It is no surprise that a Hawaiian Luau is one of the most popular birthday party themes. There is a great selection of party supplies, you can hold it at any location (indoor or out), and it is fun for all age groups. Read on to break out the Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts, and get ready to limbo at a luau celebration!

Hawaiian Luau Party Invitations: Set the stage for a fun Luau event by sending unique birthday party invitations. Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

  • How about sending beach bottle invitations? They are easy to prepare, and your guests will love it! Start by finding some clear water bottles and fill with a little sand and sea shells to give it a beach effect. Take a piece of bright blue color paper and write the party details on it. Then role up the paper and place it inside the bottle. You can then hand deliver or mail these birthday invitations to your guests.
  • Why not use some of your scrap booking skills and be more creative. Make a package like card that features your child’s picture with a Hawaiian flowers background. Write a caption on the birthday invitation which says: (Guests Name) Splash!! Splash!! It’s a Hawaiian Luau Party Bash!!. Then on opening the package further your guests should discover a miniature plastic bag which is filled with sand, some tropical confetti, event details and RSVP information. You can also place a paper beach ball inside asking each guest to bring along sunscreen, bathing suite, towel, etc. as needed.
  • Another idea is to write the birthday invitation details on a inexpensive flip-flop and attach it to a lei necklace. Ask each guest to bring the necklace will them to the party, along will their party attire.
  • A very convenient and easy way to invite your guests is to send out on line party invitations. There are so many great themes available and you can customize the invitation to make it your own. It also makes managing RSVP status and sending reminders for the party a breeze.

Decorations: For a Hawaiian party, a great way to decorate is to turn your backyard, park or party area into a tropical paradise. For a beach effect you can decorate with candles, Luau lights, bamboo torches, and coconuts. If indoors, you can hang green and blue streamers from the ceiling to create a lagoon effect. You can also decorate the walls with palm trees that have been painted on posterboard or cardboard and cut out.

  • Tables can be decorated with green butcher paper with frayed edges to resemble a grass skirt. You can also place post cards of various beaches on the table and scatter some sea shells all over the table to give it a Hawaiian touch. Another idea is to set up large sun umbrellas (borrowing some works great) and set them up overtop of beach towels in the party area before the kids arrive. For an extra party touch, attach a few balloons to the tops of the umbrellas.
  • A homemade castle centerpiece would be very cute on the main table at your party. For this you will need to purchase textured and sand-colored spray paint. Then spray paint a few shoe boxes and use them as the main part of the castle. To construct the towers, glue styrofoam cones to empty coffee cans and then paint. Scallops across the top of the castle can be cut out of styrofoam and painted. You can also make a tropical centerpiece scene with beach Barbie and Ken in swim suits. This would be a sure hit for a little girls party!
  • For the walls indoor you can hang posters of tropical islands or travel posters. Drape fishnets over a fence outdoors or over the luau birthday party table to create a tropical look. You can also hang tiny shell necklaces around the yard or party room.
  • Baskets of tropical fruit can be great decorations for a food table. Good choices are coconuts, bananas, papayas, and pineapples.
  • To set the Luau tone from the onset of the party, greet all of your guests with ankle leis, grass skirts and beachcomber hats as they arrive.

Luau Birthday Party Games: Hosting a successful party takes more than great decorations and tableware. Providing the right kind of games and activities according to the party theme will ensure you have a memorable event. For children it is always a good idea to have a crafts ready for entertainment as well.

Imitate An Animal: This is an awesome game for Luau birthday party. For this game you will need to prepare 2 bowls filled with paper notes - one that has the names of the guests and other with the activity you want them to perform. Some examples of activities are “wiggle like a fish” or “roar like a lion”. The birthday child then gets to pick one name and one activity and then announce what the guest needs to perform. Everyone will love the game and it is bound to get a ton of laughs. The best performer can be rewarded with a prize, which usually makes everyone do their best!

Dress Up Relay Game: This is a very funny game and a hit for any party. For this game you will have to prepare male and female outfits ahead of time. Male outfits could include a shirt, hat, pants, shoes and a tie and the women outfits could include a blouse, skirt, hat, shoes, necklace and a purse. Then divide your guests into 2 teams and make them stand on different sides of the yard or party area. When the game starts, the first guest for each team needs to put on an outfit and run to the opposite side of the yard or party area. Then they have to take off their outfit and hand it to the next team member. The game continues until this process has been completed for all the team members. The team to finish first wins the game.

Grabbing the sea animals: For this game you need to fill a large tub or small kids swimming pool with water. Then collect some floating items like plastic fish, shells, flip flops, rubber ducks, etc and place them in the water. Mark each item on the underside with a permanent marker as 1, 2 or 3. Then make 3 prize bags full of some nice little gifts like candy bars, necklaces, pencils etc. Give each child a turn trying to get an item from the tub. The kids need to keep their hands behind their backs and are supposed to grab an item from the tub using their teeth. Then they get a prize bag according to the number they got.

Hawaiian Luau Party Food: Good delicious Hawaiian food is a big hit at any luau birthday party. If outdoors, putting something on the grill works well. Drinks of fruit juice or punch would be great served with straws and cocktail umbrellas. Snacks or appetizers of grilled satays or kebabs, fruit and veggies would work well. Another very festive idea is to serve Ice Cream at an Ice Cream bar. To do this, set up a table with cones or bowls and two or three flavors of ice cream. On a second table have bowls filled with a full variety of toppings and of course wipped cream. Kids can get their ice cream scoops from an adult, and then move on to the other table to add their toppings. The kids will be thrilled with the idea of decorating their own ice cream scoops just the way they like it.

Preparing a Luau cake is very easy and a great way to impress your guests. It starts with a rectangular cake of an flavor. Then cover half of the cake with white frosting tinted blue, so that it looks like a sea. Then cover the other half of the cake with white frosting and sprinkle a little brown sugar on top of it so that it looks like sand. Next, set Hawaiian toy dancers on the sand and have a tiny shark coming up out of the ocean. You can use candles as tiki torches to give it that perfect Hawaiian touch.

Party Favors: Send the kids home from their Hawaiian vacation with luau party favors such as sand toys, sunglasses, and beach towels. If your budget allows, you could also give the kids grass skirts and hula hoops. Another idea is to fill beachcomber hats with toys, flower leis, and some candy. Some other items like mini beach balls, glow-in-the-dark bracelets and tropical fans would also be good options. With these cute party favors they are sure to remember the great time they had at your party.

Have a fun filled Hawaiian Luau party!

Online Invitations and Party Planning Ideas at PurpleTrail

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