Have guests make their own leis as a craft activity.
While your back yard may be a beautiful place, it can always stand to become a little more tropical with a Hawaiian-themed birthday party. If your child is into exotic locales but you can't afford such a trip, transporting him there with some tiki torches and grass skirts will work wonders for his imagination. The party can also be done in the winter in an effort to ignore the cold. Does this Spark an idea?
Invitations and Decorations
There are a lot of creative ideas that you can use for your tropical invitations. If your guest list is not extensive, try writing your invitation on a cheap flip-flop or a drink umbrella. For a regular paper invitation, include images such as tiki torches, surfboards and Hawaiian dancers. The invitation can be made into the shape of a beach item, such as a shell, sandcastle, starfish or palm tree, as well. Decorations are the most important way to set the Hawaiian scene, and they should include colorful paper streamers, large sun umbrellas, tropical posters and a lot of sand.
Food
A Hawaiian party allows for a lot of creativity in the kitchen, such as pineapples and bananas sliced like boats and covered in ice cream. For the main course, you can serve up some kid-sized kebabs with cubes of ham, pineapple, cheese and cherries on wooden skewers. Keep the menu as colorful as possible with fruit salad, fruit kebabs and oranges scooped and filled with sherbet. If you do not desire to cook a main course, you can always order up some Hawaiian pizza with ham and pineapple. The kids can also make their own tropical drinks by adding fruits and juices to a Hawaiian smoothie. Don't forget the paper umbrella for all of the drinks.
Activities
Set up a station where kids can make tissue paper flowers by folding them and attaching them to pipe cleaners. Have them create lei necklaces with some drinking straws, yarn and colored paper. Cut the paper into flowers, cut a hole in each and alternate the flowers and the straws on a string of yarn. Pour colored sand into jars in different layers. Try out a little bit of hula dancing with some novelty grass skirts. Depending on your area, an instructor may be available to teach the guests a lesson before they try the dance on their own.
Games
Many games can be adapted to have a Hawaiian feel. Hot Potato can be changed into Hot Coconut by using a coconut instead of a potato. Play some Hawaiian music while the kids pass around the coconut. The player who is caught with the coconut as the music stops must sit in the middle or control the music for the next round. A Hawaiian party favorite is Limbo. All you need is a bamboo branch or broomstick and two people to hold it up in the air. Players must bend backward in an effort to get under the stick. After all the players have given it a go, lower the stick. Musical Chairs can be replaced by small pans of water to make the game Musical Pools. Players must all attempt to find a pool and sit in it when the music stops. One player is eliminated per turn, and one pool is removed.
Tags: with some, grass skirts, Hawaiian party, main course, make their, music stops, Players must