Put together an out-of-this-world party that is sure to please any space explorer with these planning tips and activity ideas.
Set the scene for your party with decorations fit for a space station. Hang glittery cut-out stars, planets and rocket ships from the ceilings and on the walls for your outer space adventure. For a less realistic theme, add aliens and UFOs to the decorations. Playing the musical themes from “Close Encounters” or “Star Wars” will complete the ambience.
3-2-1-Blastoff! As guests arrive, take them to a large craft table where they can create rocket ships and space helmets. For the rocket ships, use empty paper towel or toilet paper tubes for the body. Use lightweight cardstock or construction paper to create nose cones and the bases for the rockets. Helmets can be constructed out of paper grocery bags. Simply cut off the top of the bag so that when inverted it will cover the child’s head and neck; cut a rectangular hole for the faceplate. Decorate the items with markers, construction paper cutouts and stickers.
Once all the guests are at the party, take everyone on a space walk. Cover the floor and lower wall sections of an empty room with mattresses, pillows and comforters. Spread large sheets or blankets over the squishy items so the surface is fairly uniform. Let the kids walk and bounce on the space surface a few at a time. For older children, add tasks they must accomplish such as placing foam balls in baskets or collecting “moon rocks” made of aluminum foil balls for their important mission. Small prizes or candy can be hidden in the foil balls for extra incentives and fun. If space allows, make the missions even more challenging by creating tunnels and obstacles out of cardboard boxes, hula hoops and more sheets.
Create a space blaster game by drawing hostile alien targets on a large piece of cardstock. Use disc shooters to let everyone try to keep the planet safe from the invaders. For outdoor parties, water guns can be used instead.
Otherworldly menu offerings include space shuttle dogs (hot dogs wrapped in biscuit dough and baked), moon rocks (chicken nuggets), meteorites (grapes or cut fruit) and alien slime (green jello). Make a lunar cake by baking any flavor of cake in an oven-safe mixing bowl. Turn the cake out onto a cake platter and decorate with gray icing, pocking it with craters. Place a figure of an astronaut, lunar lander, alien or space shuttle on the top of the cake, surrounded by candles.
Alternative cake themes include a rocket shaped cake – rocket cake molds are readily available – or an alien cake. The big, bulbous head and oversized eyes of a stereotypical alien are easy for even a novice cake decorator to create on a sheet cake.
Send everyone home with a space themed goody bag. Some ideas for fillers include toy rockets, disc shooters, astronaut-style dried ice cream (available at many museum stores), glow in the dark stars and space-themed stickers.
