Hayden had 9 school and church friends attend, including one cousin who wasn't able to attend the separate family party. When everyone first arrived, the kids put on padawan costumes. Then they made their own light sabers using pool noodles cut in half and duct tape for the handles. Here they are!
Next, we separated into 2 groups to rotate through the stations. After successfully completing each station they earned a sticker for their light saber. I am writing out all of the stations just in case someone else wants to use these ideas for a future party.
1. The levitation station. Using the lightsabers you had to keep a balloon in the air. The kids loved this one.
2. Target practice. We bought a "pin the tail" like game at Wal-Mart where you stick a target on an enemy fighter plane.
3. Blaster Training. I printed and cut out a bunch of droids, glued them to cardboard and set them up in the family room. The kids used Nerf guns to hit the droids.
4. Bubble Attack. In the backyard we had a bubble machine and the kids got to try and hit as many bubbles as they could with their lightsabers.
5. Cave of Fear. This was by far the best. Tadj made a cave in our toy room out of large cardboard boxes that the kids got to crawl through to find Darth Vader's Mask. If they returned with the mask their mission was accomplished. It was actually quite scary because it was dark in the toy room with only a strobe light and the sound of Darth Vader breathing in the background. Some of the kids needed to go through with a friend.
6. Break-Time. Hayden (and Tadj) wanted the yummy chocolate cake from Costco so I decorated it with a bunch of new star wars toys. I think we got the best of both worlds...a cake everyone loved and Hayden got some new toys to play with. We didn't have time to make and serve Yoda Punch (Sherbet lime ice cream and Sprite).
7. Death Star Attack. After opening presents, we sent the kids out to the Cul-De-Sac where a lot of water balloons awaited them along with a chalk drawing of the Death Star. The kids could then attack the death star with the water balloons. This was great fun on an unusually hot summer day. I wish I had taken a picture before it was attacked with water but here it is...
A few random shots...
This party was a great success. The only thing I would change is the time. I thought 1.5 hours was plenty of time but should have scheduled 2 hours. Everyone wanted to go through the cave of fear multiple times and we were really rushed to open presents. Some of the kids commented that this was the best birthday party ever. I was just glad when it was finally over!
