They say Star Wars has something for everyone. There is action, adventure, romance, comedy, drama, there are even subtitled parts to satisfy those with “finer palettes.” And there is a characters for just about everyone to identify with. So it was with great interest we watched our children watching Star Wars for the first time. What and who would resonate with them?
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Sometimes I really do miss the pre-CGI days! We just watched Empire Strikes Back (to get inspired when making our Halloween costumes, which will be posted soon!), and we marveled at how amazing the big battle on Hoth still looks…almost 25 years later. My favorite part is watching the Walkers. When watching, I could feel the weight of those walkers. I could feel the creaking in their knee-joints. Stop motion filming adds weight, gravity and substance in a way that CGI just can’t.
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LUKE: What’s in there?
YODA: Only what you take with you.
Luke looks warily between the tree and Yoda. He starts to strap on his weapon belt.
YODA: Your weapons…you will not need them
Luke gives the tree a long look, then shakes his head “no.”
Yoda shrugs.
Luke reaches up to brush aside some hanging vines and enters the tree.
Luke must have known he would need his lightsaber… because Darth Vader’s helmet was filled with…CANDY!?!
Make a blue lightsaber bopper, be like Luke, and get a good whack at Darth.
At last count our family had about a dozen or so of various inexpensive lightsabers, 1 of the mid-grade, and 3 of the high-end ones (OK, full disclosure, those last 3 are not the kids’…). You wouldn’t think we needed more. However, none of them worked for the General Grievous Halloween costume we did last year (instructions to come soon!). We needed smaller, lighter, and continually glowing – so we had to get creative. These are kid-sized, inexpensive, glow in the dark, AND they are pretty whackable (won’t break, or hurt you too badly when you get hit in the knees). That’s a pretty hard combo to beat! Top that off with being super simple to make, so the kids can do most of the work.
The green lightsaber works especially well for a toddler/pre-schooler dressed up as Yoda – it is light and easy to hold, and just the right size.
My daughter loved doing Perler bead patterns when she was younger. She could sit for hours. One day, as we were approaching M4P (our May the Fourth Party), we had the brilliant idea of making Perler Star Wars characters. After pondering it for a while, we figured making them into coasters would be perfect. We found a few patterns online, but decided it would be more fun to make our own. By now we have about 40 original designs and I plan on posting them all here.
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May the Fourth be with You Party 