Ll Luau A Hawaiian Party
Letter: Ll
Number: 12
Learn About: Hawaiian Traditions
This is not a long (in page) unit but it contains many lengthy activities. The children will have fun planning and holding a real Hawaiian Luau. They will make leis, Hawaiian skirts, decorate for the theme, make and eat tasty treats, learn about ancient
Hawaiian traditions, make sit upons, locate Hawaii on a globe or map, play games like pin the coconut on the palm tree (only after making the palm tree), playing musical beach towels, creating a Hawaiian wall mural, doing the limbo, dancing and more.
This a smaller (in page) packet but the activities are much more time consuming and involved. When the theme is complete they will be all ready for a great party. There are also activities for the letter L and number 12.
Luau means togetherness, and sharing of the Aloha spirit.
Ask the children what they think this means, write down their answers for the bulletin board.
Letter and Number Activities:
Using the letter L outline, do one of the following:
Look around the room and find an item that begins with the letter L. Draw a picture of the item in the letter L outline.
Color a Hawaiian Lei in the letter L outline.
Write letter L’s inside the outline.
Glue on items that begin with the letter L.
Using the number 12 outline, do one of the following:
Draw 12 flowers in the outline.
Glue 12 flowers in the outline.
Count to 12, two times
Hawaii and Hawaiian Traditions:
Hawaiian Tradition from a Long Time Ago
In ancient Hawaii, the men prepared the food. Have the boys prepare a meal or a Hawaiian snack of tropical fruit and serve it to the girls. Then the boys serve themselves and sit at a separate table. Let the children know that today both men and women in
Hawaii prepare food and eat together; however, men still do the preparation for feasts and other special occasions.
Have the children think of what tradition their family has like going to grandma’s every Christmas or Thanksgiving. Having a family reunion every year, etc.
Learning About Hawaii
Find Hawaii on a map, place a tag so you easily locate it later.
Define the term tropical with the children, pointing out that vegetation and flowering plants are often part of a tropical climate.
Explain that Hawaii is located in a tropical climate and is known for its wealth of native flowers.
Practice saying aloha.
Aloha means hello and good-bye, say aloha, aloha to you.
Hands On Activities
Looking and Cutting
Set up a table with books that have pictures of tropical plants and flowers, let the children cut them out and glue them to construction paper.
Design a Tropical Flower
Have the children design their own tropical flower. Under the picture write the name of the flower, the colors and large it grows.
Sea Shells
Put several seashells out and place a large magnifying glass. Hawaii, is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and sea shells are all about.
Make a Volcano
Put a small bottle containing baking soda in a mountain made of playdough. Add white vinegar, red food coloring and dish soap to the mouth of the volcano. Watch the volcano erupt.
Make a Sit Upon
Using a Hawaiian or floral print vinyl (old plastic table cloths, vinyl shower curtains, or purchase by the yard), cut the vinyl in 18 x 18 inch squares. Punch holes around the edges of two pieces at a time, make sure the wrong sides are together. Using
yarn, have the children weave in and out of the holes on three sides, before you weave up the last side place some newspaper inside as a cushion, (thickness can be decided by you). Weave up the last side and you have sit upon that will last a long time.
It is easier if the children use pieces of yarn that only long enough one side at a time, it keeps it from getting knotted and you can correct mistakes more easily (like making it tighter).
Make a Lei (a few different ways in which to do this)
Make leis by cutting up purchased flowers and stringing them onto yarn.
Cut a simple flower pattern from different colors of construction paper. Punch a hole in the center of each flower. String the flowers onto yarn, use cut-up straws or beads as spacers.
Give the children colorful cut squares of tissue paper. Use a hole puncher to punch a hole in the middle of each piece. Let the children use plastic needles and put the tissue papers around a string long enough to fit around the child’s head. You can
again use spacers between the tissue paper. When the tissue papers are on the string, the children fluff them up, they will have a colorful Hawaiian lei.
Fun Express also sells many Hawaiian themed products at pretty low prices, get their catalog by calling 1-800-228-0122 or get them on the net at WWW.funexpress.com
Make Hula Skirts (a few different ways in which to do this).
Made grass skirts out of drawstring trash bags. The top (drawstring) of the bag is the waistband, cut one inch off the bottom so it is open. Cut the bags in strips starting at the bottom and stopping an inch below the waistband.
Cut several strips of the crepe paper twice the length you need. Cut a piece of yarn long enough to fit around each child, like a belt. Have the children tie the crepe paper to the yarn and tie around the child when done. You can trim the bottoms if
necessary.
