THE INVITATION

Make the card in the shape of a rocket or an UFO. You can use thermocol or chart paper for the cut out or better still, take a small ball and stick a chart paper or cardboard ring around it to represent a UFO. You can write out the invitation around this.

LET'S GO WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE.
LETS TAKE ATRIP INTO OUTERSPACE
TO CELEBRATE MY 5TH BIRTHDAY
LIKE NEVER BEFORE.

DESTINATION: MARS/VENUS

TAKE OFF: 4 HUNDRED HOURS

DATE: 20th November 2000

RISHAD WADIA
 

THE DECORATION

Let your imagination run wild. On the ceiling you can have the entire galaxy, as in a planetarium. Or paint it blue and have star danglers hanging from the ceiling. You can also paint various aliens, Martians or men in spacesuits, and even characters like Darth Vader, Yoda the Jedi and R2D2 from Star Wars, or Captain Kirk and Spock from Star Trek at the four different corners of the room. Use plaster of Paris or paper mache to make a moon with craters and have a cut out of an astronaut walking on it.
Or if you are really adventurous, try to make the interior of the party hall look like a spaceship and have cut outs of men in space suits put up at strategic places in the room. Maybe one could be dangling from the ceiling or one could be floating upside-down. 
 

THE ENTERTAINMENT

STAR WARS: have a set of videogames ready and invite two or three players to play it one at a time. Have a couple of elimination rounds and award a prize to the final winner. Or better still; use Nintendo's virtual games.

PRINCESS LEA: a new name for the more popular 'Queen of Sheba' where you once again divide the players into two teams and ask them to do the Queen/Princess' bidding. Whichever team is able to come up with whatever object or article she asks for first is awarded a certain number of points. At the end, the team with the highest point wins.

MR./MISS UNIVERSE: as the name suggests, have a personality contest for the best costume.

FOUR CORNERS: use the cut outs of Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Spock and Captain Kirk in the four corners of the room. Play music and ask all the children to run around and stop at any corner of their choice once the music stops. Pick out a chit disqualifying all the children in that corner each time the music stops…until you have your winner.
 

RETURN GIFTS

1. A rocket pencil box.
2. Laser pistols
3. Darth Vader's sword. (With lights).
4. Laser key chains.
 

THE CAKE

The cake can be in the shape of a rocket or an UFO to go with the invitation card. Or you can also have it in the shape and colour of any planet of your choice. A huge star with the birthday boy/girl's face on it would also be nice. But a Martian would be better still. 
You could also order a plane chocolate rectangle with the icing done in the shape of the entire universe, with the sun in the center and the 9 planets revolving around. 
 

THE BIRTHDAY DRESS

Well there are tonnes of options within this theme. You could dress your child up as his/her favourite space movie character - Princess Lea, Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker. Or else make him don an alien suit, using green tights and t-shirt with cardboard horns. Or any which way you could imagine an alien or extra-terrestrial. Or if all else fails, a simple space suit will be fine.
 

AGE GROUP OF CHILDREN

Children in the age group of 5 - 10 years will certainly enjoy this party.
 

PARTY FOOD

1. UFO APPAMS (the Kerala style dosa with an idli-like center that looks like an unidentified flying object). It goes well with a veg/chicken/mutton stew or some spaced out chili garlic chutney.

2. SPACESHIP or UFO BURGERS, where the burger buns should be smaller than the patty inside. Have it standing on 4 toothpicks and stick olives or cherries around it to represent windows.

3. SATURN RINGS with onions rings dipped in a gram flour batter and deep-fried.

4. SMILY MARTIAN SANDWICHES made with tomato sauce or a tomato based chutney. Cut the bread in circles and draw smiling faces on them.

5. MOONADE - a lime and lemony drink flown in straight from the moon.

6. STAR SHAPED TIKKIS.