We had a Buzz Lightyear party for my son's 5th birthday. As we were expecting 17 boys at the party, which would last for 2 hours, I felt I needed to be very organised, and had to have a very structured sequence of activities so that they didn't all run wild. It took a lot of effort over two weeks to put the party together, getting some really good ideas from this site, and adding my own. I focused on effort and very little expense!   I made the party invitations on computer, with a picture of Buzz Lightyear on them, which read: Space Ranger name, Mission Control requests your presence at Star Command for Matthew's Birthday. Star Base: our address. Ranger Training will commence at 14 30 hours on the date. So I designed the activities around a training mission for aspiring space rangers! For decorations: I cut out large cardboard Buzz footprints and stuck them to the pavement leading up the front door. I surrounded the doorway with stars that I had cut out of a variety of dayglo coloured card. I had a black and white sketch of Buzz enlarged to A1 size, which I coloured in with bright crayons, and stuck up in the entrance hall. I also enlarged and laminated Buzz Lightyear pictures and stuck them around the walls and fence of the property (these are now up in my son's bedroom). Our swimming pool, which is directly in front of our lounge French doors, is covered with a solid plastic safety cover. I decorated this with many dayglo stars, which look wonderful in the sunlight. Beyond this, I had placed our wooden climbing frame / jungle gym, which I had decorated with cardboard to make a space ship. I used discarded fridge and bicycle boxes, painted them white with red horizontal stripes, added silver stars made from cooking foil, and cut several windows, which I then covered with coloured cellophane.  I also made a space chute, by connecting several large packing boxes together, and decorated them in the same manner as the space ship.  I had also gathered all my children's soft toys and placed them in and around the flowerbeds, to give the garden theToy Story feel!  Amongst them, I had hidden Buzz Lightyear paper dolls which I had made from toilet roll inners, and computer printouts, found on the website www.dltk-cards.com . As I didn't know all of the little guests, I had made name tags with Space Ranger..name on them, resembling pilot badges, using red cardboard with safety pins stuck to the back. Each child received theirs upon arrival, along with a Buzz Lightyear Belt, which I had sewn in lime green and blue, with a silver star in the centre, and velcro. They also received a wrist laser which I had made out of matchboxes, painted green, with a red bead for the laser, and a buzz sticker on top, and wide elastic for the wristband. I had put a few sweets inside the boxes for emergencies, when the rangers needed a sugar boost! They loved these! I had also covered these boxes with contact plastic, knowing that they were bound to get wet in the course of the afternoon! I placed a large mat down on the lawn, and got the rangers to gather there for the start of the party, by blowing my whistle. For the children to get a clear understanding of the mission ahead, we chatted about Toy Story and Buzz Lightyear, and agreed that Buzz was great at rescuing toys and fighting the enemy. I gave each child a blue paper bag with handles, with their names on them. They were sent on their first mission to find all the stray toy soldiers which I had hidden in one of the flower beds. Their next mission was to retrieve a Buzz toy from the piles of toys hidden in the garden. After each mission, they reported back to base, on the mat, where we assessed and shared their find. We then rescued the LGM's (Little Green Men) I had made small double-sided paper computer printouts of these little aliens, and stapled them around a green sucker / lolly. I placed them in a big plastic goldfish bowl with some balls. To emulate the claw game, they had to retrieve them by using a pair of barbeque/kitchen tongs.  Most of them added the lollies to their treat bags, although some of them ate them then and there! Some couldn't resist running off to show their winnings to their mothers.  Amazingly, every time I blew the whistle, they'd emerge from all corners of the property and run and dive onto the base mat! We then started our physical training: with very willing demonstrations from some kids, they did 5 push-ups, 5 sit-ups and 5 star jumps. Then it was time for refreshments: green juice and small slices of pizza. After the brief break, they were so keen to get on with the activities! They took turns in throwing little beanbags through a hoop to test for accuracy. They received a round sticker in reward, which I placed on their chest, light Buzz Lightyear's markers. They then had to slide through the space chute as quickly as possible, testing for speed and swiftness, and report back to me, where they received another coloured sticker. We then tested their nimbleness by having them walk over the pool cover in pairs, and not touch the stars stuck to it. Upon returning to me, they received another sticker. After that, we did a rocket entry and escape test. One by one, they were sent through the space ships door, climbed up the interior of the climbing frame, and slid down the slide through the escape hatch. Again, they received a sticker. We then assessed the number of stickers they'd collected, and they were then given a strip of fizzy candy as a reward.  We then took a little break, where they could run around for five minutes before I brought out the Buzz Lightyear cake. We sang happy birthday, ate cake and drank juice. After a little while, I blew my whistle, and they all gathered on the mat again! We decided that they were officially well trained in order to fight Emperor Zurg. I had enlarged and laminated a picture of Emperor Zurg, and attached it to the fence at the bottom of the garden. For each child, I had bought large lime green water pistols, that resembled space weapons, from a cheap trading store. I had previously loaded them and kept them hidden and submerged in a large round container. Before receiving their guns, they were instructed that Space Rangers only shoot at the enemy, and in this case, it was Emperor Zurg. They excitedly retrieved their water pistols from the container and ran down to the picture of Zurg and shot at him. Amazingly, they didn't shoot at each other! In the meanwhile, I had dressed my husband up as Emperor Zurg wearing scrap and flowing pieces of black and purple fabric and a mask that resembled Darth Vega from Star Wars, rather then Emperor Zurg. He, of course, approached them from behind as they were still shooting away at the picture. It was priceless to see the astonished faces of the little Space Rangers when they turned round to encounter the real Emperor Zurg. It just took on child to start shooting at the real Zurg, and then they all joined in! They shot, reloaded and shot at Emperor Zurg from all angles, including the top of the space ship, and through its windows! This carried on with great gusto for a full half hour! It was then time to leave. Each child left with a laser wristband, a Buzz belt, a bag of treats including toy soldiers and a Buzz toy. They also took their water pistols home, and they were each rewarded with a similar paper toy of Emperor Zurg to the Buzz one, as they walked out the door! I've since received such compliments from mothers that were there, and those that had sent their children with others. It warmed my heart to see some of the boys wearing their Buzz Belts and wrist lasers at school the next morning! It took a lot of preparation and effort on my behalf in keeping the activities going on the day, however, it was a very successful and cost-effective party!