The force is strong with this one!

Are you as excited as we are for the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens? If you like Star Wars, you won’t want to miss the Teen Star Wars Party at Clemens Mill!

We’ll make lightsabers and Star Wars buttons, play a hilarious Star Wars game, watch a few of the funniest Star Wars spoofs out there, and most importantly…compete for title of Ultimate Star Wars Trivia Champion. You could win movie tickets and other awesome Star Wars prizes.

Oh, and did we mention? There will be free food.

When? Wednesday December 9th from 6-8pm

Where? Clemens Mill Branch of Idea Exchange, seminar room

Who? Teens, 13+

Why? To celebrate the release of Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens of course! And to relish in nerdery and make like-minded friends.

What to do?

Low key welcoming activities: (10 mins, as they trickle in)

• Button Making – collage option
• Star Wars Colouring
• Star Wars Origami (with related books)

Star Wars Telephone Pictionary (15-30 mins)

• Everyone gets a paper and pen
• Everyone starts by writing a sentence
• Pass the paper to the left – next person draws their interpretation of the sentence, and folds the page so only the drawing is visible
• Pass the paper to the left – next person writes a sentence describing the drawing, folds, passes it on, etc.
• Hilarious chains of drawings + descriptions are shared

YouTube Film Festival (30 mins)

• Premade playlist including Star Wars video spoofs, parodies, and behind the scenes clips
• This can be a main event, or just on in the background

DIY Light Saber Craft

• Pump up and tie a string party balloon (I got 25 and a balloon pump for $1 at the Dollar Store)
• Teens can create a “handle” by wrapping duct tape around one end
• Decorate using electrical tape and sharpies for buttons and details
• Ambitious kids can try to make a “double sided” saber like Darth Maul.

Star Wars Trivia (15-30 mins)

• Everyone gets an answer sheet
• 3 rounds of questions – text, quotes, and photo clues
• 1st and 2nd place win movie tickets, 3rd place wins Star Wars socks
• Questions are designed so even not-extreme fans should be able to make a good guess, but extreme fans will still find some questions challenging.

Star Wars Reverse Charades (15-30 mins)

• A set of index cards with one Star Wars / sci fi word written on each
• One person holds up one of the cards to their forehead – everyone else acts it out at once.
• Once the person guesses the word, they hold up a new card
• Each person has 60 seconds to get as many as possible.
• This is a great game to reduce the anxiety that some teens might feel about acting “on the spot.” This way everyone gets to be “on the spot” at once!

Light Saber Duels

• One Sith Lord and one Jedi face off inside a taped off circle on the ground
• Each has a pool noodle saber and one round balloon
• They both try to keep their balloon in the air, while using only their sabers
• Advanced duelers can try to knock their opponent’s balloons down while keeping their own up

Star Wars Mind Readers (25 mins)

• Teens get into partners
• In round 1 they have 30 seconds to separately write down 7 Star Wars Characters
• They compare with their partner, and get a point for the number of items they have in common
• The pair with the most in common get to stay together, everyone else has to switch partners. This continues for each round.
• In round 2 they have 30 seconds to write down 6 space things
• Round 3 – 5 movies
• Round 4 – 4 Jedi
• Round 5 – 3 Planets
• Round 6 – 2 Droids
• Round 7 – 1 Sith Lord
• Optional Bonus Round – 1 minute to write down as many Star Wars Things (x-wing, ewok, Hoth, etc.) as they can
• The person with the most points combined from each round wins!

Star Wars Snacks:

• Princess Lays (chips)
• Edible Ewoks (Gummy Bears)
• Wookie Cookies

Promotion?

I created little card-stock “invitations” with information about the party and takeaway buttons. I spread 14 around the library the week before the party – all were gone within 2 days. Buttons are magical!

Resources? (you may need to download this free Star Wars font to enjoy these fully)

• Star Wars Trivia PowerPoint
• Star Wars Trivia Master Answer Sheet
• Trivia Fill In Handout
• Snack Signs
• Star Wars YouTube Film Festival Playlist
• Star Wars Colouring Sheets:
  • Pretty R2D2
  • Adorable Ewoks
  • Lego Star Wars
  • Many more on this blog
• Star Wars Pictionades from Game Gal
• Star Wars Charades list
• Sabre Duels Sign

Challenges?

Day of, I realized that attendance would be low, so I decided to open the event up to older children as well. I went around the library in full Anakin Skywalker wear, telling families with older children about the party. In the end I had 11 attendees – 4 were young teens, and the rest were children between the ages of 8 and 12 and a couple parents. I’m really glad I did – the younger participants were very enthusiastic and happy to be there.

One 8 year-old said “I didn’t think people like me would be allowed at this party!!” while dancing around with an impressive double sided saber.

I decided to run the program in a teen-directed way. Rather than have a strict schedule and timeline, I had many activities ready to go and we went with whatever the group wanted. For example, at the beginning of the event I had 3 girls – two 13-year-olds and one 8 year-old. After button making, we played Telephone Pictionary. They loved it and begged for us to play it again. So we did.

Eventually 2 guys arrived – one was a huge Star Wars fan so I knew we had to move on to Trivia eventually. I showed them Saber Duels while the girls finished Telephone Pictionary. In a few minutes we started Star Wars Trivia (a huge highlight). After that I put on the YouTube Film Festival. Some of us made balloon sabers, while others had saber duels. A couple new attendees joined at this point and jumped right into buttons and saber making.

This flexible approach worked well since everyone arrived at different times throughout the night. The last 4 attendees wanted to stay and watch YouTube and have Saber Duels forever!

What activities would you have at a Teen Star Wars Party?