• William Moulton Marston created Wonder Woman in 1941; he made her strong and assertive, intended to serve as a role model for little girls the same way that Superman was a role model for little boys. She soon exploded in popularity, appearing in comic books, Saturday morning cartoons and a memorable1970s television series starring Lynda Carter. She makes a great theme for a girl's birthday party, providing instant inspiration for games, decorations and more.
  
  

Decorations and Food

• Wonder Woman possesses a very distinct costume--patterned after the American flag--which you can easily evoke with some simple decorations. Use balloons of red, white, blue and gold, as wells as streamers of the same color. Cut out stars using construction paper and post them up as well; you can even makes an arts and crafts project out of it with your Wonder Woman Birthday Girl. Invitations and party favors--napkins, plates, hats and the like--can be purchased with a Wonder Woman theme, and most bakeries can customize cakes with Wonder Woman's image on it. If you don't want to purchase a custom cake, decorate a cake yourself using red, white, blue and yellow frosting, then purchase a Wonder Woman action figure from the Internet or a local toy store, and use it as a decoration.
  
  

Games

• It wouldn't be a Wonder Woman party unless you had a magic lasso game. Lassos can be tough to handle if you don't know what you're doing, but you can do a fun and safe variant. Tie a length of twine or a gold lame line (available at any arts and crafts store) to a plastic throwing ring, then set up "targets" by printing out images of famous villains and taping them to empty 2-liter soda bottles. (Wonder Woman's bad guys aren't as well known as Superman's or Batman's--Circe the Sorceress, Ares the god of war, and the Cheetah top the list--but she's battled better known villains like Lex Luthor and the Joker, so you can use them too.) Have the girls take turns trying to lasso the targets, and give a prize to the girl who lands the most.
  
  Another game entails a variant of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Print up a large picture of Wonder Woman, then run off copies and cut out her bracelets and tiara from the copies. Blindfold the girls, then have them take turns pinning the gauntlets and/or tiara onto the image. The girl who comes the closest wins a prize.
  
  

Favors and Special Appearances

• Every girl should get a party favor to take home at the end of the day. The aforementioned Wonder Woman action figures work well, as do stickers or Pez dispensers with Wonder Woman's face. You can also purchase paper tiaras or make some of your own out of gold flooring vinyl if you want. Cut the shape of the tiara out of the vinyl, then Superglue a red star shape in the center. Gauntlets work much the same way, though you can use silver vinyl instead of gold. (If any boys are going to be at the party, arrange for a more masculine gift such as a red Superman cape or plastic batarang). Finally, if you know someone who fits the part and are willing to rent a costume for her, you can have Wonder Woman make a personal appearance at the party to wish your girl a happy birthday. (Most costume shops have a Wonder Woman costume or two on hand. )