Skylanders Party Planning - Part 1, Dollar Store Finds and Paper Straws

So my youngest is turning 7 in a few months and has asked for a Skylanders theme for his party.  My reply - "Awesome!  What's a Skylander?"  You see, he doesn't actually HAVE the Skylanders game or anything.  Chalk it up to the magic of school friends with more video gaming privileges...  Anyway, I am not one to back down from a challenge, so I took to the internet to learn about the Skylanders and hopefully find some ideas that I could translate into a fun, affordable party without too much video game violence.

I was pleased to learn that Skylanders seems like a pretty cute and creative game - yes there is fighting and battle and stuff, but it's pretty mild.  The game boasts lots of bright colors and tons of characters and details to pick from and incorporate into a party.  On the inspiration front, while there are no Skylanders mass market party pieces yet, there are a few great blogs featuring real parties with really creative ideas.  I've used them for inspiration.  Please check them out - they are amazing:

Plucking Daisies
Great creative game ideas and tutorials
Wine and Glue
Clever ideas for a sweet table / candy buffet / candy party favors
Amy's Party Ideas
Beautiful design elements and creative use of printables

It's still early days for me, but I am deep in the planning process.  My kids and I worked together and came up with some great activities - some from the blogs above and some we made up ourselves, each one based on a different element.  Here's our plan...

ELEMENT CRYSTAL CHALLENGE

Collect crystals from each element by completing the challenges at each station.  We may make collection of crystals the key to "unlock" a treasure hunt.  The treasure would be the favor bags.  Still not sure about this. 

AIR

Jet-Vac’s Air Lift:  Keep the balloons in the air by blowing.  No hands.  

LIFE

Zook’s Bamboo Rocket Launch:   Launch foam rockets.  Try to surpass a minimum distance.  Since Zook likes to speak in Haiku, try to write the game sign blurb in Haiku.

MAGIC

Wrecking Ball’s Tongue Grabber:  Snag crystals with sticky hands. 

WATER

Slam Bam’s Ice Crystal Smash:  Freeze crystals in ice balloons.  Remove balloons before party.  Have guests smash ice orbs to release the crystals.

TECH

Trigger Happy’s Target Practice:  Toss coins into a gold bin.

UNDEAD  (Do they have to call it "Undead"?  Wouldn't "Ghost" or "Spirit" be better?)

Chop Chop's Shield Fling:  Try to toss shield (Frisbees) through a wall (crepe paper streamer curtain - will serve as a backdrop for the food table later.

FIRE

Flameslinger’s Fire Arrows:  Try to hit a suspended target (large round disc) with flame arrows.

EARTH

Dino-rang’s Boomerang Toss:  Try to get boomerang to come back to you

 

With these details in place, I have started buying supplies when I see them and let me tell you - I hit the jackpot at the Dollar Trees.  And I say "Trees" plural because I have gone to several different ones in my area and each one had something different / awesome / perfect for this party.  Details below...

Pink sticky hands to look like tongues!

Green rocket launchers to look like bamboo!

We can paint to rockets red to match Zook's!

Boomerangs!  May paint them brown to look more like Dino-Rang's...

Frisbees to use for a shield toss - will mod-podge on an image or Skylanders logo...

Coins to Trigger Happy's coin toss - will paint them shiny gold!

Archery sets for Flameslinger's Arrows - will affix red and gold cello shreds to make the arrow look like shooting flames!

Green balloons for the Chompie stomp - the exact approach is to be determined...  And white and blue balloons for the balloon blow!  These actually came from Five Below.

So as of right now, I have almost all of the supplies needed for 7 of our 8 games, and I've only spent about $40.  Score!

And lastly - this was found at Target - they are catching on to the paper straws and pennants party trends.  I love the color assortment here, although I will swap out the pink for lime green.

Stay tuned for more details as the party comes together!