What a wonderful theme for a party – super heroes! Not limited into any one character in particular, all of the party participants may choose their personal favorite superhero, so you may want to know how to plan a super heroes theme party. Colorful fun, lots of possibilities for activities and décor, etc., this should be one of the easiest and most delightful parties among the theme parties for children’s parties. Part of the fun will be seeing which superhero everyone chooses! This party is ideal for costumes. First, ask the central person (the birthday boy or girl, let’s say) who they want to be. Next, make sure it’s okay to include all superheroes. Some of the younger children might not understand that they are possibly not going to be the only Superman, and may have to share super powers if another one shows up.

Another option is to let the birthday child select, let everyone know on the invitation that you have “dibs” on the hero of choice, and let everyone else select anyone but that one. This can be problematic with younger children, especially if hero worship is involved.

If your little one eats Superman food, wears Superman undies, and carries a Superman backpack to kindergarten, there’s every possibility that another of the invited guests feels the same way. It’s up to you to decide what the limits are. Interestingly, sorting out who is going to be which super hero at a superhero party may be one of the most challenging aspects.

You might want to give a shot at naming your child the “hero of choice,” and then find out what the reaction is from the respondents. You’ll swiftly determine if you need to increase your flexibility, or if you need to get used to the concept of duplicates. Or triplicates. You’ll see how it goes – just be aware and sensitive to the possibilities.

If you want to narrow the party down to one superhero in particular, then you may want to reference that in another way, specific to, let’s say, “Batman.” http://www.coolest-kid-birthday-parties.com/kid-birthday-parties.html You will find a whole individualized world of Batman available for your party. This informative page in particular will be based around multiple superheroes, and not specific to any one in particular.

Invitations: Invitations to a superhero theme party can go in so many directions. One of the best aspects is finding as many superheroes as you can and getting them all on the list. This can be a very fun task if you decide to optimally mix and match design themes to get as many superheroes involved as possible. For the invitation, you may need to be a bit more specific.

If you really want to bring home the concept of assisting your child in being the one and only of his/her superhero choice, there are some wonderful custom invitations that will basically etch it in stone.

Another option is to portray a generic superhero figure on the invitation and word it something like, “Come to my party dressed as your favorite superhero!” http://www.partytimesrus.com/item/Super_Hero_Invitation/4485 Interestingly, if this is the way you want to go, you’ll find the “generic hero” concept in several places, giving you options for going generic. http://www.zazzle.com/superhero_party_invitation-161367125555634897 Then, include the particulars of the invitation information (date, place, occasion). You could simply refer to it as a “superhero comic party,” implying that the attendees need to actually select a recognizable superhero. There are lots, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Then, you might contact the parents to see which superhero you will be expecting in attendance, and possibly include that choice within your selection of party supplies.

Party Supplies: A great way to go is select all of your party supplies to include as many superheroes as you possibly can. With just a bit of shopping, you can find all of the superheroes individually represented on many party supplies, but may not be able to find many represented simultaneously. This actually can make for a lot of fun! Let’s say, by way of a model, that you select paper supplies for Superman dinner plates, Spiderman cups, Batman napkins, and Wolverine dessert plates. Other superheroes that you can accommodate could include Robin, Iron Man, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Bat Girl, The Incredible Hulk, Justice League, The Incredibles, Power Rangers, Captain America, Spider Girl…it’s really quite a list! You can find some party supplies with more than one superhero. Marvel Comics has provided you with most of them. “Justice League” gives you several in a group.http://sharetv.org/shows/justice_league_unlimited Also, the “Super Hero Squad.” http://superherosquad.marvel.com/

If this is a party that will include very small children, you may have some guests opting to come as a favorite Wonder Pet. Even though the show stresses that the Wonderpets’ power lies in teamwork, you are likely to see a little Ming Ming Duckling or Turtle Tuck in a cape, and that needs to be taken into consideration. Superheroes are in the eyes of the beholder.

Here’s some really good news for those of you trying to accommodate all superheroes. They seem to follow a similar color scheme. Many of them have blue, red and yellow in common. With a nod to Batman, you may add in some black. Or a bit of green for the hulk. To be truly fair, if this is to be a co-ed party, you’ll need to add a touch of pink as well. But you can center around a blue, red and yellow color scheme, which will include most of them.

On one choice of superhero decorations, you will find Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Captain America, and the Hulk. In another, Spiderman and Wolverine. You can find combinations of a lot of them, but not all of them. You may need to go for the individuals and place them, for instance, on the walls or up in the form of Mylar balloons, big cutouts, and/or posters.

