Star Wars Birthday Party

I've been wanting to do a Star Wars themed birthday party for a while.   Thankfully, my youngest son loves Star Wars.  He even dressed up as a storm trooper this past Halloween!

There are some great ideas online about having a Jedi Training academy but I figured that having Kylo Ren visit for a Jedi fight, a bouncy house, nerf gun station and a Star Wars movie playing in the house would be enough activities for the kids.  They had a blast.  Also, what was fun was letting the kids know they could come dressed up as a Star Wars or super hero character.  One child came dressed as a dinosaur and that was hilarious.   I loved seeing the kids dressed up and so excited.



We got two different types of lightsabers.  The first was one that you could blow up with air and the second was a glowing hard plastic type.  I didn't let the kids play with the hard plastic lightsabers during the party because of how they could potentially hurt one another.  So, we gave those away as one of their prizes for battling Kylo Ren after the party.

Inflatable Lightsaber (Pack of 8)

Just to give you an idea of what a bunch of 4-6 year olds can do to a balloon storm trooper with those inflatable lightsabers, here is what is left of the second storm trooper that we had:

I'm pretty sure his leg is still floating somewhere in my neighborhood.  The first storm trooper was completely demolished.  The moment they got their inflatable lightsabers, the kids attacked and it was hilarious.

Glowing Lightsaber (Pack of 12) 

I created this invitation from an official Star Wars poster and uploading a free Star Jedi font.  Keep in mind that places like Office Depot are not able to print out licensed work like this (even if you alter the work yourself like I did!).  We printed out the invitations at home with a photo of my son dressed up as a Jedi in the back.  

I was inspired by this cake by Little Cherry Company:

Since I was going with a Star Wars: The Force Awakens theme, I didn't want to use Darth Vader as the topper but I loved the idea of the tie fighters flying around the cake and the glowing lightsabers.  Given that the party would only have about 11 kids and 7 adults, having a cake of that size would be too much.  I would end just up just wasting my time and tossing most of the cake away.  So I decided to make the bottom layer a dummy cake (meaning the bottom layer is made of styrofoam and decorated with fondant the same as you would an actual cake).

I made the Kylo Ren topper and lightsabers (with red glow sticks put in the inside of the tubes) BUT the TIE fighters and BB-8 were toys.  Since the bottom layer was a dummy cake, I just wound wires around the tie fighters and stuck them right on in.  For the tie fighter on the top layer (and actual cake), I glued it to a wooden skewer then put it in.  

Disney Star Wars Deluxe Figurine Playset

Disney Star Wars The Force Awakens First Order TIE Fighter Die Cast Vehicle

Having this party near Easter was perfect timing because there are so many Star Wars themed items 

available.  I found Darth Vader, BB-8 and Storm Trooper marshmallows, chocolates and jelly beans.  

Disney Star Wars The Force Awakens Party Favor Bags (12 count):

Since the kids were pretty young (ages 4 - 6), I didn't want to use glass containers on the dessert table/Jedi Refueling Station.  Target has these black plastic square dishes for only $1.79 each.

  

I filled them with Han Solo Rolos, BB-8 gumballs, thermal detonators (snap and glow popping lollipops) and droid parts (candy blocks that look like Legos).  Then put them under these Star Wars plates.

I love BB-8 and so I had to get these serving platters at Think Geek.  They were on sale so even better! 

Out of all the birthday parties that I've done thus far, this was probably the most fun for me.  Both of my kids and their friends had the best time.  I'll have another post just devoted to food.