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With Avengers: Doomsday coming to theaters, it feels like the perfect time to pull out all my favorite Marvel party ideas again! We threw an Avengers party for my son’s fifth birthday, and years later it is still one of my favorite parties we’ve done.
The best part? You really don’t have to spend a fortune to pull off an epic Marvel party. A lot of our decorations and games were made with cardboard boxes, tissue paper, foam board and other inexpensive supplies from the dollar store. Whether you’re planning an Avengers birthday party, a Marvel movie night to celebrate the new movie, or just have a house full of superhero-obsessed kids, I’ve rounded up my favorite Marvel party decorations, games, activities and printables all in one place.
DIY Avengers Party Decorations
My goal when decorating for our party was basically to make the room feel like we had stepped inside a comic book. Think bright colors, skyscrapers, superheroes flying through the air and plenty of those classic comic-book vibes.
DIY Superhero Cityscape
One of my favorite decorations also happened to be one of the cheapest! I saved cardboard boxes from around the house—cereal boxes, granola bar boxes, Goldfish boxes, basically whatever was headed for the recycling bin—and turned them into a superhero city. I wrapped the boxes in brightly colored tissue paper and added black cardstock squares for windows. Using boxes of different heights and sizes helped create the city skyline look. Then I scattered Marvel character cutouts throughout the buildings. Some stood on rooftops, some were down at street level and, at the birthday boy’s insistence, Iron Man was flying through the air!
You can see exactly how I put everything together in my DIY Avengers Party Decorations post.
Avengers Party Table
The little city buildings became the centerpiece for our entire table.
I ended up using a blue tablecloth that I already had and cut the center out of this tablecloth to create more of a table runner. Then I ran the cardboard city down the center and tucked cupcakes and Marvel characters throughout it. Here are some fun cutouts that would compliment this comic book aesthetic.
At each place setting, every kid also got a superhero mask and cape (this set was great!). Naturally, choosing which superhero you were going to be for the party was serious business.
Marvel Dessert Table
For the dessert table, I carried over the same superhero city theme. Our Hulk cake was the star of the show, surrounded by Captain America cupcakes, more DIY city buildings, Avengers characters and this superhero backdrop that complimented the tablecloth I used on the table. The Captain America cupcake toppers are available as part of my Marvel Digital Party Pack.
Above everything I added this big red, white, blue and gold balloon garland. Balloon garlands are one of my favorite ways to make a party look like you put in WAY more effort than you actually did. They fill a lot of space, add tons of color and make the whole setup feel finished.
Avengers Party Games & Activities
Now for the fun part! We played several Marvel-inspired games at our party, and most of them were made with inexpensive supplies. These were originally created for five-year-olds, but several could easily be adapted for older kids too. You can find all the details in my 5 Avengers-Inspired Party Games post, but here are some of our favorites. You can also see a video of all the games here.
Make Your Own Captain America Shield
I love starting a birthday party with a craft. It gives kids something to do while everyone is arriving instead of having that awkward 15 minutes where half the guests are there and you’re trying to entertain everyone while answering the door!
For our Marvel party, the kids made their own Captain America shields using large silver platters, red, white and blue poster board and Mod Podge. I precut the circles so everything was ready when the kids arrived. Starting with this activity also gave the shields plenty of time to dry before everyone went home.
Hawkeye Target Practice
This one couldn’t be much easier. We hung a hula hoop from a tree branch and let the kids take turns shooting arrows through it with a toy bow and arrow. Give everyone a few shots and then send them back to the end of the line if they want another turn. Instant Hawkeye training!
Shoot Like Spider-Man
All you need for this game is foam board, a marker and silly string. Draw a giant spiderweb on black foam board and let the kids take turns blasting the web with silly string.
Simple? Yes. Messy? Also yes. Did the kids love it? Absolutely. We actually made two targets so we could have two kids going at once. And if your budget allows, don’t be afraid to buy extra silly string. It WILL get used.
Hulk Smash Game
This was probably one of my favorite activities from the whole party. I hot glued plastic cups onto foam board, placed prizes and a Hulk action inside each cup, then covered the openings with green tissue paper secured with rubber bands.
The kids took turns SMASHING through the tissue paper. But there was a catch! Before they could collect their prize, they had to complete the Hulk action hidden inside. You can see a video of the assembly of the game here.
The printable Hulk action strips I used for this game are included in my Marvel Party Printable Bundle.
Defeat Thanos Balloon Game
What’s an Avengers party without a villain? For this game we turned purple balloons into Thanos and let the kids defeat him with Nerf guns. We attached purple balloons around our trampoline and let everyone take turns shooting at them until they had defeated every last Thanos.
You can even let the kids draw angry Thanos faces on the balloons before you start. This one is especially fun if you’re planning an Avengers movie night because it gives everyone something active to do before settling down for the movie.
Marvel/Avengers Party Printables
If you’d rather spend less time making everything from scratch, I’ve already done some of the work for you!
My Marvel/Avengers Party Printable Bundle includes 15 pages of Avengers-inspired printables designed to help pull the whole party together.
The bundle includes:
- Avengers cupcake toppers
- Happy Birthday banner
- 8×10 superhero prints featuring characters including Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor
- Hulk Smash game action strips
Print everything at home, add a few inexpensive decorations and you’re well on your way to an epic Avengers party.
Planning an Avengers: Doomsday Movie Night?
These ideas don’t have to be limited to birthday parties! With Avengers: Doomsday hitting theaters, this would be such a fun theme for a Marvel movie marathon or Avengers movie night. Set up a superhero dessert table, print some Marvel decorations, make a batch of Captain America cupcakes and choose one or two of the games for the kids.
You could even spend the weeks leading up to the new movie rewatching your favorite Marvel movies together. Honestly, any excuse for a themed movie night is good enough for me.
More Marvel Party Inspiration
If you’re ready to assemble your own team of superheroes, I’ve got even more details waiting for you!
Check out my DIY Marvel Party Ideas for a look at the entire party, head to DIY Avengers Party Decorations for decorating tutorials, and don’t miss my 5 Avengers-Inspired Party Games for all the game instructions.
And if you want to make party prep even easier, grab my Marvel Party Printable Bundle and let me take a few things off your party-planning to-do list.
Now all that’s left to do is assemble your Avengers!