If you’ve watched any TV lately, you’ve likely seen previews for the new Robin Hood movie starring Russell Crowe — and while the movie may not be appropriate for kids of all ages, a Robin Hood-themed birthday most certainly is!

I got the idea from the amazing Peppers and Pollywogs. Check it out!

Robin Hood Party Invitation:

Invite the kids to the party with thin parchment paper that is rolled into a scroll and tied with a ribbon. Inside provide all of the party details, and attach a feather for added festivity.

Robin Hood Party Decorations:

This is a great party to have in the spring time when the action can take place outdoors either in your backyard, a woodsy area or a park. Use colors like green, brown, and rustic yellows for balloons, streamers, and table ware. Place banners around the party area and make up a “family crest” to place at the front entrance to the party. Spread chocolate coins around the party table as festive confetti.

Robin Hood Party Games/Activities:

• Have an archery contest, using the Nerf bow and arrow is a good idea.
• Play Tug o’ War.
• Have a “helper” dress up as a “gypsy” and tell the kids’ their fortunes.
• Enjoy Tax Collecting. Divide the kids into two teams, one group are soldiers and the other group includes Robin Hood and his gang. Hide coins all over the party area that are ready for collecting. Robin Hood’s gang tries to find them before the soldiers. Have the hunt and see who collects the most taxes!
• Play Take the Taxes. Make up small loot bags with chocolate coins inside. Blindfold one kid, who becomes the “Sleeping Sheriff of Nottingham” and sits on a chair in the middle of the room with the “taxes” which he is defending in his flap. The other kids line up. On the signal, “GO”, they must attempt to pick up the taxes without being caught. The sleeping Sheriff catches those who have made noise by pointing at them. A kid pointed to must start over from beginning.
• Tagged by the Sheriff of Nottingham. Designate one kid to be the Sheriff. When he tags someone, he becomes one of the Sheriff’s men and seeks to tag others as well. Play the game until everyone has joined the Sheriff!

There are some things that always make a birthday party better: a killer theme, a great activity, generous goody bags, and balloon animals!

Yes, balloon animals are always an instant hit and they aren’t that difficult to assemble! Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can!

Check out the video below to learn how to make a balloon dog. Once you get the dog down, the rest of the animals are a piece of cake

Spring weather can be tricky! You know what they say — “April showers bring May flowers.”

Well if you are planning a birthday party and don’t want to worry about the weather, consider a bowling party!

I went to familyfun.go.com to pick up some tips on how to throw the best bowling party possible!

THE HIGHLY HIP T-SHIRT PARTY FAVOR – Download directions and templates for making customized T-shirts using your computer and specialty printing paper.

THE FUNKY CD SLEEVE INVITATION - This snazzy invite is a cinch to make: the envelope is a paper CD sleeve, the kind with the round cellophane window (sold for about 15 cents each at office supply stores). The bowling ball is a circle (4 3/4 inches in diameter) of black card stock, addressed and decorated with a white gel pen. (Note: due to the envelope’s irregular size, you’ll have to pay slightly more postage and write your return address on the back.)

WILD AND CRAZY PARTY GAMES – Even your most dedicated bowlers love thinking outside the frame. Just watch the party’s fun level rise when the guests draw from a hat of outlandish bowling directives. Before the party, brainstorm ideas and write each on a piece of paper shaped like a bowling pin (see above).

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Bowl backward
• Do a silly walk as you approach the lane
• Bowl in slow motion
• Bowl pretending that one of the boards in the lane’s wood floor is a tightrope
• Before you bowl, predict whether you will knock over an odd or even number of pins
• For younger kids, consider trying the following. Between the time you release the bowling ball and the time it hits the pins: speed-sing as much of a song as possible; spell out loud the birthday child’s name backward; call out as many pizza toppings/ice-cream flavors/kinds of candy as you can think of. Each bowler should then try to top the record.

Tip: Is there an arcade at your bowling alley? Then bring a big stack of quarters for your guests.

A BOWLING LANE CAKE – This clever cake will send your little bowlers into seventh-frame heaven.

Do you have a hard time pulling your little guys away from The Empire Strikes Back orThe Clone Wars?

Why not embrace their love of Jedis and lightsabers and throw them a Star Wars birthday party? I went to amazingmoms.com to learn a few tips of the trade!

PLANNING YOUR STAR WARS PARTY
You don’t need the powers of “the force” to host a memorable party, but time planning and the ideas in this guide will help. If possible, 4-6 weeks is the perfect no-stress time line. Begin with Star Wars party supplies. Then, use this birthday guide to prepare your Star Wars party games and activities.

Star Wars Partyware from Birthday In a Box

Build a Star Wars party box with everything you need for a fabulous party or purchase a la carte items.

