Celebrate Star Wars Day 2020 at Home

Are you a Star Wars fan? Every May 4, SciFi geeks across the country celebrate “Star Wars Day.” (May the Fourth…. Think about it.)

Even if you’re not a fan, Monday, May 4, 2020 could mark a great time to get acquainted with the iconic movie franchise launched by George Lucas and now owned by Disney.

But where to start?

In honor of Star Wars Day 2020 – The One with the Quarantine, Geek Travel Guide presents activities and viewing ideas to provide fun for the whole family. No matter which side of the Force you’re on, and whether you’re a diehard fan or haven’t even seen all the movies, you’ll love at least a few of these shows and activities.

Start at the Beginning

If you – or your kids – haven’t been introduced to the magic of Star Wars yet, start with the original three movies. Star Wars IV: A New Hope, Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi. You can stream all three on Disney+ for Star Wars Day.

If you have middle school kids, you may want to introduce Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey as you follow Luke from his “Ordinary World” on Tattoine and his reluctance to change onto his triumphant return as a hero.

Each of the nine movies follow the mythic structure. The original three flicks also encapsulate a complete Hero’s Journey when watched together, which makes the entire series a unique storytelling adventure.

Other books and movies, from the Lord of the Rings trilogy to The Avengers, also follow this format, but the plot structure in the original Star Wars trilogy is extremely easy for even young children to follow and is often used as an example in script writing classes.

Plan a Week-long Movie Marathon

With Star Wars Day falling on a Monday, and many of us looking for activities to fill each day, you can stretch the celebration across the whole week with an ongoing movie marathon.

Check out a brief synopsis of each of the nine movies here, along with places you can catch them if you aren’t a Disney+ subscriber.  

Embrace the Cartoon Side of the Force

If you’re already familiar with the movies and want to dive deeper into the Star Wars universe, check out one of the three main Star Wars cartoon series’: The Clone Wars, Rebels, or The Resistance. All three are available on Disney+.

Star Wars: Rebels takes place after Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and before Episode IV: A New Hope and, in my opinion, is the best of the canon cartoons. Oddly, unlike many other SF series’, some of the Star Wars cartoon series are accepted as canon, rather than stand-alone adventures that don’t “count” toward the development of the universe. The cartoons contribute to the depth of the universe and its many characters. Definitely worth a watch!

Star Wars: Rebels chronicles the adventures of young Ezra Bridger, a Force-sensitive orphan on the planet Lothal, who joins the crew of the starship Ghost and becomes a padawan (Jedi-in-training) to Kanan Jarrus, a former Jedi apprentice. The soundtrack and animation are second-to-none, capturing the emotion and ambiance of the movies.

Rebels is the sequel to Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the 2008 animated series that took place between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. The latest series in the animated universe is The Resistance.

Binge the Mandalorian

This live-action Disney+ original series follows the adventures of a Mandalorian bounty hunter with the task of retrieving and protecting “The Child” – the adorable character colloquially called “Baby Yoda.”

Disney confirmed Season 2 will arrive in October, making Star Wars Day a great time to get caught up on season 1. You can power through the whole series in one day or spread it out over the week, depending on your time and attention span.

At least, that’s my plan for Star Wars Day!

Things To Do For Star Wars Day

Now that we’ve presented the viewing possibilities, let’s talk about some fun activities for the whole family.

Make your own lightsabers and have a battle – You can use pool noodles, paper towel rolls, or construction paper to make lightsabers. To make pool noodle lightsabers, trim to the appropriate size and wrap the handle in duct tape. You can paint paper towel rolls and extend the length by taping two or three together. Again, use silver duct tape to make the handle.

If you don’t have any of these items lying around, you can also roll construction paper into tubes. Or, if you have actual toy lightsabers, by all means, use those! Record your family lightsaber battle and share to your favorite social media site using the hashtag #GTGStarWars2020 so we’ll see it! Tag us using @GitGets2020 on Twitter or post to our Facebook page here.

Paint a porg (and Chewie, too) – We love these directions at StarWars.com for painting rocks that look like a porg on one side and Chewbacca on the other.

Create roll-out crafts – As part of the many (many!) freebies Disney is offering during the pandemic, StarWars.com offers instructions to make adorable roll-out characters of your Star Wars favorites. (Well, a few of them. There’s no Baby Yoda – I mean, The Child.)

All you need for these crafts are an empty toilet paper roll (or cut a paper towel roll in half to make two!), construction paper or oak tag, glue, and scissors.

If you prefer, you can use these pre-designed templates and simply print, cut, color, and paste. We love flexible crafts like these that require very little planning and let you use what you have around the house.

If you’re at all artistic, you can probably create your own designs for Yoda, Leia, The Child, and R2-D2 with ease.

Style your hair like your favorite Star Wars character – From Princess Leia’s trademark side buns to Rey’s braids and Padme Amidala’s elaborate hair styles, you can spend hours creating fun Star Wars hairstyles and taking pics. (Share with us using #GTGStarWars2020 on social!)

What do you have planned for May 4, Star Wars Day? Let us know in the comments or on social media using #GTGStarWars2020