Spiderman or Superman, Batman or Buzz Lightyear. Whoever your child's favourite superhero is, here's everything you'll need to create a super celebration

Invitation ideas

• Cut out action hero emblems and logos from felt. Cut out the same logos from double-sided iron-on interfacing paper. Iron the two layers together. Post the logos and the party details to your guests. Tell the guests to ask their parents to iron the logos onto old T-shirts or capes, and to wear them to the party.
• Make a copy of a page from an action hero comic, Tippex out some of the speech bubbles, fill in the party details, make copies and post to guests.

Costume ideas

• Have the children dress up as action heroes.
• Supply kids with masks, capes, gloves, glasses and other accessories.

Decoration ideas

• Set a super scene by creating or buying giant cut-outs of action heroes or hanging them on the walls of the party room.
• Play action hero theme songs.
• Make table centrepieces and decorations with small plastic action figures and comics.

Games

• Host an 'Action Hero Olympics'. Prepare a series of challenging feats, varying the games so that everyone has a chance to win. Include long jumping, fast running, long-distance ball throwing, balance-beam walking, obstacle course challenges and relay races. Be sure to have plenty of adults on hand to supervise.
• Play 'Super Hearing'. Have the guests identify mysterious tape-recorded sounds.
• Play 'Super Tasting'. Blindfold the children and have them taste and guess foods.
• Play 'Super Smelling'. Blindfold the kids and have them sniff a variety of aromas and name the sources.
• Play 'Super Vision'. Have the kids look at enlarged or reduced pictures and everyday items and guess what they are.

Activities

• Make 'Power Portraits'. On thick craft paper, trace and cut out two body outlines of each guest. Have the children decorate the outlines - one as a front and the other as a back - using felt-tip pens, crayons, scraps of fabric, poster paints and glitter. Staple the sheets together, leave an opening at the top. Stuff the 'bodies' with newspaper then seal the head and prop up around the party room.
• Make your own action hero comics. Have each guest draw and colour a panel featuring his or her favourite action hero character.
Assemble the panels to make a funny story.
• Make fabric capes. Have the children decorate the capes with glitter and stars.
• Persuade an adult friend to come to the party dressed as your child's favourite superhero for a surprise visit.

Food ideas

• Add various food colourings to fruit drinks for a super hero thirst-quenching energy formula.
• Build a superhero sandwich. Cut two baguettes length-wise and fill with layers of meat, cheese, tomato, and lettuce.

Bake an action hero cake:

1. Bake a sponge cake; cool.
2. Decorate the cake with an emblem from your child's favourite action hero's costume using coloured icing.
3. Set small action figures all over the cake.

Party bags

• Send the guests home with small plastic action figures and comics.
• Hand out the 'Power Portraits' and capes that the kids made.

Copyright 1997 by Penny Warner. Reprinted from The Kids' Pick-a-Party Book with permission of Meadowbrook Press.