Movie buffs, get ready to walk the red carpet because this movie birthday party is for you. We had so much fun with the movie birthday party is so much fun that I threw one for BOTH of my daughters’ 8th birthdays. I changed up and added a few things the second time around, but for the most part, I used the same movie birthday party ideas for both.
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Movie Theater Birthday Party Ideas
Part of what made the movie party exciting for eight-year-olds is that we held it on a Friday night from 5-8 pm. So everyone got to stay up late. It was so cute how important this little detail was to the birthday girl — a nighttime party!
We also went for red-carpet glam with the birthday girl (and her family) dressing up in black and white to go along with our movie party decor.
Movie Theater Party Invitation
The party started with a custom-designed ticket invitation. I designed and printed these invitations at home on a brown kraft paper so it looked like a real ticket. (Don’t miss the ticket number down the side, it is the date of the party.) My daughter’s loved the invitation, and a few of the girls even showed up with their ticket for admission.
Both of my daughters decided this was the year they wanted to have a drop-off party. Because we were known for having family parties, I also printed the following message on the back of the invitations.
Movie Theater Party Decorations
In honor of the movie premiere, we rolled out the red carpet for the movie birthday party complete with a gold tissue paper star hanging on the front door. While waiting for the other moviegoers to arrive, the kids enjoyed posing for the camera on the red carpet with movie-themed photo props.
During my younger daughter’s party, the red carpet inspired a spontaneous dance party that morphed into the girls taking turns walking the runway. They giggled and danced their hearts out up and down the red carpet. The video of this fun became my favorite moment at the party.
When I think about a movie theater, I picture rope stanchions, so our party had to have some. I considered buying a paper version, but I wanted something more authentic. So I ended up making my own. I placed two in the hall (blocking off my office and the playroom and a third in front of the dessert table).
I used PVC pipe, gold spray paint, tube insulation, red spray paint and some gold hook and eye screws to create my rope stanchions. Tutorial coming soon.
What Movie To Watch For A Party
The biggest debate was which movie to watch for the party. I wanted to be careful of ratings and content. The last thing I wanted to do was select a movie other parents wouldn’t approve of, but, of course, it also had to be something the kids would want to watch. I also tried very hard to select a movie that they hadn’t all seen because I knew if kids had seen it they would be less inclined to sit still and watch the movie. As I said, selecting the movie was a challenge.
In the end, we choose Jem And The Holograms for my oldest and Nancy Drew And The Hidden Staircase for my younger daughter. Ironically, both remakes of things I loved as a child. While both were recent releases at the time, none of the girls had seen Jem yet, and only one other had seen Nancy Drew. Perhaps more importantly, the kids LOVED both movies. Success!
Turn Your Home Into A Movie Theater
For this party, I enlisted the assistance of my techy husband to make my idea a reality. Sure, the kids could watch the movie on our 60-inch TV, but that’s boring. I wanted to turn the living room into a movie theater. So we borrowed a screen for our movie projector, turned the sectional couch into three rows and our movie theater was born.
I also covered each of the couch sections with a black table cloth to help it look more like movie seating. (Selfishly, we had just purchased a new couch before the first party and the tablecloths also protected our couch from popcorn grease and sticky candy. Mom hack!)
Movie Party Concession Stand
It’s not a movie party without concessions, and this might have been the kids’ favorite part of the party. Upon arrival, each place setting included a roll of $1 tickets to be used to purchase dinner, drinks and snacks. Oh how they loved “buying” their treats!
My husband and I took tickets as we served dinner and refreshments – 10 tickets for pizza, 3 tickets for a drink, 5 tickets for popcorn, 5 tickets for a box of candy, etc. Of course, it was all worked out ahead of time so each child received enough tickets for everything, but it was funny to watch them calculate to make sure they had enough to “buy” everything they wanted.
In addition to the popcorn bar with both salty and sweet toppings, I also stocked up on movie theater candy. You can buy movie theater boxed candy at Walmart for $1 each. The kids loved the selection of candies, and it had that movie theater feel.
Movie Party Favor
For a party favor, we sent each child home with a free movie rental.
Inside mini envelopes was a certificate I created with a RedBox movie rental code. I pre-purchase movie promo codes from Redbox and then printed one code on each certificate. The kids were so excited to go home and rent a movie for their families to watch. I think this might have been my favorite party favor ever — completely practical and totally fun.
Movie Theater Free Printable
If you want to plan your own movie theater concession stand, here are the printable signs I used for “prices.” You could create the same idea with play money, but the kids really liked counting out those tickets. And the rolls have so many tickets, I used the same roll of red $1 tickets for both parties with leftovers for several more parties.
Download the printable signs for your concession stand prices HERE.
Tip – for both parties I also found the movie poster via Google and had it printed as an 11×17 poster and hung it on the wall under a sign that read “now showing.”
Tissue Paper Star Party Decoration
Instead of the popular tissue paper numbers people make, for this party I made a tissue paper star. It is the same idea, but it fit our movie party theme. I used gold tissue paper, red ribbon, hot glue and the side of an old cardboard box. It turned out so cute that my daughter used it as decoration on the door to her room for years after the party (which is why I still had it for her little sister’s party.) Tutorial coming soon.
Popcorn Cupcakes
In keeping with the movie theme, I made popcorn cupcakes, which were a huge hit and so much fun to make. Topped with a sparkler candle. I will share my recipe and tutorial for these soon.
Movie Birthday Party Shopping List
Ready to host your own movie birthday party?! It really was a great party, and one of the most relaxing parties for me because I sat back and watched the movie with the kids. While I have many links throughout the party, here’s an easy shopping list for everything you need to throw your own movie party.
- Star plates
- Happy B-Day balloon OR this one
- Gold tablecloths
- Black cloth tablecloths (for couches and dessert table)
- Red carpet
- Movie photo props
- Red $1 tickets
- Sparkler candles
- Popcorn boxes
- Clear plastic bowls – Dollar Tree
- Gold Stars – used for background
I hope you enjoyed these movie birthday party ideas and that it helps you create a very happy birthday party. Please comment and let me know if you did, it always makes my day!
