Who doesn’t love an outdoor beach party? BUT, for those of us who don’t live by the beach or can’t get our entire party to head over to one, we can do the next best thing – bring the beach party to your own backyard! Read through for some quick & easy ideas for bringing a little bit of “fun in the sun & sand” to you!
DECOR
While we didn’t have a sandy beach at the ready for our backdrop, we did add some leis and hibiscus flowers all around the party area. We purchased a Hibiscus Wave Hanging Garland to decorate the entry way (and re-used as the limbo game). We also used some extra Hibiscus Flower PIcks to decorate the table setting and food tables. We also dressed up a pineapple with an extra pair of Kids Hibiscus Sunglasses (which were primarily used for the goodie bags).
For our table, we decorated each single table setting a bit differently. We picked up some Hibiscus Paper Dinner Plates but also paired them with some Basic (Non-patterned) dinner and dessert plates. The color variation added to the ‘floral’ theme. The centerpiece had dual function – it held some of the hibiscus balls and leis that would be used later on for the games.
ARRIVAL
The entryway was decorated with an Hibiscus Garland as well as a number of leis. Each guest was given a lei (if they wanted one) to wear throughout the party & keep 🙂 Technically the banner has sunflowers (from our Sunflower Printables Page) but no one seemed to mind 🙂 We also had some picnic blankets on the yard for people to relax on.
CRAFTS
We had a craft table set up with some various sized, pre-cut hibiscus paper flowers. (We used the templates from coloring home.com: Hibiscus Flower Coloring Page). The kids could pick their colors, thread a pipe cleaner through the center hole, & create their own flowers.
FOOD & DRINKS
For our food table, we went with a seafood option – lots of lobster: butterflied lobster, lobster mac n’ cheese, and lobster rolls. We also had some standard party food for our younger guests… 🙂
GAMES
- No luau party is complete without a game of limbo! Although you can get really fancy and buy an entire set up, if you have two volunteers, all you really need is a rope or stick to limbo underneath. If you happen to have a wrapping paper roll, you can dress it up with garland and streamers (or just use the garland and streamers too)!
- Hula Hoop Contest. This one is pretty simple. Grab a few hula hoops from the Dollar Store or nearest All Purpose Store, and see how can hula hoop the longest! For younger children, have them loop smaller ones around their arms 🙂
- Ball Toss: This is where we used the extra hibiscus balls and leis form our centerpiece (reduce & reuse 🙂 ). We shaped the leis into circles on the ground and let the kids toss the balls into them. Whoever got the most won!
- Kinetic Sand Sand Castles. This activity held their attention the most. We gave each kid a small kinetic sand kit as well as a paper plate. We had a few treasure boxes that we split amongst the kids as well. We let them create anything they wanted – we had a few animals (octupus, fox) make their way onto the plates as well as buried treasure 🙂 After, we let each kid keep their own mini kit.
GOODIE BAGS
For our goodie bags, we picked up some “flower and garden” buckets from the Dollar Tree and filled it with flower-themed items: Hibiscus Folding Hand Fans, Inflatable 5” Hibiscus Mini Beach Ball, and Kids Hibiscus Sunglasses. We also added in some pencils and bubbles from the Dollar Store as well as some mini packets of Nutter Butter Cookies (decorated as ‘flip flops’ at the desert table).
We had a little something for grandparents and aunts & uncles without kiddos too – can’t forget them 🙂 Scented candles & things that smell nice go a long way 🙂
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you so much for checking out our party planning article. Hopefully it gave you some great ideas for your next celebration!
If you did enjoy this, please let us know below or follow us on Pinterest. Also, If you haven’t already and are still looking for that perfect party theme, feel free to check out some of our other Outdoor Parties or other Party Ideas!
Happy Party Planning 🙂
