To infinity and beyond! Thrill your intergalactic rangers with this space odyssey. With the opening of Toy Story 3 on June 18, 2010 and return of the iconic characters of Buzz Lightyear and his father Evil Emperor Zurg, this party will be in high demand.
Invitations: Kids can make their own invitations using card stock and celestial rubber stamps. Each invitation can be its own original art work. Just make sure the important party details are included.
If you prefer to send a rocket invitation, start by gluing an 8 1/2 x 5 1/2-inch sheet of blue construction paper to silver paper. Fold long ends to middle. Trace this Martha Stewart template on folded paper; cut out. Add party details and flag sticker to complete.
Several online vendors have theme-related invitations. Check out Birthday in a Box, Birthday Express, and Windy City Novelties to pick your favorites.
Decorations: At party shops and big store retailers there are Toy Story decorations and party goods to suit every taste and budget. If you want to streamline things and exercise your own creative muscles think silver, lime green and sky blue. Hang foil-wrapped cardboard stars and planets made from Styrofoam balls painted with spray paints to match party decor. Let your party cake or a tier of little green alien cupcakes take center stage on the party table. Exclusive Toy Story party supplies are available at Birthday in a Box.
Activities: Hold a moon rock hunt. Paint about 50 small-sized rocks with silver paint. Hide the rocks in your yard. Kids will love to find the rocks as well as bring them home.
Settle your little space rangers down as you get the food ready with some Pixar activity pages. Separate the pages of an appropriate Buzz Lightyear coloring book. Lay out some crayons, pencils, etc. The kids will enjoy this brief breather.
Crafts: An appropriate ice breaker is to have each guest decorate his or her own Star Command Module. This will require a little prep on your part. Modules are made with paper bowls and plates. Instructions are here. Later in the party hold a contest to see who can throw his or her space vehicle - frisbee style - the farthest.
Games: Planetary Bozo Buckets are a fun choice for this theme. Write planet names and point values onto paper bands. The farthest away a planet is from the sun, the more points it should earn. It will be harder to throw an astro ball into it. Tape the bands onto buckets. To make the sun, glue a round piece of yellow paper to white poster board or cut a circle out of yellow poster board. Space rangers will take turns throwing three astro balls (neon tennis balls) from the sun into the planet buckets. Ranger with the highest point value wins.
Organize a Star Command Battle Station War Game. This is best played outside. Divide guests into two teams. One team will be the rangers of Buzz Lightyear. The other will be the forces of Evil Emperor Zurg. Place a rope or tape down to divide the battle ground in two. Have a coin toss to determine which team will get possession of the single potent laser capsule (soft foam ball is perfect for this "technology"). The object of the game is for each team to hit the players of the opposing team with the laser capsule without crossing the line while throwing or capturing the laser capsule. Once a player is hit with the laser capsule/foam ball then he or she is out. Last team standing wins. One or two space referees (adults) are mandatory for safe and fair play during this battle game.
Another excellent outdoor game is Robot Freeze Tag. Designate the birthday child to be a "robot maker". He or she will run around tagging other participants. If a player becomes a "robot" he or she must freeze. Other players can unfreeze "robots" by touching them. The player to be made into a robot three times is the next "robot maker".
Space Ranger Message Mix-up is the intergalactic version of the 20th century telephone game. Have the Space Rangers sit in a circle. The birthday child will think of a message that needs to be transferred to the other space rangers. The birthday child will whisper the message to the person on his or her left. That person continues in the same manner, and so on until the message gets to the space ranger on the birthday child's right. Last space ranger will say the message out loud. Normally, the message will be all mixed up. This can be played several times with different rangers starting and ending the message chain.
Food: If mac and cheese and hot dogs top your space ranger's list of favorite foods, then he or she will love Moon Crater Mac n Cheese. Cut peanut butter and jelly sandwiches into galactic shapes with moon, star and planet-shaped cutters. Make some Astro Jigglers in colors to coordinate with your decorations. For some crunch turn fresh veggies into celestial creations. Cut slices of carrots, jicama and bell peppers with round, star- and moon-shaped cookie cutters. Fill out the menu with round "planetary" pretzels. Tang - the drink of astronauts - is a logical choice for a beverage. Find ice cube trays shaped as stars and moons to make fun ice cubes for the drinks.
Cake: Cupcakes are always welcomed at birthday parties. They are easy to serve and everyone gets an equal distribution of the decorations. For this party make little green aliens by frosting your favorite flavor with neon green icing (use paste color for best results). Wilton sells a Pixar Toy Story Icing Color Set ($5.99). This set is available online or at grocery, craft or discount stores where Wilton products are sold. Make the alien eyes with black candy-coated chocolate candies. These are available at special bulk dispensers at grocery stores. Add the aliens' signature broad smiles with black decorating icing.
If you are feeling a bit more adventurous, try your hand at a Buzz Lightyear Space Scape. Bake a large sheet cake (or have one made at your local baker) and frost it with dark blue frosting in a swirl pattern to look like outer space. Then sprinkle blue edible glitter (stars) on the swirls. In the meantime bake two half-sphere cakes - can be baked in oven-safe bowls. Frost one to look like the Moon with grey frosting. Make "craters" all over it with a melon baller. Frost the other with orange frosting to look like a planet. Put these two cakes on the sheet cake in two separate corners diagonally from each other. Lastly, put Toy Story Buzz Lightyear and little green alien figures on the cake to represent space explorers traveling through space.
Favors: Party favors and treat bags are a great way to say thank you to all the kids who attend the festivities. Slinkies ($9.99 per dozen at Oriental Trading Company) or jars of bubbles would make great favors for this theme. Or you can fill up some paper-cup rockets with treats. Martha Stewart has instructions for these cup rockets here. Appropriate treats include: rock candy, red hots, spotted gum balls and mini celestial-named candy bars, such as Milky Way and Mars Bars.
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