We had a terrific Star Wars party the other day for our new 6 year old and about 15 of his friends.
I have a little different perspective on these parties from some of the other contributors whose ideas are, however great and from whom we borrowed liberally. I would suggest that the best focus for the party is Jedi training¯ using LED light sabers. It is simple, highly entertaining for the kids, and works off energy. The key here, I think, is good light sabers. The officially Lucas-licensed telescoping plastic rods are pretty bogus and way overpriced, and using substitutes like pool noodles¯ and cardboard tubes isn't as entertaining for the kids. The best approach I think is to splurge a little and get some of the LED swords you can now find all over the Internet. We got ours for about $8 apiece (in a post-Halloween sale at Spirit Halloween's online site) but I just saw some others at retail for $8 at a toy store, and you can find them from wholesale sellers on eBay too. We did also find a post-Halloween sale on Anakin Skywalker costumes for about the same price, and outfitted all the kids in these; but that was an unusual special and wouldn't be crucial to the activity anyway. The party progressed as follows: - A Yoda cardboard standeegreetedād people at the door. You can find these online too, or buy a movie poster online for fewer $ and glue it to a cardboard back. We printed a Yoda greeting (welcome you are to XX's Star Wars party!¯) and put it adjacent to the standee. Incidentally, we printed all the party posters, announcements, etc. in a Star Wars type font, which you can find online for free (it is called Star Jedi¯). - At the entry table kids got their costume and picked a Jedi name¯ from a list of names we got out of the Star Wars Encyclopedia (see your library's children's section, or use wookieepedia.com to get these names). The name went on each kid's Hello sticker. -All the activities were also given Star Wars names. The first as Force Sensitty : this was a store-bought pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game using spaceships with adhesive backing instead of donkey tails. Winner got a small prize. -Next wa āllet go of your senses, with a Darth Vader Pinata. Again, easily available online or made out of paper mache. -Third was Freezing in carbonite. This just meant that we cued up the Cantina music from Star Wars IV and had the kids dance to it. Every so often the music would stop and the kids had to freeze in place. Best freeze-dancers got a small prize. -Fourth was Light Saber Training, the big hit. A relative of ours who is a great schoolteacher (and had seen the Disneyland attraction where they do this with kids) lined the kids up, we handed out light sabers, and she showed them a few basic moves (swing from left, swing from right, swing from above; and parrying each move (which pretty much amounts to turning your sword 90 degrees from the incoming swing). All in slow motion and avoiding anything dangerous like a thrust move. (You are responsible for this of course and must be very careful as even blunt plastic can injure or break; there are some web places to go to for reference here, but the key is to keep it safe, slow and simple.) -Then our Jedi Master paired them up one-on-one and let them swing anparty again, still in slo-mo. -Finally we had another grownup dressed up as Darth Vader appear and ask the kids to come over to the Dark Side! Our Jedi Master got the kids to line up single file and explained that he was too powerful for any one of us, but by attacking in series we could wear him down. So everybody got one or two swings, and the birthday boy came last by which time Vader was beaten down and ran away. Everybody cheered. -We had one last activiy,¯ since we had found a cheap balloon drop at the party store (just a big poly bag you could fill with balloons, with a ripcord on it). The birthday boy pulled the cord and chaos ensued. Two of the balloons had a Leia or Padme sticker, and the kids who found those got small prizes. -Finally we had cake and Yoda Soda, which as many people have said, is easily concocted from Sprite poured over a scoop of lime sherbet. Looks fizzy and fun. -We handed out certificates at the end, printing a simple inscription onto certificate stock from Office Depot. This is to certify that Jane Doe, Having received advanced training in the ways of the Force Is hereby certified by the High Council as a Junior Jedi, Entitled to use of the Light Saber and all other instrumentalities and powers of the Jedi, And commissioned to combat Lords of the Sith and other servants of the Dark Side. Attested by my hand this Xth day of December 2009, Mace Windu Senior Councillor -You get the idea. The certificate stock only costs $10 or so for a stack of sheets. If you want to go overboard you can buy an Engraver font which makes it look authentic, and import a Jedi symbol from any one of a number of coloring book sites. -The kids kept their light sabers (and costumes, if you use those) as party favors. -A good time was had by all! This did end up becoming a little more elaborate than originally planned, but it was worth it and we will have a hard time matching this one with any future parties we host. Good luck with yours and may the Force be with you.
