If you are the parent of a little boy, odds are I don’t have to explain what is Ninjago. The toddlers have that covered. For the rest of us, it is a new LEGO set of characters and movies centered around Ninjas, super powers and other fun stories, comics we’ve come to love from LEGO. Needless to say our son loves Ninjago, and so his picnic Birthday party was all Ninjago themed.

Here are my three big keys for a themed birthday party.

1. Focus on the cake to support the theme!

Let the cake act as the center piece. I found I don’t need a lot of table decorations when I have an amazing cake.

This one I used silicone molds and fondant to create the LEGO blocks for the outside as well as the Ninja’s face. The top cake was vanilla and the bottom layer was chocolate giving the guests a few options. I love this cake because it was so easy to make.

Not shown is a cake topper we 3D printed, a Ninja Torii Gate (file can be found on thingiverse.com) but that was not necessary.

2. Have one major activity incorporating Ninjago

We had recently moved so I had plenty of cardboard around and decided to make a bad guy piñata. Basically giant LEGO head. I filled it with LEGO figurines, bubbles, and candy. The kids loved the LEGO figures. The best part about this was I made two samurai swords to hit the piñata with. Basically cut the shape out from some scrap wood, spray paint silver and the handle black. I had and old leather braided belt I cut up to wrap around the handle for additional detail. It was a hit (pun intended).

3. Create a few props for the kids in line with the theme.

Since I was not short on moving boxes I when ahead and made a couple of LEGO heads and a body for kids to put on and play with. These served as additional decorations but mostly the kids enjoyed putting them on and running around. Between that and the swords they had plenty to keep themselves entertained.