Kids pick sides at Batman v. Superman superhero theme party

Superheroes are a big deal, for both kids and adults, and the box office numbers for the movies prove it. As a result, superhero themed parties are going to be popular choices.

For his 9th birthday, my son wanted a "Batman v. Superman" party. But, this isn't the first time I've had a request for a superhero party. My oldest had a general superhero party when he turned 3- before the Marvel Cinematic Universe came alive.

I was able to reuse some ideas, but also had to tailor some ideas for the more specific theme (based on a movie I hadn't seen yet). I'll share what we did for both parties, since both were a hit with the kids.

Superhero theme invitations can be store bought, or parents can easily make their own personalized ones. For the Batman v. Superman theme, I downloaded an image from the Henry Cavill News website and placed it at the top of the postcard-sized invite.

Don't forget the who, what, when and where, as well as contact information for an RSVP or more information.

Decorations can be as simple as blue balloons and streamers (as my nine-year-old wanted) or a little more advanced.

The table can be decorated with a dark blue tablecloth, Batman napkins, Justice League plates and a cupcake centerpiece.

For the general superhero party, for example, we "transformed" our living room into the Hall of Justice from the Super Friends cartoon. Covering a book case and table with a sheet and poster board, we recreated the super-sized computer with images and information on several "escaped" villains.

As an extra touch, we had "newspapers" we created from a few cities with the "news" of the day scattered on a table.

Another way to decorate is to dress each party goer up as a superhero. Using felt fabric and stick-on Velcro, capes of various colors can be made for each child to wear.

Games are the heart of the party, and traditional party games can be changed to fit with the theme. Make sure there are prizes for each game- we found Batman wrist bands, which are great prizes because the kids were able to wear them for the rest of the party.

Pin the Bat on Batman- This is essentially Pin the Tail on the Donkey. On poster board (or the inside side of a cut open shopping bag) draw a Batman without the bat on his chest. Then, cut bat shapes out of black construction paper. Blindfold each child during his turn, and give him a bat with tape attached.

Pass the Kryptonite- This is played just like Hot Potato. Find a glow stick at a party, craft, or big box store. Just before the party, crack and shake the stick so it looks like a glowing bar of kryptonite, the stone from Superman's planet that makes him weak. When the music stops, the person holding the kryptonite is out of the game. (Some of the kids even enjoyed acting the part of Superman during the game.)

Villain Bowling- The kids get to be heroes with this game. I took images of Lex Luthor, Joker, Catwoman, Bane, Doomsday and Trickster, and wrapped those images around empty water bottles. The bottles were set up like bowling pins, and the kids got two chances to knock down the villains with a ball. Some kids will throw hard, so be careful with where this game is played.

Mr. Freeze Dance- Mr. Freeze is a Batman villain who has a freeze gun, making this a perfect renaming of Freeze Dance. This a great game to save for last since, as long as no one makes obvious movements, you can help a child who didn't get a prize earlier to win one.

Cupcakes with the logos of heroes allow each child to pick their favorite one. For the Batman v. Superman party, we only had Batman and Superman cupcakes, but at the general superhero party, we included Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Flash, and I even made a Hall of Justice cake.

While it may look complicated, the logos are easy to make. All that's needed is melted colored candy melts or chocolate, a squeeze bottle for candy decorating and tube decorating icing.

For Batman, melt chocolate and squeeze out the outline of the bat shape- a straight horizontal line with five points coming down to make the wing area, and then an "M" shape to make the head.

Superman is probably the most complicated. First, with melted yellow candy, create a diamond shape. Once cooled, for stability reasons, place the diamond shape on the cupcake, then pipe on the outline and "S" design on the diamond with red tube decorating icing.

For the others, both Wonder Woman and Flash use yellow candies- Wonder Woman's is simply one "W" with a smaller "W" just above with horizontal lines off the side tips of the letters, while Flash's is a lightning bolt. Green Lantern's uses green candies shaped to form his lantern logo, a circle with horizontal lines above and below.

The frosting acts a background to the logos- Batman gets yellow/gold, Superman gets blue, Wonder Woman and Flash get red and Green Lantern gets white. To get the frosting colors brighter, instead of regular food color, use icing gel color.

Favors can stay on theme thanks to the continuous popularity of both Batman and Superman, as well as the Justice League.

At Party City, we found Justice League tattoos, Batman cream candies, and Batman pencils. Target happened to have foam superhero masks in the party department. In the holiday (Easter was the closest) department of Dollar General, we found Batman and Superman assorted candies. And, at the grocery store, Batman v. Superman fruit snacks were available.

Kryptonite was once again used, this time in the form of rock candy, also found at Party City. (I individually wrapped the rock candy using clear bags available at Party City.)

Other favor ideas could include a comic book (make sure it's kid-friendly) and stickers.