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Hawaiian Luau - Coconut Scavenger Hunt

July 2012

Harley in East Bridgewater, MA, United States

July 2012 Winner

Since my birthday is in September, I decided to have an outdoor Birthday Hawaiian Luau. The party can be a sleepover, but if you invite the opposite gender, you can send them home and let the others spend the night. The party was all original ideas, and it took place on a nice, sunny day over the weekend. It was a huge hit with all the guests! 

INVITATIONS:  For invitations, I made my guests a postcard. I bought packages of large index cards from the craft store. To make the invites, I printed out a different picture of Hawaii for each post card. I went online and found beautiful pictures of Hawaii, which I copied and pasted onto Microsoft Word. For each picture, I used a different Microsoft Word font and color and typed in large, capital letters GRETTINGS FROM HAWAII. I printed out the pictures and cut them out and pasted them onto the side of the index card that was white. On the flip side of the index card, which had all the lines on it, I did the writing. In the top right corner margin, I put a stamp on each postcard. On one half of the index card, I wrote the person’s first and last name in big, capital letters. On the other half of the index card, I wrote all the party information. I wrote: Dear ________________, you’re invited to ___________’s ____ birthday Hawaiian Luau! Be dressed for Hawaii, bring a bathing suit, towel, and be ready to have fun!  When: __________, Where: ____________, For: ______________, Time: ___________. RSVP: ____________. You can either type the party information on Microsoft Word, print it out, and paste it on, or write it with a Sharpie or pen. I hand-delivered the invitations, but they can also be mailed. 

DECORATIONS: The party was mainly held outdoors. We decorated the outdoors mostly, and the indoors for the small portion of the party that would be held inside. On our pool deck, we used blow up inflatable palm trees purchased low cost online and placed them on the deck. We bought a package of Moon Sand, which is available online or in most stores, and scattered it around the palm trees on the pool deck. We hung tiki torches around the deck, which you can purchase online or from various stores, but did not light them until it got dark. We tied blue, pink, orange, and yellow balloons onto coconuts for center pieces on some of the tables. We used fake flowers purchased low cost from a craft store and placed them all around the deck. On an attached deck with the food tables, we bought a cheap fish net, which we used for the table cloth.

On the food table, we scattered sea shells. We placed more inflatable palm trees on the other deck. On the pool deck and the other deck attached to it, we had two radios set up playing Beach Boys music. For additional centerpieces in the tables, we used little Hawaiian hula girls purchased online. You can also purchase a Hawaiian tiki online and use that as a center piece. We hung blue, pink, orange, and yellow streamers from the sides of the deck. Cocktail umbrellas were strung together with a string and hung from the deck. Sitting in the corner of the deck, we purchased a small ukulele online for a very reasonable price. Since a good portion of the party would also take place in the yard, we decorated that as well. We tied blue, pink, orange, and yellow balloons and streamer bouquets to the volleyball net, which we set up out in the yard.

By the moon walk, we laid out towels with flowers on them. We also bought a blow up kitty pool low cost and set it up in the yard. We scattered more Moon Sand around the pool. Inside the kitty pool were blown up water balloons. Guests we instructed not to touch them until we told them they could. In the driveway, we set up a tiki bar. You can purchase them at stores, but they tend to be expensive, so we made our own out of wood, and we used lots of shredded paper, and hung it from the sides for the tiki effect. If you don’t want to buy or build one, you can set one up in your home at a kitchen island. We served fruit punch and lemonade and soda at the tiki bar. You can buy supplies from hawaiianluauparty.com. 

ACTIVITES: We had lots of activities planned! When guests arrived, they went in the moon walk, which was a Monkey Bounce, which had bananas, monkeys, and palm trees on it. We rented the moon walk for $120 a day from a local company. After all the guests arrived and they had jumped for a while, they changed into their bathing suits. We swam in the pool for a while, and played a few pool games like Categories and Sharks and Minnows, and then we dried off.

After swimming, we played a game called Coconut Scavenger Hunt. There were four teams for this, and they were each given either the color blue, pink, orange, or yellow. We hid coconuts around the yard, and each one had a small streamer in the team’s color. Each team had two coconuts to find, but they were hidden well, and they could only find the ones in their color. The teams were not allowed to split up. If they found another team’s coconut, they were allowed to pick it up and hide it in another spot to throw off the other team. They could not carry it around with them, though. Teams could not steal coconuts from other teams. The next game was Musical Beach Towels. We played Beach Boys music. Players walked around beach towels, which were laid out on the ground, and once the music stopped, they had to lie down on the beach towel. The player without a towel was out.

