MORE Indoor Activities, the Star Wars Way!

See below for details!

Whether it's an Imperial takeover, First Order occupation, a Blue Shadow virus going around, or just a Kamino-style rainy day, staying indoors will not stop young Star Wars fans from loving their favourite galaxy far, far away! 

Here's another list of activity books to keep young padawans engaged and inspired while indoors! See the previous batch of books here. Some of these books may be out of print or tricky to find new, but online sources should be able to help.

For Young Students:

Star Wars Workbooks (Workman Publishing) is a line of educational workbooks to help teach younglings. There are titles for each age/grade level (Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade etc.) focusing on topics of reading, writing and mathematics.


Star Wars Phonics (Scholastic) "Learn how to read with all your favorite Star Wars characters! Perfect for reluctant readers, each book is illustrated with fullcolor images from the blockbuster Star Wars movies."

For Young Coders & Engineers:

Star Wars Coding Projects (DK) "A Step-by-Step Visual Guide to Coding Your Own Animations, Games, Simulations and more! Star Wars Coding Projects is a step-by-step visual guide to designing and coding in Scratch. The setting is as big as your imagination." (pictured above)

For Young Creative Writers: 

Star Wars Mad-Libs: The books that are word games. Loads of fun playing around and twisting up the familiar Star Wars story with your own creativity and sense of humour!

For Young Artists:

Learn to Draw Star Wars: Volume 2 (Walter Foster Jr. Creative Team) "With just a little practice, you’ll be drawing Rey, BB-8, Kylo Ren, and more. This 64-page, spiral-bound manual comes with grid-drawing exercises, tracing paper, and basic shapes projects."

LEGO Star Wars Doodle Activity Book "A brand new format for LEGO Star Wars, part activity book, part coloring/doodle book"

For Young Builders:

LEGO Star Wars Ideas Book (DK) "More than 200 Games, Activities, and Building Ideas. Features imaginative play and building ideas using your own LEGO brick collection. There are LEGO projects that take just a few minutes, it builds to keep you occupied for hours." 

Do you have a favourite Star Wars activity book? Let us know in the comments. Don't forget to check out part one of this list too!

Read, You Must: LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia

It seems like it wasn't that long ago that we reviewed the "Updated and Expanded" 2015 edition of DK's LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia! However the incredible amount of Star Wars movies and TV that has come out in the last 5 years, it makes sense that there's a need for a "New Edition" for 2020.

The LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia provides a one-sheet "file" on each character. Some major characters like Luke Skywalker have many sheets for each film appearance. Others, like Ewoks, all share one spread.

There are details about the character's place in the story as well as the LEGO minifig itself. Represented here for the first time are characters from The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, Rogue One, Solo and most recently The Rise of Skywalker.

That's a lot of new characters, or new versions of familiar characters, so to make room there are many characters not represented in this 224 page edition. Most notably absent are any characters that fall into the "Legends" category (outside the official timeline) which was a whole section in the 2015 version. Also gone are the behind-the-scenes pages.

What is here is multiple colourful images and interesting info on over 200 Star Wars minifigs, including some rare and exclusive releases.

Like many other DK LEGO Star Wars books, this comes with an exclusive minifig! With this book you get an exclusive Darth Maul minifigure, based on his appearance in Solo: A Star Wars Story. 

For LEGO Star Wars fans and collectors, this update is full of updates and info you'll want to have!
 
(Publisher's Recommendation: Ages 9 - 12)

The Ultimate Star Wars Pop-Up Book!

If you haven't explored the world of modern pop-up books you owe it to yourself to look at Star Wars: The Ultimate Pop-Up Galaxy.

The latest Star Wars pop-up book from the incredible paper engineer Matthew Reinhart is an impressive marvel to explore and animate.

Star Wars: The Ultimate Pop-Up Galaxy (2019 Insight Editions) takes things up another level (literally) from Reinhart's previously released Star Wars: A Galactic Pop-Up Adventure (2012) and Star Wars: A Pop Up Guide to the Galaxy (2007). Not only are there 5 major spreads, there are 24 pop-ups in total as each corner has it's own smaller but no less imaginative pop-up.

But that's not the end of the excitement: the entire book can be basically turned inside out and laid out as a massive table-topping 37" x 44" 3D diorama!

Diorama is a fitting word as this is almost as much a playset as it is a book. There's plenty to do, to make happen, and really the closer you look into the details the more nuggets you'll discover. There are hidden gems and little surprises everywhere. For example, despite the focus on the films, fans of Star Wars Rebels will notice a very familiar ship make an appearance.

Reinhart is the author here as well as the designer, taking us through a chronological retelling of the Star Wars films, including moments from Rogue One and Solo. The final pop-up is a space battle moment from The Rise of Skywalker.

The artwork is all by Kevin M. Wilson, so the whole book has a more "realistic" look than the previous Reinhart Star Wars pop-ups which were far more stylized.

The only drawback with the book is the construction of it. Once you completely open it up to create the full diorama, it never really holds together as well as it did before, making repeat read-throughs kind of awkward. That's a small price to pay for a book that is a really an experience to be had. The mechanics of the movement is really delightful here!

Speaking of price, this is not an inexpensive book by any means and is not necessarily even a children's book as many of the pop-ups are very delicate. However for fans young and old this would make a wonderful gift, and great way to explore the Star Wars saga together!

Read, You Must: THE Book for The Mandalorian Fans!

While no official novels or comics directly connected to The Mandalorian have been announced (yet), there is one book that fans of the wildly successful streaming Disney+ show should have in their collection: The Bounty Hunter Code.