STAR WARS PARTY GAMES AND ACTIVITIES
Star Wars Badges:
Get your guests in the spirit of the latest Star Wars saga with this fun craft project. Before the party, cut out badges from construction paper. Provide the kids with Star Wars stickers, extra paper, glue, scissors, glitter, markers, crayons, magazine pictures, etc., and encourage creative expression. During the party, hand out extra badges as favors while playing games. When giving out the badges, honor the kids with special awards, i.e., Best Yoda Impression, Best Team Player, Most Infectious Giggle, or Biggest Smile.

Asteroid Hunt:
Purchase small treats or gifts and wrap them in aluminum foil. Hide them in a sandbox, around the house or in the yard. At the party, let the children dig in the sand, or search throughout your “planet” to find their “moon rocks.” The kids will love the excitement of opening their rocks and finding treasures!

Light Saber Training Course:
Before the party make some light sabers with foam pipe insulation or skinny swimming “noodles”. Wrap 4-6 inches from the end with colored electrical tape to make a handle. One red, one black, blue etc. To play, divide the kids into teams to go through a challenge course. Each team will get one “Light Saber”. Create tasks for each potential Jedi to accomplish (not too hard) with the light saber in hand. For example: Hit ping pong balls with the light saber, crawl under a chair tunnel, go down a slide, roll under a tarp, pop bubbles with the light saber — you get the idea.

Alien Face Painting:
Purchase a set of face paints and give each guest a unique alien “look.” Let each child make up an alien name for himself or create a few of your own and let the kids draw names randomly. Use movie names or your own, such as “Zork,” “Murblap,” or “Gondar.”

STAR WARS PARTY FAVORS
Make your own party favors by filling plastic party cups decorated with Star Wars Stickers. Write each guests name with glitter glue and fill with glow in the dark items, flashlights, glow-balls, small Star Wars toys and treats. Save time with complete Star Wars party favor kits, an easy and special way to say “thank you for coming to my party!”

The second Twilight movie — New Moon — came out just a few months ago and, chances are, you have little ones that have read the entire series from cover to cover!

So why not throw your child a Twilight birthday party? Check out amazingmoms.com for more amazing tips!

Twilight Party Invitations and Decorations:
Take a cue from the book covers when coming up with your invitation designs. Consider black and red invitations in the shape of a red apple, a ruffled tulip or a chess piece and attach a torn red satin ribbon to each. Another option is to print and photocopy pictures of the two characters of Edward and Jacob and consider sending invitations supporting two teams: Team Edward and Team Jacob. That way, if you have games at the party, you can have two teams already set up. Or, you can order personalized Twilight invitations from Birthday in a Box with a haunting image that’s sure to leave an impression.

Decorate your house with lots of red and black balloons and a black table cover. Make sure you have plenty of Twilight cups, napkins and plates. Ask your local video store if they have any spare copies of the movie posters, or print up photos of the main characters to hang. If you have copies of the books, have them lined up somewhere for a trivia game later. Also, have the soundtrack playing as the guests arrive. If you really want to recreate the world of Forks, WA and don’t have the soundtrack, pick up a cheap sound effects CD of rain falling!

The other question to ask is “What Would Alice Do?” Queen of party decorations, and a fan of twinkle Christmas lights, Alice uses a whole range of great items when decorating. Take a cue from the book and see how Alice has decorated the house for her various parties.

Twilight Party Recipes and Favors:
In the spirit of Bella and Edward’s date, consider Italian food as an option for your meal. Make sure your beverages are “red” in color for those supernaturally thirsty guests. Red and black jelly beans or ju-jubes also fit the theme as nibblies, or red delicious apple slices as a healthier option. For the cake, consider a red velvet cake with a raspberry middle filling and dark chocolate icing. You can also add the four book cover items to the top: White chess queen, small apple, ribbon and tulip.

As for favors, try these vampire tattoos, Twilight stickers, stick-on body jewels, or you could give your guests personalized mini-zipper pulls or Twilight magnets.

Twilight Party Activities:
Watching the movie is definitely a main event for this particular party, so that the girls can all “moon” over Edward and Bella’s epic romance. There are other fun activities to explore as well. If you’re making it a co-ed party, consider the Team Edward/Team Jacob concept, and have games to challenge the teams against each other.

Twilight Trivia:
You will need: Twilight books or Twilight quiz questions, Paper and Pens

How to play: For the trivia game, you can take a few different tacts. Divide the guests into two teams. Have a game leader ask each team questions and have them guess what book that fact is from. Or you could list off quotes from the books and ask who “said it”.

Vampire Baseball:
How to play: Treat it the same as regular baseball, except add your own Twilight twist to it. For example, rather than having them run, they need to leap from base to base. Or play with the balls that are used making the effort harder for the teams playing.

Twilight Party Crafts:
Creating homemade jewelry is a great idea for these vampire guests. Lots of fake jewels, red and black beads and different necklace and earring patterns will have them creating some gorgeous options that would make Alice Cullen proud. You could also have a “before and after” photo session where you have the guests as “humans” before, and then give them all a vampire makeover and do “after” photos for the girls to take home.