Star Wars Party

I know it’s been done before, but we’re hosting a Star Wars party tonight at the library before we get hit by the next nor’easter, Jax.  This was a very popular event to sign up for with 25 kids registered and another 5 kids on the waiting list!  I planned four activity centers giving the kids a variety of games and activities to do and all at little or no cost to the library!

As the kids come in, we’re asking everyone to check-in with us so that the kids each have a name tag and I have a list of all the names at the party – we’ll be needing that later on.  Then I’m going to read an easy reader book – Lego Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.  These are really popular with the kids in our library and I always begin my programs by sharing a book.  After the story, the kids will be broken into four groups and given time to explore each activity center.  For the activity centers, I chose the following games:

1. Origami Yoda paper folding – this is ever so popular after Tom Angleberger wrote The Strange Case of Origami Yoda.  The kids will have the chance to create their own Origami Yoda.  I found the instructions on Angleberger’s website.  At this activity center the kids are also given the choice of coloring pages and activity pages that I found on the Star Wars website.
2. Blow Up the Death Star – also known as a bean bag toss.  We have bean bags that we use for story time and all I needed was something for the kids to throw the bean bags through.  In A New Hope Luke has to shoot through a hole in the Death Star to blow it up.  I recreated the whole using silver and black posterboard… and I think it looks pretty good!
3. Pin the Lightsaber on Yoda – I was totally going to buy a poster of Yoda for this, but couldn’t find one in 3-4 stores in the area, so I drew my own Yoda!  Then I cut out strips of neon cardstock and added some double-sided tape to one side.  Simple, easy and fun!
4. And finally, Practice the Force – this involves black balloons and homemade lightsabers.  Of course, I’m doing this party in the dead of winter where a pool noodle couldn’t be found to save my life, so I got creative and used foam insulation for pipes found at a hardware store and some neon duct tape.  It ended up being much cheaper and my light sabers look awesome!

After we spend time at each activity center, the kids will get the chance to have a snack and we’ll pass out their Jedi certificates, I’m excited to see what the kids think tonight!