The title alone should be familiar with viewers of The Mandalorian as the "code" is mentioned several times in the first season. But what about the "guild", or the many specific references to Mandalorian culture? All of that and more is detailed in this book.

The Bounty Hunter Code is part of a series of In-Universe books from becker&mayer!/Chronicle Books, collectively known as the "Secrets of the Galaxy" series. This series includes The Jedi Path, The Book of Sith, and more recently The Smuggler's Guide and The Rebel Files. Each book is an industry-specific guide book or training manual presented as though it actually exists in the Star Wars galaxy, complete with handwritten notes from notable Star Wars characters, as though passed from person to person over time.

The only official The Mandalorian book yet

 

2013 Deluxe Edition

The Bounty Hunter Code was released in 2013 initially in a deluxe packaging set. That included a very cool case, data card, a Kaminoan saber dart, a wanted poster and an extra booklet still unavailable elsewhere. The following year it was released on its own, just the book. While it is not specifically a book for young readers, fans who are already watching the The Mandalorian will be able to handle any of the concepts presented here.

Inside what you get is a copy of "The Bounty Hunters Guild Handbook", the guide you may need to start your career in this profession. Instructions and advice follow on how to find work, how to capture and contain targets, how to collect rewards and more. What equipment to use, what weapons and vehicles too, can mean life or death in this line of work, so it's a good idea to read carefully!

Some of the bounty hunting methods like trackers and pucks are a little different in The Mandalorian than what is written here, but remember that the series takes place after the fall of the Empire, while this handbook was put together well before the Empire then updated during the height of the Emperor's reign. Generally it feels like the creators of the TV series were all told to read this book before they started writing.

This book is subtitled "From the Files of Boba Fett" and was presumably written some time before Boba Fett was born. Some of it would not be considered "canon" in Star Wars, most notably the references to Boba Fett having a daughter named Ailyn Vel, a character not established in the official timeline. For the most part though, it is very relevant to the show and the current Star Wars galaxy.

While there's no Child here (aka "Baby Yoda"), the final part of the book is filled with concepts seen in the show: included in this book is a 30-page history of Death Watch, which covers a lot of Mandalorian warrior culture and history. What is Beskar? What is a Mythosaur? These things and more are mentioned in the show but not really explained in detail. The Bounty Hunter Code elaborates on both, enhancing the understanding of what's going on screen.

The Bounty Hunter Code was collectively written by Daniel Wallace (The Jedi Path), Jason Fry (The Weapon of a Jedi) & Ryder Windham (Adventures in Hyperspace), three of the most prolific authors of Star Wars books, and wonderfully illustrated by a variety of artists. 

Ryder Windham elaborated on some of these ideas of the working life of a bounty hunter in his novel Star Wars Rebels: Ezra's Gamble, where Ezra encounters the infamous bounty hunter Bossk.

Until there is an official tie-in book series for The Mandalorian, fans of the show can find plenty to enjoy here in The Bounty Hunter Code.

Indoor Activities, the Star Wars Way!

Whether it's an Imperial takeover, First Order occupation, a Blue Shadow virus going around, or just a Kamino-style rainy day, staying indoors will not stop young Star Wars fans from loving their favourite galaxy far, far away!  

Yes of course you could read Star Wars books, play with Star Wars toys and games, dress up in costumes (be careful with those indoor lightsaber battles!) but there are also plenty of Star Wars activity books out there to help kids get creative and enjoy their indoor time!

For Young Artists:

Star Wars Doodles (Disney)  By artist Zack Giallongo!
"Younglings can draw, color, and create with all their favorite characters from the Star Wars films."

 
Star Wars Thumb Doodles (Klutz Press) "With ink art and a few quick lines, you can recreate favorite moments from the movies or from scenes never seen before...Even in a galaxy far, far away."

Draw Star Wars Rebels (Klutz Press) "A complete how-to guide packed with expert tips and easy step-by-step instructions that let kids bring these exciting new Star Wars characters to life."
 
ART2-D2's Guide to Folding and Doodling (An Origami Yoda Activity Book) (Abrams)
One of our favourite authors Tom Angleberger—with the help of the kids from McQuarrie Middle School—presents young Padawans with 75+ activities from the Star Wars universe. This is a tie-in book to the popular Origami Yoda book series.

For Young Scientists & Engineers:

Star Wars Maker Lab (DK) "With 20 amazing projects, Star Wars Maker Lab teaches your budding Padawan how to become a Master of science, in both the real world and the Star Wars galaxy."

Star Wars Science Fair Book (Scholastic) "Gear up for Science Fair season with exciting Star Wars-themed science experiments!"

Star Wars Folded Flyers (Klutz Press) "For the first time ever, you can fold Star Wars flyers that fly with the force. Star Wars Folded Flyers will speed through the living room as well as they do in outer space."

For Young Crafters & Cooks:

Star Wars Mania "Part craft book, part activity book, with over 40 projects to make in each book, the Mania series offers hours of creative fun for boys and girls of all ages!"



The Star Wars Craft Book (Del Rey) "Fans of all ages and skill levels can bring the best of the galaxy far, far away right into their own homes." 

Star Wars Make & Do (Egmont Books Ltd UK) "Plenty for young Star Wars fans to do: things to make, including a Chewbacca hand puppet, a stormtrooper helmet, and the Yoda decoder."
 
The Star Wars Cook Book: BB-ATE (Chronicle) There have been several books in the series. This one is the most recent and focuses on breakfast and brunch items. And as always, a lot of food puns. 
 
Do you have a favourite Star Wars activity book? Let us know in the comments. There's probably enough we missed to make a part 2 to this. Maybe 3!