I don’t know about things around your house right now, but in our house it’s all Star Wars all the time. And since my 6 year old only knows the original movies, it has been a perfect excuse to pull out the Sarlacc Sand Pit we made for his brother’s Lego Star Wars Party a few years back.
For those Non-Star Wars Geeks, a Sarlacc is the sand monster thing in the beginning of the Return of the Jedi movie. Luke Skywalker goes to Jabba the Hutt’s palace to save Hans Solo and Princess Leia. They get taken out on a ship over the sand monster thing (officially called a Sarlacc) and before Luke and the gang get pushed over the edge to be eaten by the sand monster, he does all this fancy jumping and fighting to get away.
Enter the famous scene of Luke swinging with scantily clad Princess Leia to save her from danger. But have no fear, this DIY Star Wars Sarlacc Sand Pit does not require any moms to dress up like Princess Leia in order to swing across it! ;) It’s easy to make and so fun for the kids. We originally created the felt Sarlacc Sand Pit for a Lego Star Wars Birthday Party that you can read about here, but it still provides hours of fun for my kids!
Supplies:
Brown Felt (2 shades)
White Felt (not pictured)
Scissors
Hot Glue Gun
Steps:
1. Cut out a large oval out of brown felt.
2. Cut out long strips of light brown felt for the tentacles of the Sarlacc Sand Pit.
3. Cut out various sizes of white triangles. You can tell that you don’t have to be very exact with this process!
4. Lay the white triangles around in concentric circles on the brown oval. We did large teeth on the outside and the smallest teeth on the inside.
5. Use the hot glue gun to glue all the white triangles down on the brown oval.
6. When all the triangles are on securely, hot glue on the light brown strips. Glue one edge in the center of the “mouth” and twist the strips before gluing down the other end. That will make them look more like twisted tentacles reaching out of the sand pit to grab little feet. =)
It’s that simple! If you have a tree branch that you can attach a rope swing to swing over it, all the better to replicate the scene in the movie where Luke Skywalker is jumping, leaping, swinging, wrestling and shooting his way away from the Sarlacc Sand Pit/Sand Monster.
Also, if you don’t have the option to swing over the Sarlacc, don’t worry! The kids can jump across or create their own means of escaping the sand monster’s long reaching tentacles! Have your own set of light sabers or other Star Wars gear? Let the kids create their own version of the action from Return of the Jedi or other Star Wars movies. I love to give the kids some props to help kick start their imaginative play!
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