Though you may be tired of feeling the pressure to celebrate every little special day, believe me when I tell you making an occasion special doesn’t have to be a big ordeal, nor does it have to cost a fortune or create any added stress.
The last thing anyone wants is extra stress. So — stay with me here — I promise this is not a trap, but you’re going to want to celebrate Star Wars Day.
May The 4th Be With You: Ten Ways to Celebrate Star Wars Day
1. Introduce your kids to Star Wars by watching the movie. Start with the original “A New Hope” or what I like to call “Star Wars.” This is the one that started it all and I’m willing to bet my Geek Mom card that any parenting expert would agree starting with Luke is the only way to go.
2. If your children are still a bit young or sensitive to intense movies about space rebellion and lots of *pew pew pew* action (Let’s not forget that Darth Vader is a pretty scary dude!), consider introducing them to Star Wars with junior novelization. The books are readily available and my son loved them. He started on his own with “A New Hope.” It was a proud parenting moment for me that he did this of his own volition. Starting with the books is a fantastic way to go because our imaginations can only frighten us so much, whereas, once you see something too intense you can never un-see it. This is especially important to remember when we are dealing with children.
3. Get thee to a comic book store. Free comic book day falls on the first Saturday in May and because it’s so close to May 4th, there’ll be Star Wars cosplayers present. Last year I was walking the Halifax Waterfront when Darth Vader strolled by; maybe you’ll be just as lucky. I try to contain my uber-geek most times, but in this case my friend and I followed him — because Darth Vader — and stopped to chat him up. His group of cosplayers participates in events for charity. How cool is that? Find out what’s happening in your hometown and make it an adventure.
4. Check your May the Fourth weather relative to Star Wars. For instance, from January until today, the weather in Halifax was like the weather on Hoth. You can learn whether your weather is like Tatooine, Endor, and more by visiting Tomscott. It’s fun if a bit addictive.
5. Cupcakes for everyone! Or at least for those who haven’t gone to the Dark Side. My daughter wanted a Star Wars themed party for her sixth birthday and I made Princess Leia cupcakes. These cupcakes are a breeze to make. Take your favourite cupcakes and cover them with frosting colours that resemble Princess Leia: the top surface is her face, a bit of brown frosting for her hair, add two brown dots for eyes, and two mini Oreo cookies stuck on either side of her cupcake noggin for Leia’s famous side buns. Cute, right? For her mouth, I used red sprinkles. You can try a little dot or a curve of frosting, but I found the single sprinkle added a bit of personality and some of Leia’s sass.
6. What’s easier than pie and sure to be a hit? Wookiee Cookies. Use a recipe like No-bake chocolate coconut, which makes cookies that look exactly like Chewbacca’s messy fur. Add little, black eyes with dots of icing and pipe a diagonal band across to make his bandolier. These tasty morsels disappear super quickly, so stake your claim!
7. Choose a Star Wars craft from the great ideas you can find on Pinterest or have your kids come up with something unique they’ll be proud to call their own. Craft (Popsicle) stick X-Wings, play-dough Jabba the Huts, origami Yodas — the possibilities are endless.
8. Did you know there is such a thing as Star Wars Science? My daughter bought her brother the “Star Wars: Science Fair Book” and it has 30 projects ranging from easy and cheap to complex and costly. If you want something you can do right this minute make an awesome blaster sound effect! All it takes is a Slinky and a paper cup.
9. Rename your dinner on Star Wars day by using a few of the familiar character names, places, or planets from the movies and have a Star Wars Feast. Why have plain old stew when you could be having Naboo Stew? Typical tacos become Tatooine Tacos? Jedi Juice, Padawan Pasta, Palpatine Pizza. Maybe you can have Hoth Fudge Sundaes for dessert, but please, no JarJar Jelly on my PB & J. Get the kids involved in renaming your favourite family meals.
10. Finally, you must watch the trailer for the brand new Star Wars sequel with your now-enthralled, newly minted Star Wars fans. Did you ever think the day would come when you’d see the original cast in a new movie? I can’t wait to see it!
Yes, Han Solo is older. It happens to the best of us, but he’s still beautiful.
Now you have what you need to add this fun day into your silly celebrations. Remember to always use the force for good and let’s all agree this is the special occasion you’ve been looking for.
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Fantastic ideas!!!
Wow. Some creativity came together for this post. I should file it for when my kids are older and in love with Star Wars, which I am sure will happen.
Thank you! Today is the day! 😀
I started mine with Jedi Java. True story.
So fun… I’m loving those Princess Leia cupcakes! 🙂
Thank you! Please do. I love the internet for it’s “pin”ability. When my son was tiny I started saving webpages and recently went through those bookmarks. Hilarious! Some are still fabulous, mind you.
Oh, it will happen! Let me know if they need a geeky nudge. 😉
Thank you so much! I think I might actually have to whip some up this afternoon for an after school surprise. I have errands and can easily pick up a gluten free cupcake mix (for speed’s sake) along the way. 😀
Great ideas! Now I must attempt to rename our supper. May the 4th be with you, my friend. 🙂
I am quite literally in the process of doing that as I type. 😀
I think I’ve decided on Chewbacca Chipotle Chicken, Skywalker Quinoa Salad and C3-P0 Pasta with Millennium Falcon marinara.
May the 4th be with you, too!
Hey, I can make muffins. Kind of.
We have all the (old) Star Wars movies on VHS and we have a VCR player too! Perfect Family Movie Night activity!
Besos Sarah.