Teenagers are especially difficult to plan a birthday party for, especially young teens. They are quite old enough for the party they want and yet they are too old for the party you are probably planning. So what is a busy parent to do to plan the most outstanding birthday party ever? If it’s spring or summer, you can plan a luau.
Luau Decorations
You have several options for Luau decorations. My personal favorites include lei’s which can be purchased at Oriental Trading.com. They have the most reasonably priced leis. You can get 24 two-tone colored leis for $2.95 or if you prefer the floral the bright neon floral lei is $3.95 a dozen.
Plates, cups, silverware and napkins are easy to find and inexpensive. Just choose a luau color such as bright green, orange or yellow and then purchase. The dollar store and Hobby Lobby usually have the best deals for these supplies.
Wonder through the luau section of Party City. Each week they have special deals on different party supplies as well as frequently coupons for $5.00 off a $25.00 purchase. I choose a door cover decoration, a limbo contest kit, and a DVD of limbo/luau music and spent approximately $30.00 after the coupon. I also picked up some straws for the cups with umbrella’s that opened.
Hawaiian Name Game: Create your own name matching game from the names of your guests. To make it even more fun – and harder, add some names of people not attending. To create your name game type several different names in one column, the second column have a blank line and the third column have the names of the guests or friends. Print this on brightly colored paper and have a few pens or pencils on hand. Then you match the English name with the Hawaiian name. For a list of Hawaiian names visit Hawaiian Style and Travel.
Hula Hoop Contest
Purchase two hula hoops (more if you have lots of guests) from Wal-Mart for approximately $4.00. Match the guests up in groups of two and compete. The winners of each group then also compete in two’s. The winner gets to take home a hula hoop as a door prize and party favor.
Limbo Contest
How low can you go? Turn up the music loud and get down as low as you can. Even parents can participate in this fun game. The winner takes the remaining hula hoop home as a door prize/party favor. Keep the music going throughout the party.
Fruit salad with pineapples and mango’s. Toss in strawberries, bananas or whatever other fruits you thing your guest will enjoy.
Sweet and sour pork, with some barbeque sauce, pineapples, and little wieners you have a great snack. Simmer on low heat until thoroughly cooked and the sauce is thick.
Tropical Punch: This recipe is easy to make and the guests will love it. Afraid to try it, and then use Hawaiian punch, pineapple juice, some club soda for fizz and lots of ice.
Other snacks can include goldfish crackers, nuts, and fruit smoothies.
Cake:
Try either a Pineapple Upside Down Cake or Volcano Cake. Both are easy, and if you aren’t into baking you can pick up at the grocery store. For Volcano Cake, take one round chocolate cake, sliced. Pile 6-8 scoops of vanilla ice cream in the middle of a large platter, surround the ice cream with the chocolate cake slices, drizzle with chocolate syrup and top it off with a sparkler. Light the sparkler right before serving. This will be a big hit at your party. (Idea borrowed from Rainforest Cafe, it is their signature desert)
In addition to the door prizes of the hula hoops, have your guests play fashion designer. Purchase flip flops in assorted sizes and colors from JoAnn fabrics, Hobby Lobby or the dollar store for $1.00. Walk around the craft store and purchase beads, flowers, silk butterflies or even a flip flop designer kit (approximately $12.99). Grab you glue gun and design your own flip flops. Allow glue to dry while you play more games, get wet or finish off the food. Each guest will leave with their own unique gift item.
Greet your guests at the door with their lei’s and get them started on the name guessing game while everyone arrives. After that take the whole crowd outside for swimming or slip and sliding as well as the remainder of your party games. If you don’t have a pool, no problem, grab some small play pools, sprinklers (Spongebob is a big hit) and/or slip and slide. Let the kids work up an appetite for all the good food to come. Add in the designer flip flops, limbo contest, and hula hoop contest and you have a very full afternoon of fun that the birthday girl and her friends will talk about for a long time afterwards.
With four children, one of which is 20, I speak from experience, the Hawaiian Luau party has been the biggest hit of them all and I actually achieved smiles, thanks and giggling excitement from 15 young teenager girls. Now that’s a successful party!
