Superhero Birthday Party Ideas

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Nope. Even better. It’s the cool balloons, clever backdrop, cape-clad kids and other sky’s-the-limit (yet simple) surprises at our Superhero birthday party!

Odds are, if you’re reading this, you have a superhero fan in your house and you want to add some “BAM!” and “KAPOW!” to their birthday party. Well, you’re about to become a hero, too, when you throw the best bash in Gotham City. Okay, so maybe it’ll be in your living room, but we can easily help you transform it for a day.

Every little superhero needs a big city to save. So we made a comic-book style skyline our photo backdrop. This is the perfect place for party guests to strike their favorite pose while also setting a super tone for the whole celebration.

Creating this look takes two rolls of blue gift wrap (to double-layer on the wall), black and yellow construction paper, and glue dots, which hold better than double-sided tape. Just freehand cut the black construction paper into the shape of city buildings (they don’t have to be perfect) and cut some yellow rectangles for windows. Affix the whole scene together with the glue dots, adhere to the wall (with extra tape) and WHAM! You’ve got Gotham. (Tip: Clusters of balloons will give even more height to the room, and add liveliness, for very little cost. If you don’t want to use helium, you can hang them from the ceiling. And then have the kids sit on them at the end for some extra POP!)

If you want to give your balloons an extra superhero one-two punch, it’s easy to make your own customized confetti balloons. Simply use a hole punch and choose your coordinating superhero tissue paper colors. Stuff them by placing a funnel into a clear balloon’s end and push them through with the eraser side of a pencil and then blow up the balloon. (TIP: Place the tissue paper between two sheets of regular computer paper when you use your hole punch in order to get the cleanest cut.)

When the other superheroes and fellow citizens arrive, they’ll need a place for their cards and gifts. To minimize mass confusion, we recommend a table that’s visible from the entrance, plus a card basket to save every happy wish from getting lost. We decorated ours with our free superhero-themed printable card sign for a fun POP of color.

And don’t forget to set up a special spot for the hero-of-honor to open their presents! A chair donned with a cape (DIY info below) is a snazzy way to add some extra SHAZAM! to their big unwrapping, along with this fabulous Super Happy Birthday Marquee Love Lightbox from Heidi Swapp. Plus, wrapping your own gifts in the party’s theme colors can be a pretty powerful way to point out this space. Check out our tutorial on how we wrapped gifts using teal and reversible red wrapping paper.

Want to make sure the superhero theme goes over with flying colors for everyone? Transform all the guests into caped crusaders!

Superhero capes are a breeze to make with plastic tablecloths by free-handing them with permanent marker, cutting them out (when the kids are wearing them you can’t tell if they’re uneven) — and BAM! your job is done. The kids can color our free star printable to personalize their emblem as a fun party activity. (Tip: Print the stars on large half page shipping labels or full-sheet stickers to quickly stick to the capes.)

Oh yeah, tablecloths are for tables, too! And so is gift wrap. Yep, you read that right. For a low-cost but super-cool runner, we used our reversible teal wrapping paper (cut in half, pattern-side up) on all the tables and added a red, blue, and gold tissue paper tassel to the food table for extra zing. Our DIY tassel garland how-to will help you create yours!

And knowing we needed to conserve dining table space for food and activities, we stuck with small yet power-packed centerpieces and favors. Mason jars filled with candy and marked with BAM / POW / BOOM starburst printables taped onto bamboo skewers make super-sweet centerpieces, while mini metal buckets filled with sparkly white tissue and labeled with our free printable Thank You tags are the perfect fit for favors.

When it’s time to POW-er up with food and drinks, Mylar letter balloons will attract guests to all the great stuff to eat.

It’s easy to find candy bars, gumballs, and other packaged sweets to match the theme colors.

And our free BAM / POW / BOOM starburst printables taped to toothpicks or skewers will help you decorate your cake or cupcakes in a flash!

No need to overthink the drinks because PUNCH already fits in perfectly. Just add our free printable KAPOW! sign to a beverage dispenser (we prefer the kind with a built-in bottom that places it just the right height for guests to easily fill their cups).

We also wrapped a mason jar with this reversible gift-wrap to give our straw holder extra kick.

And boom — your beverage station is complete! (Tip: Stack plates, fan napkins, and stack cups in alternating colors, and provide a few markers to put names on cups.)

One final way to pull the whole room together is to frame party-themed greeting cards and place them around the room for extra POPS! of decoration — and to wish all your guests a super celebration!