We prepared for this party for over a month. We sewed little Jedi robes for all of their friends, we made lightsabers from pipe insulation, we planned activities, set up a skit (wrote a script, got a costume), and constructed a Death Star pinata (how do you add the ~?). By today, Suzanne and I were SICK of Star Wars - we wish we could just force it all out of our brains. Ugh!
Kind of last minute, we built a small obstacle course - a cardboard box tunnel, a bench to crawl over, spots on the floor to run on, and balloons to beat the children at the end. I named it "The Kessel Run" (the Millenium Falcon made the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs, according to Han Solo, even though a parsec is a measure of distance and not time) and assigned a spacey name to each part. I narrated as each child ran it - "Out of the hangar, over the mountains, down the hyperspace corridor, and through the asteroid field!" To our surprise, it was the hit of the party. The kids LOVED getting beat up by the punch ball balloons at the end!
We trained the kids then to fight with a lightsaber, which was a lucky thing, because Darth Vader himself tried to crash the party. (Movie below - click the play button)
The kids made short work of him and he left behind a clue to the location of the Death Star. The kids went on a treasure hunt to find the Death Star and quickly blew it up.
Then it was time for cake and ice cream then back for more of the Kessel Run (at the kids' request) until the box tunnel fell to pieces and the adults were too tired to hit anybody with another balloon. The boys opened their presents...
After that, there were no plans. I don't know how things went to complete anarchy so quickly. The kids hit each other with balloon punch balls and lightsabers and there was no controlling them. The paint came off the lightsabers, glitter from the Death Star was tracked everywhere, and the noise level and energy level got higher and higher. We were very glad when the party ended. We said goodbye to the last guest, and we were exhausted but still had to clean up. I think everyone had a lot of fun and I hope the boys will remember it.
After that, there were no plans. I don't know how things went to complete anarchy so quickly. The kids hit each other with balloon punch balls and lightsabers and there was no controlling them. The paint came off the lightsabers, glitter from the Death Star was tracked everywhere, and the noise level and energy level got higher and higher. We were very glad when the party ended. We said goodbye to the last guest, and we were exhausted but still had to clean up. I think everyone had a lot of fun and I hope the boys will remember it. 