To make an easy hula skirt, take a brown paper bag and cut off top portion, lay flat and paint green with sponges. Using scissors make strips up to the top leaving 3 inch uncut space. Cut skirt to fit with about an inch over lap around the waist. Fold
down the top edge to form a waist band and run yarn in between the fold , staple below yarn and then tie around the child’s waist.
Fun Express sells many different grass shirts at pretty low prices, get a catalog by calling 1-800-228-0122 or get them on the net at WWW.funexpress.com
Sand Footprints
Dip a child’s foot in glue, then onto a sheet of paper. (Have a bucket of warm, soapy water and towels on hand). After a quick cleanup, the child can sprinkle sand on the glue. Allow to dry.
Hang Ten
Cut out a surfboard shape from a large piece of cardboard. Cover with bright contact paper or paint. Children can pretend they are surfing the waves.
Planning And Decorating For a Hawaiian Luau
A luau can be held for many different reasons, a special occasion, honoring special people, in honor of a wedding, or any reason you wish. Have the children decide what special occasion they would like to celebrate by holding a luau.
Have the children plan a luau. Make and wear costumes, dance the hula, and tell Hawaiian stories.
Make low tables by using bricks and plywood.
Make sit upons (instructions included in packet) or provide mats for the children to sit on.
Decorate the table with plants and flowers.
Use pineapples and coconuts on the table. Hollow them out and fill with flowers.
Make paper palm trees and volcano to decorate tables.
Draw a large palm tree on butcher paper. Or make one (direction in this packet).
Get left over flowers from a flower shop, or use the lei making activity included in this packet.
Make coconuts, use brown lunch bags stuffed with newspaper.
Cover your door with bulletin board paper down the center of the door use construction paper letters to spell Aloha.
On butcher paper, draw a tropical scene. Let the children color and draw themselves into the scene.
Make palm trees using rolled up brown paper, add leaves using green construction paper.
Make a tiki gods out of toilet paper tubes. Let the kids decorate them with markers and stickers.
Hang aqua, green and light blue streamers from the ceiling. Decorate the streamers with tropical fish, flowers and anything Hawaiian.
Songs
I’m a Little Hawaiian Child
(tune: I’m a Little Teapot) (Hips sway and hands move to act out motions).
I’m a little Hawaiian child, Look at me,
Living on an island in the sea.
I like to dive and I like to swim.
The fish and the sea stars are my friends.
I’m a little Hawaiian child, Look at me,
Climbing to the top of a cocoanut tree.
I’ll pick a cocoanut to share with you,
Kiwi and bananas and pineapple, too.
I’m a little Hawaiian child, Look at me,
Dancing the hula, one, two, three.
Games
Coconut relay
Roll the coconut with a broom from one area to another and back.
Coconut bowling
Use a coconut as the bowling ball and make pins that look like palm trees.
A hula contest
Maybe a prize for each participant based on a special quality they give to the dance.
Play musical chairs
Variations: musical beach towels, musical surf boards, make up your own interesting musical game.
Do the Limbo
Use a broom, have a child at each end to hold the broom, have the other children take turns doing the limbo.
Obstacle course
Use kiddy pools to run through, a pretend hot coals area, run through a fireball (a hula hoop with red streamers tied around it. Add some more interesting ideas.
Pin the Coconut On a Palm Tree
Have the children draw a palm tree on butchers paper and paint it. Have each child cut out a coconut and color it, write their name on them. Play Pin the Coconut on the Palm Tree. Be sure the tree is large and make sure to blindfold each child when it is
their turn and spin them around three times.
Musical Beach Towels
Have each child bring a beach towel, play Hawaiian music and play musical beach towels.
Have the children stay on their own towel, tell the children to listen because when the music starts they get up and dance. When it stops they sit down.
Volleyball
Tape a badminton net or a sheet up across a room or area. Have the children on teams and let them hit a beach ball over the net. Don’t worry about the rules, just have fun.
Snacks
Have each child bring a fruit, clean, dry and cut them up, mix in a bowl and have a great snack.
Pineapple upside down cake.
Make an island cake by baking a sheet cake and one small oblong thin cake. Frost the sheet cake blue, set on the oblong cake and frost it brown and green for an island. Decorate with palm trees, etc.
Make a bundt cake. Frost like a volcano and place dry ice in the center before serving.
Make frozen drinks with little paper umbrellas stuck in the glass.
Watermelon with melon balls and pineapple chunks inside.
For punch have Hawaiian Punch and Seven-Up mix. Serve in hollowed out pineapples.