Moana Themed Birthday Party Fun!
Updated: Jan 19, 2021
Here we are in October 2017 and my kid is turning 3! Where did the time go? From sleepless nights to talkative days - I'll be honest, she still doesn't always sleep all that well. BIG imagination, this one -, I have had my hands full all along the way. She is a spirited child with big emotions and for this birthday she felt strongly about two things: 1. No one is to sing the Happy Birthday song to her and 2. She wanted a Moana themed party. Alright, these things are certainly attainable. Although I asked innumerable amounts of times of she was sure about both of her birthday wishes, she was steadfast and we have now had a Happy-Birthday-song-less Moana Party. I got to do a lot of fun preparation crafts for this shin-dig that I would like to share. Also, there will be a follow-up post regarding our Moana themed family Halloween costumes coming in early November. Let's start with square one. We didn't go nuts and send out themed invitations and all that jazz - let's be honest, that would've been just too pricey and/or too much work. Instead, I went with the traditional Facebook event invite to all the family and mommas/daddios of her little friends. Done and done. Stick with the KISS rule - keep it simple silly. We bought some discount luau decor from the local Party store and splurged on some Moana licenced foil balloons. We also picked up some dollar store lei for everyone and some flower vines to drape on the walls - double use for our Te Fiti halloween costume! - and a little Moana-esque outfit for the birthday girl- also to be used on Halloween… two birds, one stone! That was pretty much it for decorations. I had to keep these elements rather simple due to the other fun crafts and projects that I had to do for the rest of the party. I got most of my game ideas from this fun and informative Moana party example but I threw in a few of my own ideas as well, just for kicks! Like the above mentioned post, I made a pin the tail on Hei Hei poster BUT, because my kiddo wanted to add some Moana flare to her bedroom, I spent hours perfecting it so that it could be Laminated and used on the wall in her room. The kids seemed to really like the game but due to poor weather and limited indoor space we weren't able to play it effectively for too long. I also set up a coconut bowling alley which the kids LOVED but the kids has to be strictly monitored due to the temptation to throw, instead of roll, the coconuts to their destination - injury risk and danger for my walls and furniture! Needless to say, it would have been better outside had the weather cooperated.
In response to the fact that I had to make our little party more indoor friendly, I also opted for a free-play Moana/Tropical themed craft table. It came complete with tropical stickers, crayons, and colouring books - alright, I didn't splurge on new Moana ones. I just used our handy Halloween mega book… BUT had our printer been working, I would have used these handy printables instead! This table kept the kids reasonably busy during much of the ‘down time’ between games, food, and presents. Goody bags were a particularly tricky project for me. I wanted them to be Moana/Tropical themed but I didn't want to spend a heap of money - and, if you’ve read my post on Birthday do’s and don't, you'd know I would've kicked myself if they were junky. Moana everything in expensive right now so I had to get creative. I opted for the bucket and shovel goody bag - not as much waste FTW - and filled it with: - Play-Doh (that's kinda like making sand castles…) - Flower necklaces - Mini puzzles (20pk at Costco for, like, $15… #winning) - Touchable bubbles (what kid doesn't love bubbles? And ones they can touch - awesome!) - A big lollipop (just one. They don't need to go home to more sugar than our - delicious - cake already filled them with. I love my momma friends too much for that.) - Te Fiti’s heart stone (made, by hand, with clay! See step by step HERE)
Our food consisted of fresh fruit and - what I call - pickin’ food - crackers, cheese,pickles, and such. I also tried out these jello pinwheels to make heart of Te Fiti treats and, with a little tweaking -added more marshmallows and changed amount based on the size of the dish I used -, they turned out great! We had a family friend make our cupcakes and they were absolutely gorgeous - tasted just as good as they looked, too! Everyone loved them!
All in all, it was a good party. We were boiling with all the people crammed inside our little town home but folks chatted and kids played, laughed, and had a good time. Would I change some things? Probably - definitely the weather! Did the party fulfill its requirements? For sure: No “Happy Birthday” was sung and it was, indeed, Moana themed. The birthday girl had an absolute blast and that's what it's all about!
Truly though, I'm happy with the way it turned out and I'm actually looking forward to what our next one will be like - Baby #2 is turning ONE in April! Already halfway there… *sigh*.