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Old 03-15-2011, 12:35 PM   #1
benjiboo25
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Help me plan a Jedi Training Bday party!

I mentioned in Cathy’s (Nimros’) PTR that I am planning a Star Wars “Jedi Training” party for my son’s 9th birthday next month. She asked for the details and I started responding in her PTR—but then decided it would be best to post it in a new thread. Aside from not hijacking her PTR, I may also get good feedback from my fellow PP’s. Since I do not know much about Star Wars, I would appreciate ideas and insight from those who do. I am not an original star wars fan—but I am a huge fan of how much my son loves star wars! Anyone who read my last TR saw him do the Jedi Training. We are trying to plan our summer 2012 WDW trip to coincide with SWW.

I found cool invites and certificates here and they became the inspiration. Princess and The Peas :: Custom Lego Star Wars Birthday Party Invitations by Aimee Austin Designs).

The kids will have to complete a number of "tasks" to earn their Jedi Training certificate.

The party is still in the planning stages, so I would welcome any comments or ideas to help me pull it off and make it incredible for my son. Ben is in 3rd grade. There will probably be about 10 3rd graders at the party, 8 boys and 2 girls. My other kids and 2 cousins in the same general age groups will also participate, but it needs to appeal most to 9 and 10 year olds.

1. Make lightsabers (from pool noodles and duct tape).

2. We will have a face painter at the party. She can do yoda, storm troopers, darth, or anything, really. I am still thinking of a cool title for this task. Ideas?

3. I need a cool name for a traditional piñata to be one of the tasks in the Jedi Training. The piñata (we already have on hand) is a yellow star. We can add more decorations if necessary. We will cover the hitting stick with duct tape to make it look like a lightsaber.

4. I plan to steal the star wars quotes from Cathy’s TRs (keep ‘em coming!) and use them in a task. Here is my “rough draft” idea: Print the quotes on little “medallions” and place the medallions inside balloons. The balloons will be hanging from the ceiling. The kids will need to use their noodle lightsabers (that we will stick a pin in) and use “the force” to pop a balloon, while blindfolded, and standing on a balance board. I need a cool title for this task and I would love to have other suggestions for setting up this task. Is there something other than medallions that would make more sense in the star wars world? I thought of matching the quote to the character and then getting their face painted as that character. Since that is who the “force” chose for them. But I fear this would feel limiting for some kids and they may enjoy it better if they got to choose their own character for face paint. We also need the kids to rotate through the task stations equally, so we would not be able to have all kids make their lightsaber and do this task before face paint (we get her only an hour!).

I need one more task. Here are my choices. Let me know which idea would be better or if you have any other ideas:

Some kind of game challenging kids to keep balloons (as asteroids) up in the air and away from a planet or ship. They would use their pool noodle lightsabers to keep the asteroids up. If it is nice outside and not too windy, the group can get their crazy energy out before gifts by running around as a group. If we have to be indoors, we could give each padwan 30 seconds to keep the most balloons in the air.

Another possibility—Guiding the spacecraft through a black hole (throw paper planes through a hole cut through a large cardboard box).

Let me know what you think!
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Old 03-15-2011, 05:22 PM   #2
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My Star Wars addicted son was just reading over my shoulder & said to tell you first, he's a Jedi Master ( @ 18YO) He said the medallions are an awesome idea & he also suggested Jedi trials

he said for the pinata call it trial of skill...

He's going to think on it some more & will get you more ideas I'm sure...

BTW.. he thinks it's a cool party idea & offered to come help ..
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Old 03-15-2011, 05:55 PM   #3
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Have you checked out birthdaypartyideas.com ?

this in particular might help:
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-6289214549022018%3Apd6k27yho0w&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=jedi+training
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Old 03-15-2011, 09:49 PM   #4
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Shelly - this sounds like such a cool party - can I come???

You sound like you've got some great ideas already - plus those links Ann and Carolyn listed.

One suggestion we though of is to see if you know of any martial arts instructor (maybe someone who has trained in kendo) who could come and give the kids a mini-lesson? They probably would have some light-weight foam 'battle batons' - which look a bit like light sabers - so it would be safe and fun.

We'll be thinking on this...probably all night now!
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Old 03-16-2011, 08:23 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by disneyknut View Post
My Star Wars addicted son was just reading over my shoulder & said to tell you first, he's a Jedi Master ( @ 18YO) He said the medallions are an awesome idea & he also suggested Jedi trials

he said for the pinata call it trial of skill...
He's going to think on it some more & will get you more ideas I'm sure...
Jedi Trials. Got it! Thanks for the tip and please let me know if he has any other ideas!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Carousel96 View Post
Have you checked out birthdaypartyideas.com ?

this in particular might help:
jedi training - Google Search
I think I started there and got the pool noodle idea somewhere on that site. I got overwhelmed looking through all the info. Seems like much of it was about cutesy decorations and food ideas. Although I scrapbook, I am not generally crafty! This is the first time I have put any thought into a kids bday party (we usually go somewhere and let others take care of it!).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nimros View Post
Shelly - this sounds like such a cool party - can I come??? You sound like you've got some great ideas already - plus those links Ann and Carolyn listed.One suggestion we though of is to see if you know of any martial arts instructor (maybe someone who has trained in kendo) who could come and give the kids a mini-lesson? They probably would have some light-weight foam 'battle batons' - which look a bit like light sabers - so it would be safe and fun.

We'll be thinking on this...probably all night now!
The karate teacher is a great suggestion, but we already have the face painter coming.

please come back with any thoughts you have!!
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Old 03-17-2011, 04:59 AM   #6
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As a Star Wars fan and perpetual kid, I have one thing to say to you:

Where the heck were YOU when I was growing up?

Don't get me wrong...my parents are awesome and did the best they could...but other than some pre-packaged Hong Kong Phooey plates & napkins, I never got a "theme".I don't think that creativity was part of my "parental package". My parties consisted of schoolmates, family friends and stupid cousins I hated. There I was in some uncomfortable frilly dress, sitting around an ol' rickety table in the basement, playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey or something dangerous like that (and my stupid cousin always thought poking me with the pin was funny as heck). Then we had cake and ice cream and I had to thank everyone for my gifts and then Mom would make me help clean up - ON MAH BIRFDAY!!! The horror!

I had no Jedi's, no lightsabers. I remember one year I was so disgusted with my party that I snuck upstairs (it was a Saturday morning) and Mom & Dad caught me watching the Jackson Five cartoons instead.

Your children are lucky to have such a creative mom! So much fun to read!
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Old 03-17-2011, 09:13 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DisneyWitch View Post
As a Star Wars fan and perpetual kid, I have one thing to say to you:

Where the heck were YOU when I was growing up?


I had no Jedi's, no lightsabers. I remember one year I was so disgusted with my party that I snuck upstairs (it was a Saturday morning) and Mom & Dad caught me watching the Jackson Five cartoons instead.

Your children are lucky to have such a creative mom! So much fun to read!
This is more a reaction to desperation than true creativity! We always did parties "out in the world" (pizza place, arcade, etc.). I did not want the hassle of kids destroying the house and the pressure to plan. Last year, DS asked if he could have a party at home instead. He had noticed that parties at kids home usually had more guests = more presents. Smart kid! Last year we had a "mario Kart" theme. I had a few activities planned. Not enough. It was chaos. This year I want to have it structured to keep everything in [my] control but also make it fun for the kids. This is confirming for me that a "good" party at home costs as much as a pizza party at ChuckEcheese (which is why I always opted for the mess to be elsewhere) but is a ton more work. We will see. Thanks for the encouragement!
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