Star Wars Jedi Training Birthday Party

We usually do not have big birthday parties.

I think it is because I can't do anything simple. (I hear Mrs. Troop in the background saying, "ya think?")

Anyways, not pregnant this year and not moving this year, so I told all the kids they could have a birthday party. They get to invite 3 friends and then we will have their families over for the party.

My son decided he would really like a Star Wars party and do some sort of Jedi training camp. I searched the Internet several times over and found the ideas I really liked and then put my own spin on them.

Now, if you have no intention of ever having a Jedi Birthday party or have no knowledge of the Force, you might just want to skip this post because it will be long and be completely inapplicable to you. Just sayin.

The Invitation
We bought black fold over cards at the store and printed off a picture with Yoda and the words "Jedi Training Academy". The inside said this which is similar to many other ideas I found on the Internet....

Greetings Padawan _(Child's name)____,
Recently, The Jedi Knights have felt a strong disturbance in the Force. Many Jedi Knights have been lost. The very future of the Jedi Order is now in jeopardy.

The Jedi Council has bestowed upon young Padawan (birthday boy's name) the quest to seek out future Jedi. Your presence is requested to complete Jedi Training on (date of party) in the year 2010. You will need to bring your own light saber to the training camp.

The training will being promptly at (time) at the (last name of birthday boy) System of the (street) Galaxy, Docking Bay (street number). After the training, pizza will be served and a celebration will be held in honor of young (birthday boy)'s ninth year.

Please advise the Jedi Council as soon as possible if you will accept the challenge of this training camp.

May the force be with you!

The Menu

There all are sorts of fun ideas on the internet for Star Wars food. I was going to make labels for everything but ran out of time. These are the ones we went with:

1. Pizza from the Hut
2. Yoda Soda (lime icecream and Ginger ale)
3. Death Star Cheese Ball
4. Wookie Cookies (chocolate no bake cookies)
5. Star Wars Cake
6. Light saber Pretzel sticks (dipped in red and green candy melts and milk chocolate)

The Outfits
I then made Jedi tunics for all the kids. With 3 friends and their siblings we ended up with 12 children total. I made the tunics out of cream colored felt and made the belts out of left over material from the cowboy vests. They were honestly fairly simple with no sewing involved whatsoever. Not too bad looking if I do say so myself.
When the kids arrived we had a table set up with a black cover and a sign in sheet for the Jedi Training Academy. We had also downloaded the theme to Star Wars and had that playing in the background.

The Training Manual
Each child was given a Jedi Training Manual with their objectives to achieve for the day. There were 6 objectives that they had to complete in order to become a Jedi. The Jedi Council brought in Jedi Master Ben Kenobi to train the young Padawans. He was on call and had already been called in that morning so he had his scrubs on under his Jedi Tunic.

The first objective was proper robing in Jedi tunic. They came into the office and I fitted each one in their tunics and belts. They loved it!

Objective number 2 was to learn the 4 Pillars of a Jedi.


The 4 Pillars of a Jedi are actually taken from the book "Raising a Modern Day Knight" by Robert Lewis. It's a great read if you are bringing up boys.



The Padawan Class of June, 2010.
Objective number 3 was Lightsaber Agility Training. We lined up 2 rows of kids and took 2 kids at a time and they worked on keeping a balloon off the floor using their lightsabers.

When then went to Objective number 5 which was Jedi History Training. Each kid took a turn in the seat with a blindfold and then the Jedi Master handed around a picture of a famous Star Wars character (Yoda, Luke, Leia, Darth Vader,... etc) and then the Padawan in the chair had to guess who it was using yes and no questions.

Objective number 4 was Lightsaber Defense Training. We watched the videos on youtube of the Disneyland Jedi training camp to get ideas. It's amusing to watch even if you aren't having a Star Wars party.

The young Padawans were then ready to face Vader. We gave them the guidance of Master Yoda and they took him in a backpack just as Jedi Luke Skywalker did when he was facing the darkside.

We didn't want to spring for the $60 Darth Vader suit so we just hung a cheap Darth Vader mask on a black cape behind a tree and Jedi Master Ben Kenobi went with them to make sure they didn't turn to the dark side of the force.

Then one of the dads at the party put on the mask and cape and everyone wanted to fight him. It was hilarious. As soon as he came out wearing the mask one of the youngest boys ran as fast and hard as he could across the yard so he could get his lightsaber and go fight Vader.

They didn't care that he had shorts and flip flops on... they just wanted to fight Darth Vader.

He chased them around the yard and then they went to finish their objectives and destroy the Death Star.

The Death Star was a soccer ball pinata that I bought at Hobby Lobby, stripped it down and painted it with cheap metallic silver and black paint.
Here is a helpful hint on pinatas.... don't put in candy that breaks up easy like little packages of m&ms and little packages of gobstoppers. They don't survive the beating very well.

The kids went from youngest to oldest and all got to take several hits with their lightsabers to destroy the Death Star.

They really had fun with this and we drug it out longer by letting them use their plastic lightsabers rather than a bat.

They all became a Jedi and we then had the birthday party for the birthday boy.

And there you go!

May the force be with you!