Star Wars Birthday Party with Jedi Training Academy

For Elias’s 6th birthday, we threw him a Star Wars birthday party to celebrate. Despite it raining that morning (and us having to move the party back a few hours) and the yard being too wet for an obstacle course, we were able to modify plans and the kids had an absolute blast. Below are all the details (some links are affiliate links).

A big theme that I noticed as I wrote this post is that I bought MOST of the supplies on clearance at Target or from the Target dollar section (read my shopping Target clearance tips). Elias decided he wanted to do a Star Wars birthday party in early fall last year, so I thought about the party for many months prior to the actual event. You can save big money when you are planning well in advance for a birthday party. Most of the items were bought 50-90% off, which is pretty awesome.

Star Wars Birthday Party Invitation 

I spent a long time searching for a non-cheesy Star Wars birthday invitation. My criteria: no photos from the movie + a spot for Elias’s picture fighting Darth Vader at Disneyland. I finally found one on Etsy that seemed like it could work and the designer was so sweet to modify it to make it the perfect fit (see the sample above, with address and name change – clearly I’m not Vanessa.). Sadly, she isn’t offering these invites in her shop anymore! I printed them using Minted.

Star Wars Birthday Party Food

Because the party was in the afternoon, we kept the food VERY simple. I was inspired by these signs to make similar signs for the table. Here’s what we served.

• Wookie Cookies: Rice krispie treats made with regular and cocoa krispies
• Droid parts: Chex Mix
• Darthritos: Doritos (in a cute Darth Vader serving bowl that I borrowed from a friend)
• Fruit sabers: A mix of summer fruit on skewers

I bought a Star Wars tablecloth for the table, and used black plates along with Star Wars lunch and beverage napkins.

We also had a Storm Trooper Refueling Station on the deck outside with water and apple juice in two metal canisters I painted and customized with Storm Trooper masks. I was so delighted by how they turned out. I spray painted the canisters with several coats of white paint, then used carbon paper to trace on the masks. Then I used a sharpie paint pen to color the masks on the canisters. They turned out perfect!

The cake was made by Sugar Lump Cakes here in Nashville. We couldn’t have been more pleased by how it turned out and Elias ADORED it.

Stars Wars Jedi Training Academy

The theme of this Star Wars birthday party was a Jedi Training Academy. The kids had a series of activities to complete during the party. Fifteen six-year-olds, plus a lot of activities made for a bit of chaos, but the kids had so much fun.

Dress like a Jedi
When the young jedis arrived to the party, the first thing we had them do was get their jedi cloak and fill out their jedi nametag.

The cloaks were made by simply cutting brown fabric and using cut clothesline for belts. I found several tutorials for much more elaborate cloaks, but I didn’t feel like investing THAT much time and the kids loved them just as they were.

The nametags were helpful since we had several parents helping with the activities who didn’t know all the kids. And the jedis loved filling them out. (Get the free download here.)

The jedis then got their lightsabers, which were simply pool noodles (cut in half) wrapped in duct tape and electrical tape. Super simple and a big hit!

Pose in the intergalactic photo booth

Once they were all dressed and equipped, we had them pose in front of the Star Wars photo backdrop (Get a similar one here).

These scene setters are a party favorite of mine and this one didn’t disappoint.

Conquer the Jedi Training Academy Obstacle Course

The first activity we did at the Star Wars birthday party was the Jedi Training Academy obstacle course, which was a series of activities that the young Jedis rotated through. I made the sign by cutting the letters and stars out with my Silhouette Cameoand then running them through my Xyron (one of my favorite party DIY tools) to put adhesive on the back.

Originally we planned for the whole thing to be in our backyard, but because of rain the night before and all morning, we moved much of it to the driveway and small front yard of our house. We ended up having parents at almost every activity to help kids easily transition from one to another, which was a huge help!

The games included:

Bombing the death star (a corn hole board with a death star on it that I made out of silver card stock)

Navigating through storm trooper laser fire: The laser was simply red yarn attached to the ground with tent stakes.

Stepping over lava blobs: The lava blobs were orange and red balloons nailed to a board with a disposable red tablecloth beneath the board

Blast Darth Vader and the Storm Trooper: I nailed two masks that Elias had in his dress up collection to a board and the kids fired at them with small nerf guns (this was everyone’s favorite in the obstacle course)

Launch space fliers (frisbees): Using a mini frisbee golf set that I bought from Target 90% off the summer before, we made this a space fliers game where the kids needed to get a frisbee in the basket.

Toss the meteors: We took a ladderball game (another 90% off Target find) and said that this was “toss the meteors”.

Find 10 Darth Vaders: After the obstacle course, the kids got to go on a scavenger hunt to find 10 Darth Vaders. These were Darth Vader eggs that I bought 50% off after Easter at Target. I also bought some R2D2 jelly bean holders and we hid three of those. If the kids found one of the R2D2s, they received a special Yoda prize basket (again, Easter clearance find).

For collecting the Darth Vader eggs, I hot glued Darth Vader heads (half of a Darth Easter Egg) on simple gift bags I bought at Target. They were SO cute.

Endure the Emperor’s Electricity: Pictures don’t do justice to the fun the Jedis had with this activity.

We divided them into two groups, gave everyone one can of silly string (which I bought 90% off after Halloween, but you can also find cans at the $1 store) and let them have at it in our cul de sac. Most of the kids had never done silly string before, which made it particular exciting. They giggled, shrieked and had so much fun!

Complete light saber training with Darth Vader: The finale of the Jedi Training camp was light saber training. We taught the kids a variety of moves with their light sabers and then Darth Vader made a surprise appearance!

The kids had no idea he was coming and were so shocked! We bought a Darth Vader costume for my husband Matthew to wear at the party. The costume we bought didn’t come with a full mask, but thankfully a friend had one and let us borrow it.

Every child got to fight Darth once and then we took a group photo. My only regret was not getting a photo of Elias and Darth – especially since it was his Daddy! It was really hot outside and I was just thinking of getting Matthew out of that plastic mask.

Pin the Lightsaber on Yoda: One additional game I made was pin the lightsaber on yoda. This was a special request from Elias. I printed a Yoda coloring sheet, blew it up to 11×17, cut him out and glued him on some foam board.

The letters were cut using my Silhouette Cameo. I used electric green card stock for the lightsabers and ran them through my Xyron creative station to put adhesive on the back so they were ready for the kids to stick to the game.

Star Wars Party Favors

When the jedis left, they received a Star Wars puzzle and piggy bank as their party favor. I bought these on clearance in the Target dollar spot. (The Yoda baskets were the special prizes from the egg hunt.)

We also gave them Jedi Training Academy certificates (downloaded from here).

As you can see, it was a party to remember. I was POOPED when it was all over. A special shout-out to my dear friend Chris who flew in to help with the party. There is no way everything would have come together as well as it did without his incredible can-do spirit.

For more Star Wars birthday party inspiration, check out my Star Wars board on Pinterest.