An Easy Guide to Planning a ‘Moana’ Themed- Birthday Party

My girl is a big fan of the popular cartoon ‘Moana’ so we planned a Moana-themed birthday party for her 5th birthday!

This is how we went about it –

The set up feel like –

• It is based on Hawaiian or Polynesian culture; hence the feel of the theme would centrally revolve round a summer beach, so think – coconuts, hula hoops and garlands.

Ambience & Décor:

• Choose a venue which is open, airy and well lit. An open restaurant with lots of plants and trees would be ideal.
• Go for pastel colors – hang pink, blue, green pompoms from trees. Match them with helium balloons of the same colour, tied up in bunches from the trees at a visible level.
• If you can increase your budget, then printing life size pictures of the main characters and displaying them on either side of the table will be a huge hit with the kids. It can also double up as a cool background for clicking photos. Also some DIY options really come in handy. I made trees out of pineapples and used them as well.
• Try hanging or displaying something personal about your child. FOr example – different pictures of her through the years and hang them from a plant or tree or just tie them together and use it as a banner.

Cake & Goodies:

• With themed cakes, Fondant works better. You can go for Buttercream as well but that may have limitations. It is best to have the cake as simple as possible with few main characters on them. Our cake we had was quite Hawaiian with coconut trees and summery flowers that really gave the cake some character. You can also get themed cupcakes and cake pops to match the theme.

Games/Entertainments:

• Every kid was given a garland on arrival and a welcome drink.
• Ceramic painting was a huge hit with the kids.
• Tattoo painting too works well with themed cartoons and characters.

Food & Drinks:

• The menu consisted of burgers, pasta, chicken nuggets, French fries and desserts in line with the theme. Drinks for kids were Oreo milkshakes and wide range of mojitos and coffee shakes for the adults.

Return Gifts & Pinata:

• For the return gift, one can always move away from the theme and pick anything kids would like and use. Ours was a Travel Connect 4 game.
• We ended the party with the birthday girl pulling a piñata filled with chocolates for the kids to take back home and enjoy.

Themed Birthday parties are hassle free if you plan ahead and give yourself time to set everything up. If planning isn’t your forte then just hire an event planner and let them know what you are looking for.

This can be a fun activity together with your child as well. Get them to help you with the DIYs and decorations and yes, with planning the cake! After all, it’s his/her party!

References for the DIYs:

http://catchmyparty.com/blog/moana-canoe-craft

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/670825306966143620/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/140174607123820957/

All Images in this article are original and belong to the author. Reproducing them in any form without the permission of the author will not be allowed.

Also Read: Plan Your Toddler’s Birthday Party: DIY!, DIY Pirate theme Birthday Party

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