Sunday 25 October 2015

Dillon's Jedi Forest Training Camp - Star Wars Themed Party

I am excited to finally share with you details of my son's 5th Birthday Party that was based around a Jedi Training Camp / Star Wars themed birthday party, just in time for the release of the new Star Wars film! 




My son is a huge fan of Star Wars.  He became a fan after he discovered his daddy's original Star Wars toys and figures at his grandparents home (which he has now claimed as his own!) this was further cemented when he became a Padawan after he attended "Jedi Training Camp" whilst on a family holiday to Disney World. When asked what he wanted his party to be there was only ever going to be one answer.

When planning the party I had so many of my own ideas and thoughts along with many great things online ,it was just a matter of deciding what mixture of these were  incorporated into the party, of course the major input when brain storming ideas came from my son!!!! He was so enthusiastic about the theme he was just a fountain of ideas and suggestions. 


I found the Star Wars theme is such a fun theme for either a boy or girls party. The interaction during the day between the many Lukes, Darth's and Princess Leia's quickly showed this was not just appealing to the boys.


When looking for a venue I came across a Forest School local to me at the "Giant Leap Learning Centre".  I immediately loved the outdoor area and this was a perfect setting for what I had in mind for the party.  The only worry I had was the weather, as the party was in December and in the UK this is not historically a good time for outdoor weather, but you can't book the weather!!  Luckily it was a gorgeous winter's day and the weather stayed dry, well for most of the day! The Force was strong in keeping the rain away. 

Invitations 
Here is a sample of the invitation that I designed for my son's party!
Decorations

I had such fun designing all of the decorations and here are a few of the items which I created: - 

Banners - I designed a template for a tie fighter style banner which spelt out my son's name and age and hung this with ribbon around the craft table, including home made tie fighters.








Tie Fighter Decorations - I made these tie fighters out of  paper lanterns.  I painted the lanterns and attached cardboard wings to each side.  I love how the Tie Fighters turned out - they looked really cute! This item drew a lot of comments from the parents.





Star bunting.  These were really simple to make.  Firstly I cut out star shapes from silver and gold card and attached to string.  We hung these around the craft table.

Character Cut Outs - I love to paint and so I had to make some cut outs for this theme.  I made a Darth Vader and Stromtrooper and used these to guard the gift table :-)  





Table Accessories 


I custom designed star wars themed party lunch boxes with coordinating food trays to serve up the party food and also created light sabre napkins / rings to hold the cutlery. 





Check out my Etsy store for more fun party food lunch box designs
There was a printable mask at each place setting and given to each child, even some of the parents wore them too haha!! They were a great find from the Amazing Party Shop on Etsy.  Check out their store for these and many more fun designs.  The masks were so easy to print and assemble!! 

Games 





Star Wars Scavenger Hunt - I created a Star Wars scavenger hunt game which was really fun and enjoyed by all the kiddies, this brought both parent and child together in finding the various Star Wars items scattered throughout the wooded area, the setting of the party helped massively in the success of this event.  


Star Building Craft  - The children made stars using twigs that they had to find in the wooded area, these were tied together to create the star and then decorated.  This activity was enjoyed by the parents also! :) 

Build your own droid - Packets were available on the craft tables with pre cut shapes that I had made from foams sheets, a quick and simple item to set up in advance but very entertaining and a take away keep sake for the kids.




Light Sabres - Every Jedi needs their own Light Sabre.  I created these by using foam piping and then created the handle myself that I printed onto a sticker that I then attached to cardboard tubes.  These were a massive hit with the kiddies! My son and his friends still have them in their room. The soft foam made these a very safe item that the kids really enjoyed.




Jedi Certificates and  R2D2 inspired Favor boxes - the certificate's were handed out to all of the kids individually at the end of the party along with their very own R2D2 inspired treat box filled with lots of goodies. This created further interaction and a sense of achievement for the children and you could see the happiness that they felt for their reward and effort.






Click here for listing 
These R2D2 inspired treat boxes are available in my Etsy store. 

Custom designed Jedi Knight certificates designed for the party!

We finished the party off by having a camp fire and handing out these certificate.  We toasted marshmallows and sang "Happy Birthday" to the birthday boy! 





This amazing cake was made by the very talented Lee of Pendle Cake Company. All items of the cake were edible including the figures, the detail was fantastic.


I had so much fun creating and designing this party for my son and loved seeing how happy he was with the day and all who attended the party!  


I hope you enjoy looking at the photos and details as much as I did planning and creating and hope you see something to maybe give you inspiration for your own event. :)


If you have any further questions on anything you have seen or read please feel free to drop me an email i will gladly help if i can.







Have you used any of my printables for your parties?

I would love to see your party pictures and share on my blog!  

Thank you for taking the time to check out and read my blog! 



WENDY