Tropical Lua
Theme
You could also call this a beach party. This would be a great party to have at the beach. What you don't live near one? If there is a lake nearby you can have it there
and pretend it is the lake. The kids don't really care. If there is sand and water then they are content and that fits the beach party
theme. Invitations can be sent on inflatable beach balls (which are fairly inexpensive.). Just write the information on it with a
permanent marker and then they can bring the ball with them to play with. The party favors can be plastic shovels and pails with the
kid's names written on it. You can decorate with just about anything since there is alot of decorating room to work with. Don't forget your Beach Boys music! YOu can give the guests
leis that you get at a party supply store.
Menu Ideas
Paper umbrellas in the drinks are a must. Once again this is something that is fairly cheap. When you make ice cubes in the trays put some food coloring in it.
You can put blue food coloring in it and serve lemonade. It makes for a very tropical looking drink. You could have goldfish (served in a plastic pail), sugar cookies with icing on it
to have the look of a beach ball, pineapple, kiwi (even if the kids don't eat it, it will look the part of a tropical menu) and other fruits like that. There is not a whole lot of other kinds
of food really needed with this theme. You can get a watermelon and cut it in half lengthwise. Cut jagged lines out of the top of the rim. Take out the watermelon from the shell, clean it out a little,
and then place your fruit inside the watermelon. You have a watermelon serving bowl! You can serve fruit smoothies instead of regular punch, soda or juice. How about a pineapple upside down cake instead of a regular
icing cake?
Decorations
You can put inexpensive seashells out. You need "light" colored decorations for this party. Don't forget to get a couple of coconuts to lay out on the table. They don't need to be eaten (I don't
know very many kids who will eat coconuts) but they add to the "ambiance". You can also cut the coconuts in half ahead of time and use these as cups for the drinks. Anything in a coconut shell as a drink
looks tropical - especially if you add that little umbrella. Get a few exotic flowers for decorations. You don't need to spend a fortune on this, just a few would make a big difference.
Games
What about a scavenger hunt. You can have them searching for soap in shell shapes, or for real shells. Little plastic sunglasses, beach balls, etc. Something that you would use at
a tropical beach.
Art idea - purchase plastic sun visors. Set up a table where the kids can take turns going to the table to decorate them the way they like. Maybe with watercolors, or permanent markers. They really
like to do this and depending on the age of the children, there isn't too bad of a mess. You will want to choose age appropriate "decorating tools". For littler ones, markers might
be a better idea then paint.
Instead of decorating the shovel and pails for the kids, you can have another activity table where they can decorate their shovel and pails the way they like. Follow the same age guidelines
for mentioned above. You can use pom-poms, glitter, sequins, etc.
If you have a little extra cash flow in your budget you can have the kids decorate glass fish bowls. These are a few dollars a peice - but if you have quite a few kids coming then it can get costly. You can go to the
pet store and purchase a gold fish to take home with them. These are only around $.30 a peice. They won't need an air filter or any of those things that some other fish need, so it will be no more of an added
expense for the parents after they get home (depending on if you get small containers of fish food for the kids also).
Hula Dancing Contest - get some hula music and have the kids do a hula dancing contest. There doesn't need to be a winner, but the whole process is hilarious. The kids will have a great time with it.
Sand Art- save up plastic bottles for a while before the party (clean them out) untilyou have enough for everyone that will be coming. Then you get colored sand and they can make their own sand art. You wantto use plastic bottles
that have lids, such as the 20 oz. soda bottles or water bottles. That way they can put the lid on it and keep it forever.
It wouldn't be a lua without a limbo contest!
