Crouching Tyler, Hidden Ninja Party

A few years ago, I planned a birthday party for my stepson, Tyler. I asked if he had a specific theme he was interested in and figured I could make something up from there. At that time, he was really into his karate classes so he wanted a ninja party. Welcome to Tyler's Ninja School. 

Uniforms are a must for every ninja. You can see my trial run in the photo to the right. I took a large or extra large men's V-neck shirt and cut off about 2 inches from the bottom, twice. I snipped one of the seams to make a long strip for both. This becomes the headband, to which we ironed a rising sun logo with the child's name, and also the belt. The rest of the shirt is cut straight down from the V of the shirt so that it hangs open like a cloak. The kids put on the "cloak" part, wrapping it around themselves like a robe and tied it with one of the strips they cut off and then put on their headband. Transformation complete!

During the party the kids had to go through various ninja training exercises, the first of which was their favorite and really ingenious, I must say. My husband bought a ton of the little Command Hooks and stuck them along our hallway. Then, he took red yarn and threaded it through and around all of them. 

The kids had to make their way, timed, through the laser maze without touching any "lasers." Any time we lost a kid throughout the party, we just had to walk to the hallway and we'd find them going back through the maze.

All ninjas need weapons of some kind, so Tyler's mom did a tutorial on throwing stars. We had colored paper already cut to the size needed and then the kids could make a few on their own. We also had plenty pre-made, just in case.

They then headed outside for some target practice. Each kid got a few turns, attempting to hit the bulls-eye with their throwing stars. 












The kids also got to practice with their inflatable swords. I had the hardest time finding a sword party favor that wasn't crazy expensive and with which they could kill or seriously maim each other. We made a ring on the grass of red yarn and they had to stay in the ring. They went one-on-one and whoever got 3 touches on their opponent or caused their opponent to step out of the ring 3 times won the round. 

A test of strength was next. Doug made this awesome "board" the kids could break, over and over again. He took that thick foam board you get for mounting things and cut it into even squares. He made two stacks of the foam, but each stack fit together like teeth. Think about how Legos fit together, on top of each other. Now turn it sideways and with really skinny Legos. When next to each other, the "boards" stayed in one long rectangle, held together by the varying teeth that fit together. When the kids hit it with their hand (or foot, or head...) it had enough give to come apart (see below).

The last game before food and gifts was a Fortune Cookie Toss. I had a ton of take-out containers lined up on the floor. Each one had a point value attached to it, depending on how far it was to throw it. The kids took turns "tossing their cookies" into the containers for points. This gave the other adults enough time to grab the food out of the refrigerator and off the stove so it was ready when they were done.  

And ahhh the food. Such a variety. And I think we had tons leftover. I was glad we made as much as we did, just because so many of the parents decided to stay for the party. 

First we had nun-chucks: ding dongs, cut in half with a Twizzler strand hooking them. 

Edamame was very popular (aka apple jelly beans).

In an attempt to have something of substance, we had sushi rolls: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on thin bread, rolled up like a sushi roll.

Fortune cookies were a must, plus they were easy for the kids to take home.

In Asian culture, apparently oranges are a symbol of wealth and luck. We got some cuties to wish all our guest lots of luck in their future
ninja endeavors.

Other items were Ninja Noodles (macaroni and cheese), Super Powers (a veggie tray) and Bamboo Shoots. The bamboo shoots were cool looking, but I don't know that many of the kids ate them. We took a kebab skewer and stuck green grapes on it. Then you freeze them until the kids are ready to eat them. I only have a really fuzzy photo, but I will include it anyway. 

Hi-Ya Punch and water were the drinks of choice.



















Decorations were fairly simple if I remember right. We hung ninja stars with floss around the room as well as made paper lanterns (see pictures of the fence in the backyard to see final product). Those we made by taking a regular colored, 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper and folding it hamburger style and creasing well. Every inch along the fold, cut at least 3 inches up from the folded side. Unfold your paper and roll it, hot dog-style, into a loose cylinder. Staple, tape or glue where edges of the paper meet. Hole punch twice on the top of your lantern so you can feed string or yarn through it for hanging. We tend to use dental floss because a) we have tons of it and b) it's easy to blend it into the background.

In all, the kids and the parents had a great time. I was really glad to have the parents there to help, even if I was little surprised at how many stayed. This was my first time planning a kid birthday party so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Tyler was turning 7 for this one. Looking back afterwards, I think I could have slimmed the games and food down a smidge to make it easier on me. I learned my lesson and went a bit simpler for Tyler's Harry Potter 9th Birthday Party. I just like the small things that make up the party details. I think they add a lot.

Thanks to any Pinterest-ers I may have gotten ideas from!