Spiderman to the rescue!

   Lets get cracking, shall we? Spiderman. Going into this I would have sworn that throwing a Spiderman party would have been easier than a Superhero party. Shockingly, it is very much harder, what with the abundance of Spiderman merchandising. It all ends up being very commercial and not at all as appealing as the classic colours and iconic figure should be to a party theme...

 {spiderman decal}

   Starting with cakes of course, preferably cupcakes. The simple style of the Spiderman lends itself to the cupcake in one way. There is one basic cupcake/Spiderman formula and it works. Cake--what ever flavour you like, I wonder if red velvet would work?--blue frosting, red spidey mask topper. Its perfect, and all the other options are either limp or require a spidey/Venom standoff, and I have to say, villains don't go on the cute cupcakes unless its that kinda party. I did find an incredibly simple cupcake design which was white frosting with a black--maybe chocolate--web piped, set and then placed on top. Very classy, but bordering on Halloween so there needs to be something Spiderman close by. Try red and blue frosting with white chocolate webs?

{these web slinging cuppies are from Clever Cupcakes, Cupcake DD, and Jennyvier}

   For a candle cake I would personally love the mad hatter style cake with red, turquoise, white and black but that would definitely require marzipan. I like the simplicity of just the face, and it could be done with good ol' butter cream frosting smoothed out with a knife and then black lines piped on. The eyes could be more piped icing smoothed out or royal icing piped onto a baking sheet, left to harden and then placed on top. Or somewhere in between with a possible marzipan or smoothed frosting option surrounded by buildings. The buildings could be made out of marzipan again or they could be piped from royal icing or cut from died chocolate. There is an option for any skill set!

{snazzy spidercakes from here, Cupcake Sisters, and Decaf Please}

   Food for a Spiderman theme is similar to the superhero theme, with Peter Parker delivered mini pizzas from "Joe's Pizza", "Doc Ock Dogs" made by splitting the ends into eight sections--when they're boiled the ends curl up like tentacles--, "Green Goblin Pumpkin Balls" made by colouring popcorn orange, and "Sandman Power Mix" which is just trail mix in sandy colours. For drinks I found two fun and easy options of "Super Power Punch" made by mixing fruit punch with sprite for fizz, and "Green Goblin Juice" made from lemonade and ginger ale with Pop Rocks.


   Sugar? Why yes sir, I do believe I shall. Sugar cookies are a good start for any party and ovals can easily be turned into spidey faces, while circles can be spider webs or plain colour with a spider. "Spidey Webs" can be made of shoestring liquorice in red and black. Marshmallows dipped in red and blue candy melts with a corresponding mnm on top. Cakepops can be coated in the classic spidey colour scheme and even piped with white webbing. Any other store bought candy in red and blue on mass will add instant drama when put into glass vases and apothecary jars.

 {sorry, this image is AWOL and a Blissfull nest}

   Red and blue balloons are a great way to add a heap of colour to a room without much effort, but to make sure, use red or blue tablecloths with a large plate in one colour--not the same as the tablecloth--and then a smaller plate on top to match the table. White napkins are easy to find, but if your party is around Halloween it should be easy to find spiderweb napkins to use instead. Webs from Halloween are a cheap way to make it look like Spideys been by, just scatter plastic spiders everywhere for a finishing touch--also works with one of the games I found. If you have any Spiderman toys they can be utilized for decorations on the buffet, candy, cake, or sit down tables.

{direct from a Blissfull nest}

   Activities! Boy did I come up with the mother load... I'll put it in a list to make it a little more legible. But first start the party by having each kid get their face painted into a spidey mask!

• Spiderman Pinata--Venom's head is a nice balloon like shape... 

• Super Hero Lungs--This is an easy one. The kids get the balloons and when you say "go" they start blowing them up. The player/s who pop they're balloons loose, and the kid with the biggest balloon by the time you say "stop" wins!

•  Pin the Spider on the Web--Paint a web onto a large board and print out Spiderman spiders onto sticker sheets. Cut out the spider stickers and hand them out to the kids at the party and proceed as if it were pin the tail on the donkey.

• Venom Tag--Any villain is good for this game. A great way to burn off all that sugar and hyper happiness. Select a villain from unsuspecting family members or from the kids. Once a kid is tagged, they become it and so on. Remember to section off a safe zone for kids to rest when they get pooped, this could be named "Aunt May's House".

• Sandman Dig--This only works if you have a sandbox. Bury prizes in the sand and hand out shovels or let them use their hands to dig for treasures.

• Spiderman Winner. Get the kids to choose a "pumpkin ball" and on the count of three they sit on them until they pop. The kids with a winning ticket get a prize!

• Spider Web Walk--Kind of like musical chairs. Cut circles out of cardboard and paint them with spidey webs. In the center of each circle write a big number. Place them around in a circle. Play the Spiderman theme song and have the kids step from web to web. When the music stops, draw a number out of a hat and the child standing on that number wins.

• Peter Parker's Mad Science Lab--Use the below recipes to make "Goop" or "Flubber" in the kitchen. This activity relies heavily on acceptance of mess.

Goop
1 cup of corn starch
1/4 to 1/3 cup of water
paper cups

Flubber
1 1/2 C. Warm Water
2 c. Elmer's Glue & Food Coloring Solution
4 tsp. Borax
1 1/3 C. Warm water Mix
Mix the first two ingredients then the second two separately.
Then pour them together - do not stir.

• Spider Catch--The scattered spiders come into play here. Hide a few around the house for this game to be a little trickier. Explain to the kids that some spiders have gotten loose from the research lab. Instruct the party guests to hunt them down and collect the spiders.

• Spider Wed Escape--Have all the guests assemble in a circle. Have each of them extend their right hand into the circle and grab the hand of another guest. Have them extend their left hand into the circle and grab the hand of someone else. Explain to them that they are now apart of a human spider web and must escape the web without letting go!

• A crafty table is a good way to keep the quieter kids amused with printouts of a "Web Maze" and colouring sheets.

{maze and colouring in}

 

{face painting}

 {party favours}

   The idea for invitations is similar to the superhero invites, just more red and blue, spiders and webs. Again, most of them can be mocked up on the computer and printed out at home, but some enterprising mothers have gone all out with their scrap booking/stamping and done multi-layered card invites with webbing stamped on and string threaded through a picture of the man himself. I still prefer the newspaper invite though...

 {courtesy of Paper and Thread Studio, Spiderman Invitations, Hand Stamped, and Leslie Designs Stuff}



   Well, that's all for Spidey, I hope you enjoy the rivalry of Superhero vs Spiderman, and don't forget to leave a comment to say which you like better! Remember, there's a mum out there who will have to make the final choice and I do not envy her that decision...


P.S.
   The words to the theme song? Oh yeah:


Spider-man, Spider-man
Does whatever a spider can
Spins a web, any size
Catches thieves, just like flies
Look out! Here comes the Spider-man!

Is he strong? Listen, Bud!
He's got radioactive blood.
Can he swing from a thread?
Take a look overhead.
Hey there, there goes the Spider-man!

In the chill of night,
At the scene of the crime
Like a streak of light
He arrives just in time

Spider-man, Spider-man
Friendly neighborhood Spider-man
Wealth and fame, he's ignored
Action is his reward

To him, life is a great big bang-up
Wherever there's a hang-up
You'll find the Spider-man!