This weekend we celebrated my son’s fourth birthday with a Star Wars Jedi Training party. He and several of his friends practiced their light saber skills, droid building skills, and more during the simple birthday party.
My middle child’s nickname used to be “Jedidiah, Destroyer of Worlds.” It was a silly way to help my older son understand why his little brother took such constant delight in knocking down or breaking whatever he was playing with.
Jedidiah is past the destroyer stage and is now the one learning to be forbearing with his younger sister, affectionately nicknamed by her brothers “mischievous mouse.”
It’s hard to believe that the little toddler who spent all his days in his beloved red cowboy hat is now four years old. But we couldn’t be more endeared to the little boy he is becoming. Even if we are thankful that he has yet to stop asking us to “huggle” and still can’t quite say “little bit” without a slight baby drawl.
Jedidiah has the sweetest disposition of anyone in our home. He is very affectionate, always reminding us if we haven’t filled our hug and kiss quota for the day. He is exceptionally generous too, handing over anything his brother or sister wants just to make them happy– all the while I’m trying to teach my eldest not to take advantage of his younger brother’s kindnesses. His smiles are contagious and our family just wouldn’t be the same without him.
Which is why it was such a delight to be able to celebrate his birthday this weekend with a party centered around one of his favorite things– Star Wars.
When I plan a party, I try to focus more on planning creative and fun activities, food that is frugal and filling, and setting up a party space that will be conducive to our biggest priority– having fun with our friends.
I don’t focus on making everything perfect and more often than not, my to-clean-before-the-party list still has a few unchecked tasks. Let’s just hope no one was bothered by the dirty fingerprints on the middle of the door frames or the island shelves that look a little “lived on”.
Imperfect house notwithstanding, we had a great time at the party. The dueling, target practice, droid building, and, of course, the food were all big hits with the kids. Keep scrolling to see the pictures from our Jedi Training Party.
Star Wars Jedi Training Party
I planned three main activities during the party– Light Saber Dueling, Blaster Gun Practice, and Droid Building. We also gave the kids plenty of time to eat lunch and then demolish the Death Star cake.
As far as party favors go, I like to try to give favors that will last a while after the party when possible. In the past, I’ve made tool belts, dinosaur tails, and pretty wall art for our friends. For this party, I made each child a Jedi robe, a belted dart pouch, and a pool noodle light saber.
The Set-Up…
Jedi robes made from tan felt; and drawstring dart gun pouches to slip on a belt (tutorial to make these is in the works).
Storm trooper balloons (idea from Kara’s Creative Place).
I hung up a black felt backdrop for an easy place to hang decor and have our droid building station.
The Food…
Pigs in a blanket made with cornmeal crescent rolls and cheddar cheese; mini light sabers made with pretzel rods and white chocolate mixed with food coloring; popcorn and fruit bowls; and a green punch made in the Vitamix with kiwi, orange juice, spinach, sugar, and ice water.
My attempt at a Death Star cake. Not very pretty, but better than I could hope while I was assembling it! To make it, I used different sized round cake pans, this recipe for chocolate cake, and this recipe for chocolate buttercream frosting. My husband added the LEGO touch after I finished.
The Games…
My husband built a simple balance beam and the kids took turns dueling with their pool noodle light sabers. I ran out of time to get duct tape on all the light sabers, but no one seemed to mind.
My toddler “helped” with the scoreboard during the games.
I made a target so the Jedis-in-training could do some blaster gun practice. This was (and continues to be) as much fun of the adults as the kids. Check out the no-sew tutorial for this target made from inexpensive material and embroidery hoops soon too.
A C3PO cut from gold poster board made for a fun blindfolded game of droid building. I glued a small piece of velcro to the back of each piece so they would easily adhere to the felt.
Happy birthday Jedidiah!
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That is just too adorable! Great effort on the party. I’ll consider doing this with my 4 year old son but he’s not quite into Star Wars yet. He’s a big Spiderman fan (can’t really have him climbing up the side of tall buildings). 🙂
Thanks for the read.
Thank you for visiting and commenting Lloyd!
Oh my goodness!!!! I love the Death Star cake, the Jedi dueling on a balance beam, the darts…really, I love all of this. Wow, this party looks so fantastic!!!!!!!! I absolutely love it 🙂