Don’t go over to the Dark Side…Come to our Star Wars party! Have fun with games, crafts, and – of course! – Star Wars 
books…plus have your picture taken with a Star Wars character.
April 8, 2009 from 4-5 p.m.
Grades: K-6
Prizes: Star Wars erasers, pencils etc.
Budget: $27.50. $20 for wrapping paper (20 tubes) from the dollar store. You’ll want mostly metallic, brightly colored paper, with a few rolls of silver or gold for the handles. You will have plenty left over for other projects – ours was gone in a few months. I was amazed by how many uses we found for shiny paper. $7.50 for two paperback Star Wars readers for prizes.
Crafts and Activities
– Build your own lightsaber!
- Materials: One wrapping paper tube for each child; strips of solid-colored metallic wrapping paper cut to size for blade; black, silver, or gold construction paper cut to size for handle; sequins, buttons, and other decorative items;Â bottle glue and scissors
- Instruct kids to put lines of glue along the long ends of the “blade†wrapping paper, then roll it onto their wrapping paper tubes. Once it is somewhat dry, have them pick out a handle, then put glue along the short ends of that paper and roll it around the tube. Add decorations to the handle if desired. Ta-da! A surprisingly sturdy and totally harmless lightsaber. If glue doesn’t stick, add tape.
– Lightsaber training!
- As the kids finish building their lightsabers, have them pair up and practice hitting balloons back and forth to one another without going out of bounds (off the rug).
- Reward pair who keeps their balloon off the ground the longest.
– Thermal detonator hot potato!
- With bouncy ball colored to look like a thermal detonator, play hot potato with “Star Wars†theme music.
- Reward winner
– “Star Wars†trivia contest! Pass out trivia sheets, have the kids fill out their answers, then read them off as a group. Anybody who gets all the answers right gets first pick of lollipops.
– Booktalk whatever is left of our “Star Wars†books – picture books, readers, chapter books. Explain where they are located (Darth Vader popsicle stick).
– Book raffle! Have kids fill out lightsaber name tags and have one of the special guests pick the winner(s).
-Â Special guests! Have the three members of the 501st Midwest Garrison play the games, help with lightsaber construction, and of course get their picture taken ten million times.
– Have crayons and “Star Wars†coloring sheets and word searches available on tables if kids finish activities early or don’t want to participate (or get hit in the face with a lightsaber).