How to Host a Superhero Party

My youngest turned 5 last week and asked for a superhero party. It was his first party that he invited his own friends to and we ended up with about 15 kids on a sunny Sunday afternoon at home. I purposely made it from 2-4pm so I didn't have to serve lunch or dinner and started planning.

I don't like to spend a lot of money on kids shows so I look for things I can do/make myself to save some cash. I always turn to the internet when planning something to flesh out ideas or get some tips. I find fantastic images on google and blogs and party sites and wanted to repay the favour.

This whole party cost me under $20 per kid.

I chose classic superhero colours red, blue and yellow to theme the day. This party table was easy and relatively inexpensive to put together. I went to Officeworks to print out the comic 'bams', 'pows' etc, cut them out and then pasted them on co-ordinating poster board.

For party bags I used plain, white kraft bags with simple themed thank-you tags tied on with a co-ordinating ribbon. I put simple treats in these including a Spiderman Pez dispenser, Freddo Frogs and bubbles. Guests then used these to put the spoils of the pinata game and 'find the bad guys in the garden' game. I also poured a selection of each of the coloured lollies into each bag at the end of the party. The kids loved it. The parents not so much.

I bought a couple of slabs of water bottles and exchanged their labels for my own, superhero ones [plain A4 paper cut to size with an image pasted on] and then popped gorgeous retro striped straws in each of them. I've never seen kids so excited about drinking water before. I also SORTED THROUGH tubs of peanut and plain m&ms to get the right colour combo. We're STILL eating all the remaining orange, green and brown ones! There's a platter of chocolate brownies too [for just a bit more sugar] which I decorated with little star topped toothpicks.

Masked and caped Chupa Chups. I found this idea online and LOVED it. So did the kids. They went into the party bags at the end of the day too.

 

I like to serve cupcakes as the main birthday cake for kids. Saves cutting, plates, decorating bla bla. I DID have a mishap with these ones and underfilled the cases but decided to go with it anyway. The kids were far more interested in the frosting than the cake.

Individual superhero jelly cups made a couple of days before, jars of red/yellow/blue jelly beans in the background and individual hommus and vegetable cups. I also served popcorn, bowls of chips and honey/soy chicken drumettes. The grown ups shared a cheese platter and some super wine.

1st game for superheroes *Protect Hero Headquarters*. I hid toy army soldiers in the garden [some with lollies strapped to them] and told the heroes to 'find the bad guys'

The kids loved searching for bad guys in the garden and the superhero who found the least amount won the prize [superhero colouring book]

2nd game for superheroes *Super Target Practice*. I set up two spiderman plaques [$1 from Cheap as Chips] on the cubby house and filled a basket with water balloons. I got all the kids to line up and try to knock down the plaques with the balloons. This was the FAVOURITE game of the day. The first girl to knock the plaque down won the prize for this game

3rd game for superheroes *Save our City*. I HANDMADE a papier mache, TNT bomb pinata and am sooooo annoyed that I didn't get a photo! My one tip if you're making your own? Do THREE layers. I did two and that bomb exploded half way through the game! The pinata cost me about $2.50 to make.

The party was a huge success. The kids loved it. The parents loved it. The birthday boy was rapt.

SuperMum SAVES THE DAY!!!!!!