The Ultimate Hunger Games Party (Okay, maybe not "Ultimate" but still cool)

I have teenagers, and my teenagers are big readers.  I mean BIG READERS.  My kids consume books like oxygen.  So if there is a popular series out there, you can bet my kids have read it.  This type of reading often leads to huge anticipation when a book turns into a movie.

Most recently that book-turned-movie was CATCHING FIRE.  We don't let our kids watch PG-13 movies in the theater until they turn thirteen.  As luck would have it, my daughter's thirteenth birthday coincided with the release of the second Hunger Games movie, so we decided to include the movie as part of her party.

Disclaimer: We only have big birthday parties for our kids once every four years.  On the other years they have to settle for a small, family party.  This year was a BIG party year.


Here is a peek at some of the Hunger Games-themed activities we did:

Invitations: Our invites looked something like this.

Food

First of all we tried to pick foods that might look like they came from the capitol.  Not necessarily good food, but definitely pretty food.  We also included a bowl of "nightlock berries" just in case Seneca Crane stopped by.

Quiz: What District Do You Belong In?

This took a little bit of work on my part, but was super cool.  I wrote up a quiz and weighted the different answers to correlate with each district.  When you copy this quiz for the kids, take away the numbers in parenthesis.  They are your key for scoring.

When I grow up I want to:

1. Work in a factory (3,8,2,5,7)
2. Work on a farm (9,11,13)
3. Work on a ranch (10,1,4, 12)
4. Drive a bus (6)

 For my birthday I would love to get:

1. Books (7,13,9,11,13)
2. Jewelry (1,2,12)
3. Clothes (8,4,10)
4. Video Games (3,5,6)

  

My room is usually:

1. Spotless (1,2,3,13)
2. A disaster (11,12)
3. Somewhere in between (4,5,6,7,8,9,10)

When it comes to money:

1. I’ve always got plenty (1,2,3,4)
2. I never have enough (5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13)

In my spare time I like to:

1. Play sports (1,2,4)
2. Go camping (12,7)
3. Garden (9,10,11)
4. Read spy novels (8,13,3,5)
5. Relax (6) 

I can’t live without:

a. TV (3,5,6,7)

b. Food (11,12,13,8,9,10)

c. Sports (1,2,4)

My parents work at:

1. a nuclear reactor (13)
2. a factory (3,8,9)
3. a farm (10,11)
4. Other (1,2,4,5,6,7,12)

 My favorite animal is:

1. Fish (4)
2. Horses (10)
3. Insects (11)
4. Cats (1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9)
5. Bacon (12,13)

  

I love:

a. Painting (6)

b. Reading about Roman mythology (2)

c. Climbing trees (11,12)

d. Legos (3)

e. Candy (1,4,5,7,8,9,10,13)

I would rather vacation:

a. In the mountains (2,12)

b. At the beach (4)

c. In the forest  (7,10,11)

d. In the city (1,2,3,5,6,8,9,

e. Underground in a Hobbit hole (13)

So when the kids arrived, they took the quiz to find out which district they belonged to.  Score the quiz by adding up how many answers they selected associated with each district.  For example, on the last question if you said you would rather vacation in the mountains, you would get one point towards district 2 and one point towards district 12.

Once they had their district chosen, they made arm bands (or head bands if they were so inclined) that they wrote their district number on and wore throughout the party. 

Pin the Mocking Jay on Katniss


Obviously this is just like pin the tail on the donkey, but we drew a life-sized picture of Katniss and printed out little Mocking Jay pictures that we copied online.  (I originally suggested "pin the kiss on Peeta" but my daughter said no way!)


Darts

A bow and arrow would have been more appropriate, but we didn't have any, so we used a regular old dart board to determine who was a straight shooter like Katniss.

Survival Bracelets

For a craft/activity we made para-cord bracelets (you know, to help the kids survive in the arena, right?).  They were super fun and easy to make.  For a full tutorial, click here: Para-Cord Bracelet

Sponsor Gifts

When the kids won a game, they would earn a gift from their "sponsor."  We had goody bags featuring gifts from several different districts.  Each of the items inside the bags represented something about that district.  Candy coal from District 12.  Swedish Fish from District 2.  Nuclear War Heads from District 13.  Fruity candy from District 11.  Chocolate coins from the Capitol.  The bags obviously could have been a lot cuter, but my printer was broken at the time, so brown paper bags was what we got.



Good luck! And may the odds be ever in your favor...


Marcia