Family Fan Club: Star Wars

Last year I tried out a very successful Harry Potter Book Night.  This year I wanted to create a program around a different type of fandom.  I chose Star Wars because of the release of Rogue One in December.

I basically advertised this library event as a family-friendly party to celebrate all things Star Wars. During the one hour party, there were craft stations, creation stations, and party games that children of all ages could take part in.

Droid Shooting Gallery - I taped pictures of different droids to empty water bottles.  The children then threw bean bags at the bottles to knock them down.  Such an easy game to make.

Jedi Training Course - In two rows of non-fiction shelving I set up some obstacles for the children to go through. First was to manuever over and under the laser beams (red crepe paper taped across the shelves). Next, the children had to jump over lava pits (hoola hoops). Then, crawl through an underground tunnel (expandable kiddy tunnel).  The lava pits were mostly ignored but the tunnel and "laser beams" were what most kiddos wanted to do over and over again.  We had to retape the crepe paper a couple of times during the party.

Silly Sabers - Create very silly looking light sabers by wrapping different colored duct tape (the hilt) around one end of a long skinny balloon (the kind used to make balloon animals).  I think this was the most popular craft station. My volunteers who were blowing up balloons were kept busy the entire evening.

Mad Libs - I found these wonderfully created Star Wars themed Mad Libs at this Packed With Fun blog.

Clone Trooper Paper Dolls - A coworker and I created some cardboard templates for this station. The kids could free hand their own paper troopers, but tracing the pre-made troopers was much more popular.  I like how most of them never seemed to look clones of each other.  Legal size paper worked best.

Straw Connectors Space Stations - I felt like I needed one more station so I grabbed the two boxes of Straw Connectors out of storage. These were a perfect fit. I placed them on the floor where there was a lot of room and the kids really went to town with these.  I saw some structures that were taller than the kids making them. A little STEM added in does not hurt anything.

Volunteers - Of course this evening could not be as fun as it was without my wonderful volunteers! Five members of the local high school Key Club were on hand to make things run smoothly.  These teens were super helpful.  I also got some wonderful appearances from the 501st Legion. The two Storm Troopers and the Boba Fett were just plain awesome interacting with the children (and adults).

Reflection - This program was well worth the time to create it. I had fun, the families in attendance had fun, and even the staff at the check out desk had fun.  Cost wise, it was rather inexpensive.  I had paper, scissors, crepe paper, and coloring pens on hand.  The balloons were left over from a Dia event a few years back.  I brought the water bottles from home.  The only thing I really needed to purchase was the duct tape. I spent less than $125 on the whole event.  With about 110 people in attendance, that is good ratio.  There are tons of great party ideas out there so I could easily do another event with a totally different set up of stations.  May the force be with you!