When your 4 year old requests a "superhero" themed birthday party...Embrace the energetic enthusiasm and release your creative outlet by delving into the likes of Comic Books, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg, pop art, Superhero Facts, & an eclectic collection of superhero party garb spanning the Justice League, & the Marvel Superheroes. Okay so embrace is synonymous with igniting my inner artist and turning it into a project, whatever gets the job done. Apparently this collective fusion approach was the accurate 5 year old mentality of assimilating superheroes from various sources. After some deliberating and several costume changes, Zayne settled on a combination of Thor & the Flash. Some of the other melds that showed up were a Transformer/Batman, & a Superman/Batman. By the end I had a house full of Thor/Flash, Spidermans, Wolverine, Indiana Jones, Buzz Lightyear, Batman's, & Superman's.I knew that I'd have to institute a structured itinerary, or else 15- five year old superheroes would likely band together and overtake the entirety of my home & sanity. We put some superhero twists on some classic old-school party games (which incidentally are foreign to 5 year olds nowadays in a world of play-worlds, jump-zones, & arcades.) We started with a coloring contest with "Green Lantern" crayon rings. Played a "Spidey Vision" version of "pin the tail on the donkey". A Superman Kryptonite rendition of the game "Hot potato" set to 3 Doors Down "Kryptonite". Then finished off with the Dad conceived idea of turning the boys into the Incredible Hulk by having them bulk up each other with balloons, then throwing stuffed penguins into bins (another Marvel/Batman meld.) Our final Batman vs. Joker silly string war was canceled due to inclement weather, so we sent the silly string home in the prize bags alongside comic books, superhero puzzles, coloring books, magnet books, and after the junkfood fest--superhero toothbrushes.
We then set them loose on "Gotham City", the centerpiece constructed from jars of licorice & beefsticks, bowls of salt water taffy, M&M's, and spiral cheese puffs. Basically a 5 year olds junk food paradise topped off with brightly frosted cupcakes (which we were all told by the child who had also celebrated his 5th birthday that week that "Your poop will be the color of the frosting! Mine was blue after my birthday cake!") Classic 5 year old boy...
Zayne orchestrated an impromptu singing from his guests of "Happy Birthday Cha-Cha-Cha", complete with him leading his chorus with waving arms. Johnathan just rolled his eyes in my direction as if to say "That. Is ALL you." And then we watched as a couple boys face dove into their cupcakes, smearing the bright frosting all over their faces. It was my turn to glance at their mothers and say with a teasing smile, "That's yours..." One a seasoned mother of two boys, didn't miss a beat, as she shook her head, smiled, whipped out her phone camera, and said "Yup! What are ya going to do?" To which I'd reply, "Embrace the energetic enthusiasm!" Happy Birthday Zayne-cha, cha, cha!
And to all those moms who exclaimed "you are so brave to host that at your house!", I'll respond that yes, it took some nervous guts, but after bracing myself for the worst--it was a chaotic blast. Albeit, I did have to take an hour drive ALONE, after the boys were in bed that evening, but eventually--I stopped twitching. Although, I may have been irrevocably scarred--that is the only conclusion I can draw from entertaining thoughts such as, "maybe attending Comicon would be visually awesome..."
Green Lantern coloring contest: comic book pages as a table runner to use as guides, crayon "rings", and large superhero coloring pages.
Invitations: Picturing the Justice League and backed with Comic book pages.
Batcave Cupcake Tower: From left to right, Green Lantern, Batman, Robin, Hulk, the Flash, and Joker.
