How to Have an Amazing Spider-Man Birthday Party: Part 4

We hope you've been enjoying these ideas this week for an amazing Spider-Man birthday party. The activities you plan can make or break the party, so it's best to have a few extra tricks (or webs!) up your sleeve, just in case. Don't worry! We've outlined the party activities in great detail below, along with an extra activity idea and some modifications for an indoor party.

One of the things that became ingrained while I was student teaching was this: change the stimulus every 15 minutes, or else. The same holds true for a child's party. Below you'll find the activities are divided into 15-minute chunks, with a longer break allowed for lunch and cake. When you change things up often, the kids don't have time to get bored.

It is helpful to keep a shopping bag for each activity with all of the supplies needed. Or for activities with larger supplies, such as the boxes needed to "Rebuild the City," you may wish to keep them piled up with a tablecloth or old bed sheet covering them up. Go through the activities and supply lists ahead of time to organize everything. A few minutes of preparation in advance will do wonders in ensuring a smooth-running party.


Activities

11:00 - 11:15 a.m. - Free Play & Spider-Man Gear
Supplies needed: toys for free play or crayons and Spider-Man coloring sheets; Spider-Man masks, temporary tattoos, paper towels, spray bottle filled with water, small trash bag (for tattoo backing paper and used paper towels)

For almost any party, the first fifteen minutes should be free time to allow all your guests time to arrive. Have some toys out for the kids to play, or coloring pages and crayons.

We also used this time to get into character. Each child received a Spider-Man mask and Spider-Man tattoos to get us off to a great start.

ROCmomma TIP: Write each child's name on the inside of the Spider-Man masks before the party. This way you always know which mask belongs to whom throughout the party. Also, if the tattoos are connected on one sheet, it is helpful to cut them apart ahead of time and store in a baggie or small container.

11:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Super-Hero Training Camp
Supplies needed: Spider-Man game, masking tape, rolls of toilet paper, lots of empty cardboard boxes, string, cones, tunnel, toss game, cans of silly string

Explain to the kids that Spider-Man is counting on each of them to become a super-hero and help save the city. In order to become a super-hero, they each have to complete the five activities in Super-Hero Training Camp.

Super-Hero Training Camp Activity #1: Practice using their spider-sense to play the Spider-Man game. This activity may be done indoors as well.

Pin Spider-Man on the Villains game was lots of fun for us. Unfortunately, it is no longer available, but there is another Spider-Man game available through Party City.

Super-Hero Training Camp Activity #2: Villain Wrap! Practice using their spider web to wrap up a villain. This activity may be done indoors as well.

Divide into teams of 3-4 and ask each team to choose someone to be the villain ("bad guy"). The other teammates will use the toilet paper as their spider web to wrap up the villain.

Super-Hero Training Camp Activity #3: Rebuild the City! The villains have destroyed the city, and Spider-Man is counting on each super-hero-in-training to help rebuild the city.

Divide into two teams; each person may only pick up one box at time. Bring the boxes to their team's area and stack them to see which team can build the tallest building.

ROCmomma TIP: For an indoor party, you may want to use ordinary blocks to recreate this activity on a smaller scale.

Super-Hero Training Camp Activity #4: Obstacle Course! Test your super-hero strength and spider-senses on this challenging course.

First, we went up the ladder or rock wall, then down the slide.

Next, we crawled under the spider web (yarn set up between two folding chairs).

Then we dodged the villains by weaving through the cones. (Supplies needed: soccer cones, garden stakes, and villains* printed on card stock and attached to the stakes with packaging tape)

Next we crawled through the tunnel.

And jumped over a few buildings (just take some boxes from Rebuild the City).

Last but not least, a bean bag toss to get a villain. (We had the game Toss Across. I printed out some villains* to attach to the game. There was a pre-made toss game on Amazon but with shipping charges, this was way less expensive.)

ROCmomma TIP: Indoor parties CAN have an obstacle course. You can still set up a course where the kids crawl under the web, weave (walking) between cones/villains, crawl through a tunnel (or under a tall chair), jump over buildings, and hit a villain on the toss game.

Super-Hero Training Camp Activity #5: Zap the Villains! To finish their training, these super-heroes must use their own spider-webs to defeat the villains.

ROCmomma TIP: Remove the seal around the caps ahead of time. While you explain the rules to the kids (e.g., do not spray faces), have one adult shaking the cans and have a second adult spread out the cones with the villains (from the obstacle course).

ROCmomma TIP: You may be able to get the kids to help pick up the silly string by challenging them to see who can make the biggest ball out of the string!

12:00 - 12:30 p.m. - Lunch & Cake
Get the kids seated, pass around the wet wipes, and serve lunch. We sang "Happy Birthday" and served cupcakes and ice cream immediately afterward. It's much easier to get the kids seated once, rather than have them play, eat, play, eat.

This is also a great time to take pictures of all your guests. Walk around and ask each child to make his or her best Cupcake Face. I like to print the pictures and slide one into each thank-you card so that our guests have a little something to remember all the fun they had at the party.

12:30 - 1:00 p.m. - Piñata & Free Play
Supplies needed: piñata (filled ahead of time; we used Spider-Man tattoos, Spider-Man stickers, mini bottles of bubbles, spider rings, plastic spiders, and Spider-Man fruit snacks), string to hang the piñata, baseball bat (optional), goodie bags for each child to collect their loot.

We ended the activities with a Spider-Man piñata found at Party City. The pull-string piñatas are a great option since they can be used indoors or out. We have also found that injuries tend to happen when you hand a baseball bat to a blind-folded kid. True story.

After the piñata, the kids went back to free play. However, if you'd like to fill the remaining time with a more structured activity, try a good old scavenger hunt (below).

Bonus Activity: Spider Hunt
Supplies needed: plastic spiders or spider rings (Note: Party City has bins of small items and we were able to find spiders. You may also want to try Michael's - they have a section with bins of small toys and sometimes have plastic animals and insects.)

Simply hide the spiders before the party. Explain to the kids that some radioactive spiders have escaped Spider-Man's lab and he needs their help to recover them all. The kids can add the spiders they find to their goodie bag.

ROCmomma TIP: For outdoor parties, you may wish to place the spiders in snack-sized plastic bags or to tie bright ribbon to the spiders. This will help kids identify the prize and avoid picking up an actual garden critter.


1:00 p.m. - The Party Is Over
Say thank you, and say good-bye, because your party is done! Make sure they have their goodie bags and masks, and send the kids on their merry way. Then help yourself to a post-party cocktail (or a cupcake) to celebrate your hard work. YOU DID IT!

* FREE PRINTABLES: Here are the printables I created for this party in PowerPoint for Mac. Here is another pdf version, in case you have trouble opening the PowerPoint version. Please note that I do not own these images, nor do I have permission to sell them. These are FREE and are for your personal use and convenience only.

We hope these ideas have been helpful, and that you have a truly AMAZING birthday party for your child! Be sure to check out the rest of the How to Have an Amazing Spider-Man Birthday Party series for more ideas:

Part 1 - Invitations & Thank You cards

Part 2 - Decorations & Attire

Part 3 - Goodie Bags & Party Food

As always, thanks for reading!