A hula birthday party theme is suitable for both children and adults.
Hula dancing, according to the Smithsonian Institute, originated as a Hawaiian dance to ceremonially retell the legends of Hawaiian culture, but it evolved over time to become a less formal storytelling format. Today many enjoy hula dancing shows at Hawaiian-themed parties, such as hula birthdays.
Create your own bit of paradise in your backyard by throwing a Hawaiian-themed hula birthday party for the young honoree. Even adults chaperoning the party will find themselves acting like a kid and hula dancing next to the child guests. Does this Spark an idea?
Hula Dancing
Hire a local hula dancer entertainer to perform. Keep the performance short, depending on the age of the kids at the party. Younger children will have a shorter attention span than their older peers. Ask if the entertainer will also offer a brief lesson in hula dancing to the children. Alternatively, show a video on hula dancing and have the children try to emulate the dance on the screen in their own impromptu hula.
Hula Hoop Contest
In 1958, the hula hoop was introduced to Americans by its inventors: Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin. They took the idea of a hoop twirled around the hips from a visiting Australian. They added the word "hula" to indicate that the user of the hoop should move her hips like a hula dancer. The product became an instant hit, selling more than 100 million international orders within a year of its introduction, according to Lemelson-MIT's Inventor of the Week Archive. Because the hula hoop mimics the body movements of hula dancing, you can use this as a hula party game.
Play a recording of a Hawaiian song and have each guest take a hula hoop. The child who keeps her hula hoop going the longest wins the game, and a prize.
Lei Making
Give kids attending the party a colorful activity and gift to take home. Provide the youngsters with the materials to make their own leis. In Hawaiian culture, leis are traditionally given at all Hawaiian celebrations: birthdays, anniversaries and marriages. Leis are also given to express welcome. As the hula party celebrates a birthday, making leis is an apt activity.
Place silk flowers with holes in the middles in the center of a table, and cut 18 inch long sections of yard. Have the kids thread flowers onto the yarn to cover its entire length. The adult chaperons at the birthday party can help to tie the ends of the yarn together to make the leis. The children will then have a Hawaiian lei to wear for the remainder of the hula party. Crepe paper or other colorful paper can be used instead of silk flowers.
Tags: hula hoop, hula dancing, hula party, birthday party, children will, Hawaiian culture