You can also incorporate items associated with various Superheroes for your decorations. You might consider a Spiderman spider web, a Bat Cave which can be a card table covered in black fabric with a sign, and a sign next to The Incredibles reading, “No capes!” This was a signature statement in the movie from their costume designer, and the ultimate downfall of their nemesis as his cape got caught. (So did many of the fellow superheroes – a pretty funny ongoing theme.)

Many of the Marvel superheroes said those cool superhero words. “Sock! Pow! Zok! Biff! Bam! Blap! Whap! Ooof!” Make jagged color cutouts from construction paper and print these words on them in black felt-tipped pen, then decorate the walls with them in various spots. If you want to do some serious research, the Superhero Dictionary has every word associated with every superhero and in some cases, a synopsis of their superpower or oath of valiance, like Batman. http://shdictionary.tripod.com/pages/all.html</re>

You may find images of “old school” superheroes like the Green Hornet, the Green Lantern, Captain America, Wonder Woman and Iron Man then decorate with them as well. You can find images of their old comic book covers. <ref>http://www.samuelsdesign.com/comics/pages/super-war/greenhornet15.htm The kids may get a laugh at looking at the old guys from 1943. It may also be interesting for guests to see how long superheroes have been around!

Food and Beverages: Continue the superhero theme with the food and drinks. You can call a sandwich shop a day or two ahead of time and get a giant sub sandwich, formerly referred to as a “Hero Sandwich.” http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hero+sandwich Then, label it as such with a sign next to the sandwich. For fun, on the sign next to the giant hero sandwich, say something like, “If you are a REAL superhero, eat this whole sandwich by yourself and win a prize!” After you have no “takers,” cut in slices. Make your ingredients kid friendly like slices of turkey and cheese, and avoid onions or other yucky stuff the sub shop adds. You might ask your superhero of the day what he or she thinks should be in the sandwich. Depending on your guest list, you can actually get one of these sandwiches up to 12 feet long! http://www.subwayohio.com/index.cfm?form_prod_id=1_3&action=product You can downsize to a 6-footer or less if you want to. There are several options for these sandwiches.

You can create limeade or something else green to drink and declare that it’s “Liquid Kryptonite.” Everyone may have some EXCEPT Superman. Then, if Superman wants to prove that kryptonite no longer has a negative impact on his superpowers, he may sample a glass and react accordingly (this makes for good, cheap theater). It will either be his downfall, or he will arise victorious and unaffected at last (his choice). Or, you can tell him the Joker made you do it and that it’s really limeade. Mixing up themes to enhance the drama.

You can take this in another direction – any Wolverines may help themselves to a chocolate or bubblegum cigar. One of the ongoing Wolverine themes in the comics was that he could smoke cigars with no negative impact because of his instant healing powers. http://www.flickr.com/photos/baskajobel/2413937148/ It would be wise to have a selection of chocolate and/or bubblegum available for the other superheroes.

You can have a lot of fun with refrigerated cookie dough. http://www.pillsbury.com/products/sweet-treats/Refrigerated/refrigerated-cookie-dough.htm Once rolled out, it can be cut into a seemingly endless variety of shapes using cookie cutters, or by just cutting into objects like lightning bolts. By using the search “superhero cookie cutter,” you can find Batman, Hulk, Spiderman, and Superman. http://www.cheapcookiecutters.com/collections/superhero-cookie-cutters Decorate them any way you like, or if you’re okay with a fun messy activity, let the kids decorate them themselves. This may require some interesting colors of icing. http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/coloring/colormixingchart.htm Put the icing activity near images of the superheroes, for artistic reference.

Activities: It’s difficult to find games and activities based around more than one superhero. Your best bet is to go online and search, for instance, “Spiderman activities” and pick one. You’ll have lots to choose from with Superman, Batman, Hulk, etc.

If coloring sounds like fun, there are websites that have free coloring pages of many of the superheroes. Some have many of the superheroes coloring pages. http://www.coloringbookfun.com/

Pin the (fill in the blank) on the (fill in the blank) can go with any superhero theme, including “Pin the Badge on the Superhero” where you can go back to your generic superhero and create an image without a badge, then badges to go around with double sided tape and proceed with “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” rules.

If you have a piñata, you may have to choose one superhero, then type “Hulk Piñata” in your search, or whichever hero you choose. http://www.worldofpinatas.com/servlet/Categories

Almost every superhero has a nemesis. Each superhero should know who that is, or one among many. “Pick your bad guy.” Each superhero picks his or her arch enemy. Go into clipart sites and enter the names of as many superhero villains as you can think up. Cut them out. Have each superhero pick an image of a bad guy. Have colored construction paper and popsicle sticks and white glue. Once the bad guy has been selected, glue the image onto pieces of construction paper, write the child’s name on the back of the construction paper, glue a popsicle stick in between, set aside and let dry. At the end of the party, the superheroes can go back to collect their favors – villain on a stick!