Star Wars Birthday Party - Ages 6-8  We set the party up to be 1.5 hours but it could have easily gone longer.  It was great because we had portions inside & outside. The total was about $64.00 including ice cream cake.  I already had the construction paper, glue stick, marbles & tent & sheet. Use your imagination to cut cost with things you have at home to make your party unique!  Invitations: You can do store bought Star Wars OR make them - printed 2 per piece of paer with the text type to match Star Wars & a few Star Wars photos copied into it. I used decor scissors to cut them in dsign, then glue to black construction paper for effect. The invites can be changed up to the theme to be unique - such as change location to command post meeting at1213 main.." change from RSVP to "RSVP to receive your mission details at (303)xxx-xxxx."   Ending the invite with "May the Force of Fun be with you!"      I almost advised they could wear their Star Wars Costumes if they had them leftover from Halloween but then I decided against it incase 1 of the kids came w/o and felt left out. If I had planned the party further out I could have picked up an extra at a thrift store to keep on hand as my son already had his.    Decorations: I had a few Star Wars books set up posters and 3 small connected  pop up tents set out - which was their Command Post- Covered by a dark sheet & a printed sign. They kids LOVED this!  Pretty minimal but easy clean up too!   Activites/Games:  When all kids arrived I had them line up and announced they have been summoned to be Honorary Star Wars "Rebels & Jedis"!  They all would have to complete 5 Missions ( all non competitive ) and we would have a ceremony at the end to make them official! They were excited! Again everything was non competitive to avoid hurt feelings & they ahd to work as a TEAM.   I had printed out something similar to invites but its a FULL page - It stated their missions  which are below &  I used craft decor scissors to cut out the info & paste to a red construction paper background.  It was a good keepsake to take home.  I made a list of missions with Star Wars or Galaxy type terms.   Mission #1.  Hunt down the silver Galactic Eggs ( Easter eggs in foil ) Each egg had some letters in them spelling out HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY which was later "decoded" and set out for my son. They each had to find 2 eggs but I did have one boy snag many others leaving someone pouting so I would suggest to have them only find 1 at a time return then be "released" to find another so once they found their allotted # of eggs they were not sent back out.  We located the eggs unwrapped & dropped the secret message in a basket til later.  Mission #2. We had a store bought Darther Vader "pin the button" on Vaders vest from a party store about 3 x 4 ft.  We blind folded each & they were spun seven times ( since my son turned 7 ).  Then we reused the poster for the next 2 games.    Mission #3 -I bought 2 cans of silly string from the dollar store. We had to "tie Darth Vader up to make him captive" by using silly string. We had the poster outside so no mess in the house.  They could have done this for 20 min had I let them.  Then we moved to Mission # 4. We had about 20 water grenade balloons.  Each kid had a few each to "throw at Darth Vader" & boy they used their strength to pummel Darth Vader.   Originally his older sister said she' be the target but chickened out knowing they would attack her as if she was on the Dark Side!   Back to inside for the last Mission #5: Agility & balance training.I bought a set of 4 orange cones from Walmart $4.00 and set them around the house. I had each kid with 1 spoon & two marbles line up. They followed my hand written signs for arrows & turns that went straight through the "Command Post" - They had to keep the marbles on the spoon the entire way. Again since I didnt want them to compete wth each other - I told them if they drop it to put it on again & continue.  They crawled through the command center & around the cones.  The last stop was a bowl to drop the marles in but you can get more creative by using lego droids & making a decorated box with something to dissinegrate the droids. I ran out of time to make this.    CAKE & Building their Star Ship or Command Post  We then went to the dining table & dumbed a big box of legos & said they could make their own Star Wars Ship or Command Post.  This was the funnest for them of all.   While they worked I brought out the DQ ice cream cake - I had bought my own unique topping decor for the cake because DQ was out of this popular item. It saved me money has I purchased a few small Star Wars figures & used 2 Star Wars Cards - Took them to DQ using the DQ $2.00 off coupon & got a small Ice cReam cake. $19.00 They charged me for a reg cake intead of a custom one but still air brushed it in the Star Wars Colors.   We then went ahead and had my son open his presents while the kids unscrambled the the message from the eggs. I ended up helping them just a little but got it pretty quickly.    While my son was opening presents they finished their cake & for some who didn't pay full attention - they continued to play Legos. It worked well as other parties I noticed if the kids have nothing to do they tend to want to hover or play with the new toys. This went smooth.  While they did that - we got the ceremony ready.  FAVORS & CEREMONY Knowing who RSVPed I had ahead of time printed out a "Certificate with each of their names on them. It had a few computer pics with Star Wars type logo & symbols.  They read: In Honor of ( name )'s 7th birhtday party we join this ceremony and announce ( birthtday guest name ) as an honorary Star Wars ( Jedi Rebel Trooper etc.) I did this so some of them would be unique. All printed & paper cut with decor scissors & found some black construction paper with glitter on it. It looked like the stars so that was even better!  I had to print one because I mistyped a name but other than that - The boys seemed to like THEIR name on something so they were part of the party too!   We lined them all up in a straight row & had each one step forward as we read their name. We gave them their certificate along with a goodie bag which had Star Wars & other goodies inside. Also they were each handed a light saber ( colored bubble tube ) $1.00 each at Walmart but if you want to spend more - there were larger ones like swords. We went as far as tapping their shoulders and saying you are now an honorary Star Wars Trooper Jedi Rebel - whatever was on their certificate. I had the birthday boy go last and gave him the bubbles  & found Star Wars Kite at the Dollar Store so - as the birthday boy he got that instead of a goodie bag.   Until parents picked them up  they went outside with their bubbles & attacked each others bubbles. Then when all but 2 were picked up the others went back to use their imagination in the command post.   WHEN PARENTS ARRIVED - I was sure to give the certificate & the MISSION List to hand them. They all thought this was very cool to bring home.   WHAT I WOULD CHANGE?  Again if I had more notice of what theme he wanted I would have found more decorations at Thrift stores for Star Wars themes.   I would have added 2-3 more missions as if you don't have the Lego play time - the missions went quickly!    Had I thought ahead I would have had Star Wars music playing but missed doing this.   Hope you have fun & may be the Force be with you! "