Hawaiian Birthday Party Ideas – Get the Tiki Spirit at Your Next Luau Party!
Do you need ideas for a Hawaiian birthday party? A Hawaiian birthday luau can be a lot of fun. In fact, it is one of the most popular party themes of all. If you’ve never thrown a Hawaii-inspired birthday party before, let me give you some great tips. And just so you know, this theme is for all ages. Everyone from kids to teens to parents to grandparents can have fun with this one!
Types of Hawaiian Birthday Parties
The first thing to do is choose your theme. There are many variations, so it’s good to review the most common types of Hawaiian birthday parties to see what type you want for your celebration.
Hawaiian Luau – A Hawaiian Luau birthday is the most common of the Hawaiian themes. It usually involves Hawaiian-style barbecue with lots of island flavor, flower lei necklaces, lots of flowing tropical clothing, and sometimes even the grass skirts and coconut cups requisite for hula dancers!
Tiki Party – A Hawaiian tiki birthday party may have some of the above elements, but generally has more of an emphasis on tiki decorations and elements. There will often be tiki torches, tiki head decorations, tiki head mugs, and for a higher budget, a thatched-roof tiki hut for serving drinks.
Retro Hawaiian: A retro Hawaiian birthday theme is really making a comeback! Think back to vintage holiday postcards from the 1950s and you’ve summed up this topic. The emphasis is on the tropical Hawaii of yesteryear. A common practice for this theme is for it to be a costume party where everyone shows up in vintage bathing suits and boxer shorts. Decorations include things like old pictures of cars with surfboards, weathered wooden signs that say “This way to Oahu,” Elvis in Hawaii movies or records playing in the background, etc.
Hawaiian Costume Party – This is one of the most popular types of tropical birthday themes. With a costume party, you decide what kind of costumes your guests should appear in. There are different directions to go with this, and it can be incorporated into any of the other themes as well. Common ideas are:
Tacky Tourist: Where everyone appears in their most tacky tourist outfits.
Hawaiian Shirt Contest: Gives everyone a chance to show off their collection of tropical shirts.
Hula Dancers – where everyone, boys and girls, dresses up in hula gear.
Hawaii Beach: Required clothing items are beach shorts, flip flops, and sunglasses.
Hawaiian Birthday Party Ideas: The Planning Stages
The topics above will help you start choosing which direction to take your party planning. The best thing is that many of the ideas are mixed and matched. You can combine all the elements or choose a specific theme to focus on. So now you’re ready to start planning the big celebration. Here are some activity and game ideas for the party itself:
Costume Contest – If you have a costume party element, a costume contest is perfect. Consider these contest ideas: “Tackiest Hawaiian Shirt,” “Best Dressed Hula Dancer,” “Most Authentic Beach Bum,” “Most Worn Pair of Flip Flops.” Let your guests know in the invitation if there will be a costume contest, so they know how to dress to impress!
Flip Flop Flinging: One game that is a lot of fun is a flip flop tossing contest. Head over to the dollar store and get $15 worth of flip flops. For the contest, there are different methods you can do. One would be to have everyone line up and throw a flip-flop as far as they can. Then measure to see who got the furthest. Another variation is to have an inflatable pool ring hung on a tree and do a flop flop toss to see who can get through the pool ring.
Hula Dance Contest: This is a classic. Host a hula dance contest to see who is the best hula dancer! Variations would be who can hula the longest, who can hula the fastest while still looking like their hula dance, who can hula the slowest, etc.
Hawaiian Birthday Party Ideas: Putting It All Together
To start planning, set yourself a budget and decide how much you want to spend on decorations, food, party favors and door prizes. Choose between 3 and 5 games to play. Make sure you have instructions on how to play handy if there are complex rules. If it’s a kids or teen birthday party, you might want to add another 4 games as backup plans. You’ll never know which ones they’ll run for in two minutes.
Also set a time frame of events. You may want to switch from active activities to passive ones, alternating back and forth. This will keep kids from getting too agitated and adults from getting too tired!
I hope these Hawaiian birthday party ideas help you throw a tiki-fantastic luau good time!