How To Throw a Star Wars Party That Doesn’t Suck

So, your kid wants to throw a Star Wars-themed birthday party. Can you blame them? The adventures in a galaxy far, far away are culturally ubiquitous, and even if they haven’t seen Solo, they know all about it. The question isn’t if you should throw a Star Wars-themed party, instead, it’s all about what kind of Star Wars party you should throw. Here’s our guide from costumes, to decorations, to themes, all designed to make your Jedi younglings happier than an Ewok at an Endor dance party.

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Choosing the Right Star Wars Theme

There are a lot of new Star Wars things out there that various kids might be aware of. From all the various new films to the different cartoon shows, you might be wondering if you should throw a themed-party around a specific movie or storyline. For example, the Disney show Rebels is popular, and the movie Solo just came out. Should you do a Rebels party? A Han Solo-heist birthday where all the kids steal hyperspace fuel cupcakes? Event-planning experts say no way. A Star Wars party means focusing on the elements most kids understand about Star Wars. In other words, keep it simple.

“Decide on your theme and then build the party around it, is the advice we give our clients,” says Patricia Zutman owner of All Four Seasons Events. “When it comes to Star Wars I suggest sticking to the main storyline and not one of the numerous secondary stories coming out. It’s easier to find supplies and items for it.”

So, it’s good bet kids know about Rey, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, and Luke Skywalker. If you feel like a character or storyline is going to make anyone at the party have to Google something, don’t include it.

Costumes and Props for a Star Wars Party

If you want to go all-out, Star Wars costumes are pretty easy to find but again, think about keeping it simple. Some of those Jedi robes can be a little cumbersome, so you might just be better off investing in a bunch of cheap plastic lightsabers and calling it a day. Let’s be honest, lightsabers are the only thing all the kids will want anyway. But, lightsabers will also encourage a lot of lightsaber fights, not to mention, lightsaber envy.

Here are a few tips.

• Try to keep all the toy lightsabers of a similar design. If there’s one that lights up and makes noise, and none of the other ones do, you’re going to have a lightsaber-envy problem.
• The kids are going to hit each other with these things. So, how about just get a pack of inflatable lightsabers? They’re inexpensive and will help to keep the peace.
• You’re going to need at least one non-inflatable lightsaber to break the piñata. How about you just keep that one on your belt, like a real Jedi Knight? Or better yet, keep it hidden until it’s actually time to destroy the Death Star?

The Star Wars Piñata

You can never go wrong with a piñata. Get a BB-8 piñata (like this one) and let the kids see if they can find that map to Luke Skywalker inside of it. Fill it with candies and small figurines from the movies. Just make sure you know where that lightsaber-bat is at all times.

Star Wars Decorations and Music

It’s time to turn your party space into that faraway galaxy. Dark blue construction paper with stars can cover the walls with a tablecloth matching, the more you can transform the space the better. There are no shortages of cardboard cutouts of the various characters from the movies available at party stores or online. Set a few up to create the mood and encourage photo ops; Darth Vader is always a favorite. In the background, you can have the soundtrack from the movies playing to take it to a higher level. Worried that the bombastic John Williams theme will get the kids too hyper? Give everything a litter touch by downloading Baby Wars on Apple Music. It’s all the same Star Wars music, but lullaby style.

Star Wars Party Favors

This is another area where it’s best to keep it simple Most party supply stores have Star Wars party favor bags, plates, and cups. Everything you need is right here, too.

Star Wars-Themed Food

In keeping with the space theme the kids can have Yoda Soda, aka green cool aide, or Jedi Juice, aka any type of fruit juice. For snacking they can have baby Chewbacca’s — teddy graham cookies and lightsabers — pretzels dipped in chocolate. When it comes time for the cake, experts, recommend going with a classically decorated cake from the baker, they can make so many cool Star Wars themed ones why do it yourself. If you do want to attempt your own recipes, arm yourself with one of several official Star Wars cookbooks, like this one; Wookiee Cookies.