Games for Kids' Luau Party

Organize a hula-hoop contest for the kids' luau. Provide a hula hoop for each guest, which doubles as a party favor. Give the kids a few minutes to warm up for the hula-hoop contest. When the contest commences, the contestants begin hula hooping for as long as possible. Award a prize to the child who hula hoops the longest. Add variety to the contest by having the kids use the hula hoop around an arm or their necks.

Divide the kids into two groups, and provide each group with a grass skirt and a lei. Set up a beach chair at the opposite end of the yard. Have the first child on each team put on the grass skirt and lei. He must race around the beach chair at the other end of the play area and return to the starting line, where he removes the grass skirt and lei. The next player on the team dresses in the grass skirt and lei before racing around the beach chair. Continue the relay until everyone on the team has had a turn. Award a prize to the team that completes the relay first.

A coconut replaces a real bowling ball in this luau game. Use toy bowling pins, or make your own from 2-liter soda bottles. Set up the bowling pins in the traditional 10-pin arrangement. One at a time, have the kids roll a coconut to knock down the bowling pins. Keep track of the number of pins knocked down by each child, awarding a prize to the person who knocks down the most pins.

The musical chairs game conforms to the luau theme with a few modifications. Use beach chairs or beach towels in place of regular chairs in this tropical version of the game. Play Hawaiian music as the kids walk around the circle of chairs or towels. Just like the original version, when the music stops, the kids scramble to find an empty beach chair or towel. The person without a seat is eliminated, and one chair is removed from the game. Continue the game until only one child is left.