When Nate declared (through a town crier) that his 5-year-old party would be a Star Wars party, I immediately did some surfing to see what other Moms of Jedi-Junkies had done with this theme. Maybe it was the cleverness of all those Moms, maybe it was purely the unconditional love of my eldest son, or maybe (probably) it was how very cheap thrifty I am…I decided to go with the home-made, DIY party in our backyard.
We decided to call it a “Jedi-Training” party. That way, everyone was on the same side…the good side. We didn’t want some poor kid coming to the party dressed as Darth Vader and getting his “dark side” kicked all over the yard. We try to teach non-violence to our sons, but it’s hard when your husband is a Wookie-lovin’, Solo wannabe. I was determined to make this party as peaceful and Zen as Yoda himself.
The preparations:
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
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We also had Jedi-Juice. It was green Hawaiian Punch. If you add 7-up it’s Yoda-Soda! In keeping with the cheap thrifty theme…I made the cake myself and decorated it with Nate’s Galactic Heros:

Sure, it looks home-made and uneven to us but to the kids at the party….”Woah! Cool cake, Nate! Can I have a piece with Luke on it?” Mission accomplished.
The party schedule was this: (Of course there was a schedule! I’m still type “A”) When the Jedi arrived, they were given their Jedi robes and their very own light saber. Both of these items were handmade from online tutorials I found.

After each Jedi was uniformed and armed, they entered the training center for some light saber training:

When all the Jedi had arrived, we herded them outside for the Jedi obstacle course:


Then we played, “Get Han Solo out of the carbon-freeze” I had taken 3 of Nate’s Galactic Hero Han Solos and froze them in a container of water. We separated the kids into 3 teams. Each Jedi had a cup for water. They took turns dipping the cup into a pail of water and running to dump the water onto their frozen Solo. The first team that got Han out of the ice won.


After light saber shaped popcicles, we moved back inside to cool off. We played a Star Wars version of the old cake-walk game:


About halfway through this game, I pulled out R2-D2 and looked up to see that Nate was standing on that photo. I said, “Nate…that’s you! Sit down.” All of a sudden I hear what sounded like a helicopter, “pssst…psst…shhhh..ssssss…” I look up to see EVERY other parent starring me down. “Did you just call the BIRTHDAY BOY out?” They all whispered at once. “SHHHHAAAME ON YOU!” I didn’t know you let your kid win just because it’s his birthday. I’ve seen way too many Lifetime movies about parents who cheat for their kids. I guess I was being overly honest. “Nate…I made a mistake…stand back up!” (before this angry mob lynches me!) So, after a few more rounds…”And the winner is Nate!”
Then it was cake time:

Nate wanted a pinata. Even after I showed him all the “America’s Funniest Videos” of people getting hit and mamed for life trying to bust open pinatas…Nate wanted a pinata. I found a Darth Vader pinata online but really didn’t like the idea of hitting him in the head with a bat. Even though he’s the bad guy. We’re trying to teach, “Bodies aren’t for hitting…only for hugging”. Then I found one at the Party Store that was non-violent. It has ribbons attached to the bottom. Everyone takes a turn pulling a ribbon until someone pulls the one that spills the goodies all over the floor!





Oh, yeah…there’s Zeke! Wondering what happened to Zeke? Well, Mommy and Daddy decided to hire a personal escort for Zeke. Thanks, Danielle for keeping Zeke safe, happy and away from the cake!

After everyone left Nate got to finally open his gifts:

That night in his thankful prayer, Nate was thankful for, “The best birthday party I ever had or even went to!”
Old-School wins.
9 thoughts on “Old-School, Backyard Birthday Party…”
Seriously Maryellen….THE COOLEST KIDS PARTY EVER! Moms need to take note from this. The food names were awesome and hilarious and the games were super clever. Kudos! Also, when I saw the light sabers that Noah and Landin brought home, I thought you’d ordered them on-line…they looked really great…so double kudos. Well done! If I end up having a Star Wars obsessed child I won’t have to stress about a party because I will totally be stealing these ideas.
Jenna
Thanks, Jenna. You can steal away…that’s how I got the ideas! Gotta luv the internet.
Maryellen
Wow! That’s a killer party!!!
This is one of the best theme birthdays I’ve ever seen. Great job!!! We have many years to go before our little one can appreciate something like this, but I will totally borrow many of these ideas when the time comes. Thanks
I followed your link from the Vintage Swap, and I’m really enjoying exploring your blog.
Yeah! Thanks. I’m so excited about the vintage swap. I can’t wait to see your blog and all the other “like-minded” vintage hoarders! Maybe we’ll get “paired up”!
What a great party! SO creative!
Great job! I would love tonmake the Jedidiah robes for my sons party this weekend. Approximately how much fabric did you use for each robe?
Hey, Marybeth Thanks! Compliments from other moms always mean the most! To make the Jedi robes (if you call them Jedidiah robes, your party will have a completely different theme!!!Ha!) I used about a yard of fabric, length ways, then cut in half to make 2 robes. Fold fabric in half (like it would be on child), then cut out the neck, tie and you’re done! Easy-peasy! I guess it would depend how old kids are. Measure from above the knee, over shoulder to behind their knee.