3Rd Birthday Party

For my daughter's first birthday party last June, we also had the luau theme. The thing most of the 3-5 year olds played most was in the little blow up pools I set out. I also set out a sprinkler. Yeah, I did the pinata and limbo stick too but that only holds their attention for a few minutes. They really loved the little pools and sprinkler though! Good luck! A.

Water is always a good choice for kids when it gets hot and they never seem to tire of it. We recently got a slip-n-slide that is inflated on the slide part, and then it dumps you into a shallow little pool at the end. Have contests for best slide, fastest slide, best belly flop, etc. We also had a water balloon toss contest that the kids really loved - and to get them to clean up the balloons on the ground, we bribed them with cupcakes as soon as they were done. Kids also love to dance, so some luau music with a dance contest might be fun.

As far as food - a traditional luau has a pig roast, so how about doing pulled pork samwiches - easy in a crock pot and then make some fried rice (Hamburger helper actually has a really good one that you add real egg to, but not the chicken). We also made fruit shishkabobs and everyone loved them, but they were timeconsuming to make - pineapple, strawberries, green & red grapes. Your daughter would also be able to help make these with you so she'd feel more invested in her party. Add a jello and a yummy green salad with maybe honey/mustard dressing and/or a cold bean salad (really good one on SouthernLiving.com with green beans, pimento & grilled onion) and then you'd be set.

Hope these ideas help! Just remember to have fun yourself!

At my daughter's third birthday party we played "freeze dance." The kids danced around and then we paused the music every so often. When we paused it they had to freeze and hold their position until the music started again. It's a very simple game for the age group you're talking about, and it would work well with tropical-sounding music!

I've also seen lots of tropical-looking favors and things at party stores, including grass skirts.

One thing I usually do at my kids' parties (although my kids were born in colder months, so we're always inside) is to print out a bunch of coloring pages and put lots of crayons out for coloring. For your theme, you might be able to find something on the Disney or Nick Jr. site with some of those characters in tropical gear. Otherwise I'd just do searches on your theme to see what comes up.

I like the idea of the fruit kabobs. You could also see if you could find cookie cutters in the shape of something tropical - like pineapples or maybe water-themed like boats - and cut out little sandwiches for the kids.

Have a great time at your party.

Hi M..
I taught kindergarten and we had a hawaii day. Some of the game swe played were the limbo, hot potatatoe, but instead of a potatoe, we used a beach ball, bubbles, and freeze dance with hawaiin music. the kids loved it. we gave lei's as the prizes. they are cheap through the oriental trading company. good luck.

www.birthdaypartyideas.com. GREAT site for unique ideas!! I love it and have used it for ideas for a Princess Party, Cowboys & Indians, LEGO Party and most recently, a Tea Party.

I was just in Party City near Roscoe and Western. As soon as you walk in, there are a bunch of luau decorations. I'm not sure if that included luau-related games, but they did have other games in other sections.

Hi M. don't forget about pin the tale on the donkey, duck duck goose, simon says, musical chairs are the only ones that come to mind. Your daughter will have a ball playing with the children. I also want to invite you to check out my website as a possible home based business opportunity. www.marykay.com/denisedub email me and let me know what you think.

D. W.
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M.-

This site has some decent ideas-

http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com

You could also go to yahoo.com and type birthday party idea's in and get lots of great topics.

Happy Birthday to your daughter..hawaiian salad, pineapple/mango salsa, hawaiian punch(spiked or unspiked), limbo games, hot pineapple(potato), throw lei's and see how many you can get on a bottle top, or in a bucket..Best of luck..K....www.arkparties.com, www.greetingcakes4you.com and shurepets

My daughter turned 3 last week. We had her party on Saturday and opted to rent one of those jumping things in place of games. In my opinion, most (not all, of course) 3 year olds don't have the attention span to play games. The kids ALL loved the jumping thing and the parents were happy to bring home tired kiddoes who were ready for bed! ;)

We have catered from different restaurants, we've gone the Portilloes route, this time we ordered a bunch of pizzas.

Enjoy your daughters special day!

M.

Check out Oriental Trading. They have a luau section w/great activities/games that you can purchase. As far as food, try out Corky's Catering. They have a hawaiian food package or great prices on picnic food.

Good Luck!

For some party games for a luau theme I would check out Oriental Trading Co. online they send me catalog's and they have a lot of luau themed stuff and its really cute.

M.-

I don't know if you're a member, but I find that Costco is the perfect place to shop for food for parties. We have a big family and often have lots of people to feed. I always get compliments on the food. We also get fried chicken from either Teibel's or Wiseway and eveybody LOVES that. Have fun. That's a cute theme. I'll have to do that for my daughter when she's older!

M.

oh, as another poster said about Corky's catering- Very awesome food! ( they are in Addison though, a bit far from you but they may deliver??? Best fried chicken ever!!

We've ordered from Lee and Eddie's several times in the last few years. They will come and set up with sternos. They always give more food than we need! The Hawaiian meatballs, parslied potatoes, and pasta are out of this world. You can find them at leeandeddies.com

We had a luau for my daughter's 9th birthday. Granted the kids were a bit older, but this may help you. We made a volcano birthday cake, that erupted with icing (it was great!). The cake required dry ice, and we had lots left over, so we filled a punch bowl with Hawaiian Punch and threw the rest in for instant 'lava punch', which was a huge hit, and REALLY easy. We also made a beach-themed dessert using crushed vanilla wafers as sand, blue jello with swedish fish and gummy sharks as the water, and gummy bears sunbathing under cocktail umbrellas on the 'beach'. It was almost too cute to eat. We made hot dogs in a crock pot and had a few bags of chips to keep everything else simple.

Hi M.,

Food ideas: definatly a nice fruit platter, I always slice a pineapple and place the top in the middle with fruit around it. Simple and looks like you spent a lot of time on it. Shish kabobs, chix for kids, and maybe a few veggies too.
Games, water ballon toss takes up some time and the kids love it. Get the parents involved too, have them partner up with their kid (s).

Check out my website, I make 50% commision (highest in direct sales) and I have been doing it for 7 years. I am so not a salesman, products are so great it sells itself. Less parties, more reorder type business. I quit my full time job too. ;-)
www.myjafra.com/hjohnson2

ps...comcast salesman asked me if my parents were home when he came to my door a few weeks ago, I am 30, he guessed 17. I get that all the time, been using Jafra for over 17 years.

Good luck to you! ;-) H.