Star Wars birthday party games
By an Award-Winning Professional Party Planner
Get ideas for Star Wars birthday party games to go with your birthday or celebration
If this is the first page you've landed on, let me give you a quick introduction. I'm Matt James, a professional party planner, and the purpose of this site is to show you the most creative way you can use regular, shop-bought party supplies that can be found in most stores.
Not everyone has the craft skills of Martha Stewart or the time to spend several days with a glue gun making things from scratch. It's fine to use shop-bought decorations and
supplies—as long as you choose them carefully and know the best way to put them all together. So I'll share a few simple tips and trade secrets that anyone can use to add
some creative touches to your party—whatever your budget.
Note: This site contains affiliate links to products. We may recieve a small commission on any sales (at no extra cost to you).
Below are ideas for Star Wars Birthday Party Games. Don't forget to check out my other page of Star Wars Birthday Party Ideas—with tips for invitations, food & drink, decorations, and styling.
Start by kitting out all the young padawans in preperation for the Jedi Training Academy. You can pick up these inexpensive capes for $5 each from supplier 4, various design are available.
When planning your Star Wars birthday party games, don't underestimate how long kids will be happy to just play-fight with Lighsabers. You can create homemade lightsabers using foam pool noodles then just use heavy duty black and silver tape to create handles. You might want to pad out the handles with some tissue paper before wrapping in the tape, just so they are more pronounced than the main body of the 'lightsaber'.
Alternatively, you can buy them ready made here, or use these cheap inflatable ones.
Finish the prep for the Jedi Training Academy by issueing everyone with these printable passes—kids always love special VIP style passes and you can customize them with each child's name. You can also get these printable Jedi Training Academy signs to decorate the area. See here for both.
Once they are kitted out with a lightsaber and robe, start your Star Wars birthday party games with a series of training exercises and tests for the kids to qualify as true Jedis
Get a parent to dress up as Obi Wan to lead the training. Have Obi Wan first establish his credentials by performing a Jedi mind trick on them.
Obi Wan will ask them all to think of a number between 1 and 10. He then gives them a series of simple instructions. For this example let say....add 6 to their number, then subtract 1, then add 5. His final instruction is to tell them to subtract their original number. Then he will announce that the number they are all left with is....10!
The trick is that no matter what number they all started with, because Obi Wan's final instruction was to subtract the original number, it cancels out. Therefore, for Obi Wan to predict which number they will all end on he just calculates the sum of all his instructions, in this example 6 -1 + 5 = 10.
You can use this tutorial to make Jedi robes for Obi Wan like the one below left. Alternatively, check out supplier's 8 and 9 for Obi Wan party costumes (below center) or supplier 3 for just the simple outer robe (below right).
Replicate Luke's lightsaber training on-board the Millennium Falcon (below, from Episode IV: A New Hope) as one of your Star Wars birthday party games by hanging a plastic ball on a string at around head height to represent the orb. Take turns to blindfold each child, then swing the ball back and forth on the string and see if they can 'feel the force' enough to hit it three times with their lightsaber.
Alternatively, for younger children, you can use this Death Star beach ball.
Split the kids into pairs and have them play tennis using the pool noodle lightsabers as rackets and these stormtrooper balloons as a ball. The object of the game is for each player to keep the balloon from touching the ground when it is batted towards them. They can only touch the balloon with their lightsaber—no hands—and can only touch it once before the other player does. If they touch it a second time before other player has, they are out. The first player to let the balloon touch the ground loses.
Jedi's have great balance and physical agility, so test their skills by creating an obstacle course that has them running through hula hoops, under nets, jumping over things, and walking along a balancing beam while dodging soft balls being thrown at them. You can pick up various bits of equipment from supplier 3.
To destroy the Death Star in Episode IV: A New Hope, Luke has to fire his proton torpedoes into a narrow opening of the Death Star's thermal exhaust port (right). Have the Padawans practice their aim by making a 2D cardboard Death Star and attaching it to a basketball hoop. If you don't have a hoop use a bucket instead.
See how strongly they can feel the force by testing their Jedi senses with these Star Wars birthday party games:
Place different objects into bags or boxes and have them reach in and try to identify the contents while blindfolded.
Have the kids blind taste different foods and see how many they can identify.
Do the same with different smells
Before the party print off pictures of different Star Wars characters or vehicles then cut into the picture so you are left with just a small section of it (ex, a quarter or Queen Amadala's face, or Jar Jar Bink's mouth). Then see how many they can correctly identify from just a small section of the picture.
The Star Wars website now has an amazing sound board where you can play familiar sound effects from the films. Unfortunately you can't download them, so I would suggest you set up a laptop and speakers at your party then play back different sound effects and see how many the kids can identify.
At the end of their Jedi training they are ready to face Darth Vader / Darth Maul / Kylo Ren for a lightsaber duel. Have a parent enter dressed as their favorite villain (check out supplier 8 or 9 for costumes) and let them do battle until they have managed to touch them with their lightsaber three times. Don't forget to pick up the Star Wars soundtrack from supplier 3 and play the Imperial March (Darth Vader theme) for a dramatic build up when they enter.
Once they've all destroyed Darth Vader / Kylo Ren / Darth Maul, present them with one of these printable Jedi Training Academy certificates.
This is a variation of the children's game Stuck in the Mud. Pick up some of these printable Star Wars masks from supplier 3 or 4. Divide the kids into two teams. Give one team rebel masks and the other a mixture of empire masks. They then play a game of tag, but when each person is caught they have to stand on the spot with their legs spread open and arms out. They can only be released when another member of their team crawls through their legs. Keep playing until all of one team has been caught.
Using the paper masks (or check out supplier 1 or 3 for The Force Awakens character masks) buy/print enough so that you have one rebel mask for everyone (you can use a mixture of characters), and also one First Order/Empire mask for everyone (this time only choose one character so that all the First Order/Empire masks are the same).
Get one volunteer to start off as the First Order/Empire character. The remaining rebels have to run from point A to point B trying to get past the First Order/Empire character in the middle. As each rebel is caught they swap their mask to become a member of the First Order/Empire until there is only one rebel left—who is the winner.
One of the most simple Star Wars birthday party games is to spit them into characters from the dark side and the light side using the masks and have them play tug of war.
Using a selection of the paper masks, attach them to these giant inflatable skittles then let the Jedi see how many baddies they can bowl over. Alternatively, supplier 4 has some actual Star Wars bowling sets.
Supplier 1 has a selection of Star Wars pinatas, which is a simple activity to use as one of your Star Wars birthday party games. Alternatively, check out supplier 4 for this Death Star pinata.
Don't forget to check out my other page of Star Wars Party Ideas—with tips for invitations, food & drink, decorations, and styling
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Many thanks
Matt
Matt James is a professional event planner and owner of event agency Left Field Productions, which has produced events for Elton John, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kevin Spacey, Stella McCartney, David LaChapelle, John Waters, and Elvis Costello & Diana Krall. Since 2004, Left Field Productions has won 30 industry awards for excellence including Production Company of the Year.
Star Wars birthday party games
by an award-winning professional party planner