Birthday party activities: Create your own superhero

May 14, 2009

Who cares about Batman, Superman and the X-Men? For some kids, it may be more fun, and satisfying, to create a superhero of their own.

To do this successfully, parents should make sure there is enough material available for the party guests. One way to organize items for this activity is to take multiple boxes or crates and deem one "masks," another "weapons" and a third one marked "shirts."

With the shirts, it may be easier to purchase a package of cheap white undershirts and supply markers or watercolor paints for the guests to decorate them. If the guests are a bit older, you may be able to bring out safety pins and construction paper so they can create an emblem and attach it to the shirt.

Also, be sure to have some backup superhero ideas in case one guest may not be as creative as others (this may include thinking up names or outfits beforehand).

Finally, make sure you have each guest present their costume to the entire party and explain their name, superpower and maybe how they hope to help the world. Oh, and don't forget to ask them to sing their theme song.