Our next game was a classic game of Limbo. We used an oar, and we lowered the oar after everyone took their turn. Players were out when they had to either hold their legs for support or they fell or could no longer go under. Our next activity was Pineapple Bowling. We set up six pineapples in the driveway, and from about 20 feet away, guests each got two rolls per turn to roll the coconuts and knock down as many pins as possible. The player with the highest score after 5 turns won. Our next activity was a Water Balloon Fight. When we said go, everyone grabbed as many water balloons as they could from the kitty pool and threw them at their target. Once someone had been hit 3 times, they had to sit down in their spot, and they could only throw water balloons from their seat on the ground. They were allowed to get up and get water balloons from the kitty pool, but they had to return to their seat. The last person standing won. After the water balloon fight, we showed everyone a jar filled with water taffy purchased at our local candy shop. Guests wrote down their guesses of how many water taffy were in the jar. The closest person won the jar of water taffy.

Our next game was Watermelon Smash. We bought a watermelon from the store, and guests used a small baseball bat to smash it with. They each got one turn to break the watermelon. We bought two in case someone broke it before other guests got a turn. Our next activity was a Shell Fish Contest. Guests had to run around the yard and collect as many shells as they could in 10 minutes. The person who collected the most shells won a fish, which we purchased from the local pet store. After the games, it was time for dinner. After dinner, the guests went swimming and had a water gun fight. They dried off before cake and changed back into their clothes.

After cake and presents, the guests returned to the moon walk until the parents of the boys came to pick them up. After the boys left, the girls stayed in the moon walk for a while. Afterwards, they watched the movie Soul Surfer, which is a little more age appropriate than Lilo and Stitch, but that could also be watched if that is your preference. To go along with the Hawaiian Luau theme, the girls camped out for the night in our motorhome. If you don’t have one, tents in the backyard or front yard are a great option, too. The next morning, the girls decorated flip flops, which were purchased from the craft store low cost, along with the gems used to decorate them. The girls went in the moon bounce, and then their parents came to get them. 

COSTUMES:  Purchased online, the birthday girl wore a grass skirt with her bikini top and bikini bottoms under the skirt. Guests were given leis purchased online and flowers from the craft store glued to bobby pins to make hair pieces. Guests were asked to wear anything Hawaiian they had. They should also bring a bathing suit in addition to their clothing. 

SNACKS: We made a fruit salad, which we left in a bowl, consisting of kiwi, strawberry, banana, and apples. We also made fruit kabobs with watermelon, apple, grapes, and pineapple on them. We also made banana bread from a mix bought from the grocery store. We bought a package of banana chips, which we put in a bowl, and we also bought shrimp with cocktail sauce from the grocery store. We also had a bowl filled with snack mix consisting of Cheezits, pretzels, goldfish, and Cheerios. For drinks, we bought Hawaiian Punch brand drinks and soda. 

FOOD: For the meal, we had coconut shrimp, lobster cakes, crab legs, fish, and hamburgers and hotdogs cooked on the grill for anyone who didn’t like the seafood options, which we purchased from the grocery store.

CAKE: There are three cake options we were trying to decide between. The first one is a volcano cake. You could order one from a bakery, or make one yourself by making three different sized cakes. In between each tier, use red frosting to look like lava. Stack the tiers one on top of the other, and then cut the cake with a knife so all three tiers look like a mountain slope. Frost the volcano brown or gray, and use red icing and make it drip down the side of the cake. Your volcano is ready to be served! Another cake option is a doll cake. You can order them at just about any bakery, and what they are is a Barbie doll whose dress is made into the cake. Ask for one with a Hawaiian dress with lots of flowers and lei. It best you order this type of cake from a bakery. Another cake option is a surfboard cake. You can order one from a bakery, or make it yourself. To make one yourself, bake a sheet cake. Once baked, cut the cake to look like the shape of surfboard. You can buy fondant making kits at craft stores, and fondant would cover the cake. You can use more fondant to create the designs on the surfboard. If you don’t want to use fondant, frosting should work as well. 

FAVORS: For party favors, we gave out the leis, the hair pieces, a sea shell, water taffy, bubbles, and silly string. This was a very successful party, and it was a lot of fun! It didn’t break the bank, and all the guests enjoyed it very much! I hope you find success with your Birthday Hawaiian Luau!

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