid of their sight. This game has the added benefit of letting one of your party decorations do double duty as an activity as well.

7. Invite R2D2 to the party

An easy R2D2 decoration can be created using a dollar store garbage can and some colored tape. This little guy can be used as a decoration, a game during the party and a trash can during clean up.

• Purchase a small white trash can from the dollar store. These particular trash cans have the dome top with a rotating door where the trash goes. They work great because they already resemble R2D2.
• Use black, blue and red colored tape to create R2D2 designs on the trash can.
• Alternately, a few Sharpie markers can be used to draw designs onto R2D2. The use of a ruler or other line drawing device really adds to the precise, robotic look.
• During the party, your R2D2 can become a fun bean bag toss game. Players stand back several feet and try to toss small bean bags into the R2D2 can. Be sure to place a small brick inside the can to keep it in place while bean bags are tossed at it.
• At the end of the festivities, clean up time is a bit more fun as kids bring garbage and feed it to R2D2.

8. Free Han Solo from carbonite Jello

This idea is a quick winner that always thrills little Jedi to no end. All it will take is a package of blue Jello and either a Han Solo action figure or a cut out picture of Han taped to the back of a clear pan of Jello.

• If you are using a Han Solo action figure that your kids already happen to have, be sure to thoroughly clean it before putting it in something that kids will eat.
• Make a batch of blue Jello. Pour it in your serving dish. Place Han Solo down in the Jello and allow it to cure as normal.
• If you don’t have a Han Solo action figure, be sure to use a clear serving pan to make the Jello. This will allow you to use a picture of Han Solo taped to the bottom of the pan to get the same effect.

9. Make a Death Star pinata

The shape of the Death Star makes it a shoe-in for being the pinata of choice. A sphere is relatively easy to make in paper mache and no one minds taking a swing at it or breaking it. After all, it represents the bad guy’s weaponry. Even if kids DO have reservations about destroying a party decoration, the moment you mention that it’s stuffed with candy, all reservations go right out the window and kids swing at it like pre-season batting practice just started. 

If you are interested in making your own Death Star pinata, follow the great directions at “mnmsadventures”. It always seems strange to create something like a pinata that you know your children will shortly destroy, but that seems to be the order of the universe. You create or clean things, and the kids destroy them before the day is over. If you don’t have the time on your hands to make a pinata, one can be purchased online and filled with candy. An alternate to the Death Star would be a BB8 pinata that is also available online.

10. Create a Star Wars photo opportunity

For a great finishing touch to an out of this world Star Wars party, why not include memorable photos of your guests with characters from the movies? These photos are not only good for use in follow up thank you notes but also for posting on social media sites. This is where you pull together several elements from your birthday party to create great pictures that can be sent home with guests.

• As mentioned at the beginning of this article, adults in full costume or dressed up pets make great additions to a photo booth.
• Life size stand-up posters of Star Wars characters can be put to use in the photo booth and as decoration at the party as well. Purchase a full size Chewbacca or Storm Trooper stand-up and let each child choose who he or she wants to be photographed with.
• After photos have been taken, add the finishing touch in Photoshop by using a free Star Wars overlay.

The combination of a nice backdrop, costumed characters, life size stand-ups and a nice overlay all add up to a sharp looking photo for guests to enjoy.

A little help goes a long way

Whether you have time to create all of your own decorations or time is short and you need an economical source for Star Wars themed supplies, knowing where to look for ideas, free resources or the right supplies can be a real time saver. I’ll leave you with a few additional resources that will get you on your way to creating a memorable birthday party for your youngster.

• Free Star Wars printable party crafts
• Free printable Star Wars pictures, games and educational material
• Online supplier of all kinds of Star Wars themed birthday supplies

Have fun

Somewhere in the middle of trying to create the perfect birthday party, pulling together guest lists and food preparations, it can be easy to get stressed out and lose sight of what is really important. Know your limits and keep in mind that fun is what it’s all about, not perfection. In the end, good times with family and friends is what creates a birthday party that will not soon be forgotten.