Indiana Jones Party

Tyson is all about Indiana Jones because of the Lego Wii games, so he decided to have an Indiana Jones party this year. I wish I could take credit for all these brilliant ideas, but I can't. I got the ideas from 3 different blogs.
More than Mulberries Who also emailed me the invitation template -- Thanks again Kristen!, A Lemon Squeezy Home, and malinate. Just want to give credit where credit is due.
As the guests arrived they were instructed to select a satchel containing items every good adventurer needs (all ordered from Oriental Trading. Where would I be without them?). As we waited for everyone to arrive, we put together our compasses.

The party was divided into different "sections" (for lack of a better word) of different things that Indy and all true adventurers have to do. I put each activity clue on a map and they were found at the end of the previous activity. The first clue was in Tyson's satchel.

Clue #1 Scour the Earth for Treasure
I had a planter box filled with dirt set up in the kitchen and in the planter box were "jewels" the kids had to find. I gave them 5 minutes to find as many treasures as they could, but I think 3 minutes would have been better because that's about the time it took for them to find them all.

Clue # 2 Conquer your Fears
What is the one thing that Indiana Jones is terrified of? Snakes of course! In the kitchen I had a "snake pit" that the kids had to get across. It was just a wooden plank with rubber snakes all around. If they fell off the plank, they would get "bit" and would have to go back and start all over. After they all had crossed, I let them each pick 3 snakes to put in their satchel to take home.

Clue #3 Be Quick on your feet.
I took the boys downstairs. On the stairs was placed an Idol about 4 stairs up. (Thank goodness hubby had a scary looking wooden guy from his mission in Brazil.) Then on go they had to get the idol from off the stairs without getting hit by a "boulder" (orange beachballs from OTC thrown down the stairs by big sister and big brother). This was the big hit of the party! They wanted to keep playing over and over! It was a blast! Everyone also got a "boulder" to put in their satchel.

Clue #4 Be able to land a plane.
I had Bruce come show the boys how to make a paper airplane and then we had airplane flying contests.


Clue # 5 Use the weapons of the Natives
I had 1/2 inch PVC pipe cut into 6 inch pieces. They were our blow guns. They boys used them to shoot mini marshmallows at pictures of the bad guys I had hanging on the wall. We had one bad guy from every movie, so 4 total. This was also a big hit with the boys (and the baby liked picking all the marshmallows up and eating them!). I let them shoot for as long as they wanted and then they got to put their shooter in their satchel.

Clue # 6 Return artifacts to their rightful place.
Around the yard I had scattered 20 "crystal" skulls. (They weren't really crystal, they were 1 inch plastic skulls ordered from OTC.) They had to find all the skulls and return them to the well of souls (a cake pan I had wrapped up fancy). After all the skulls had been returned, they each got to put 3 skulls in their satchel.

Clue # 7 Know when to relax and take a break.
We headed inside to Club Obi Wan (the living room) for a little break. We sang to Tyson and he blew out his candles. Then we ate cupcakes and drank Sprite. After everyone had finished their treat I yelled "Oh No! The Sprite has been poisoned!"

We had to go out to the clubhouse and find the Holy Grail (an old plastic vase I found in my basement) which held the antidote! I filled the vase full of candy and each of the boys had to eat a piece to be saved from the poison and then they had to put some in their satchel in case their symptoms came back or if they got poisoned again!

Clue # 8 Find the Lost Ark
I took a styrafoam cooler and spray painted it gold to make the lost ark. I filled it full of treat bags and hid it in the yard. They had to work together to find it and bring it to safety. They couldn't open it though because we didn't want anyone's skin melting off! So they brought it to me and everyone covered their eyes while I opened it. Then everyone got to take a treat bag and put it in their satchel.

Tyson then opened his presents and the boys played for about 10 minutes until parents came to pick them up. They all got to take home their satchel filled with their "treasures" It was such a fun day and I love that Tyson had to wear his Indy costume! I love birthday parties!