Beach bash party

THE PARTY SCRIPT

Act 1, Scene 1

We like to think of your party as a production.  If your party is successful, your guests will be transported into your theme (and you may even get some applause at the end if parents stick around). So, if the party is a production, this is the script.

Scene 1: Your party will begin in the meet and greet room. Before the party, cut out a surfboard from poster board for each guest and put their names on them. During meet and greet the main activity will be decorating the surfboards with markers and stickers. These surfboards will be used later in the party. In addition we suggest a tattoo parlor where kids can get temporary tattoos. If you want one more activity try face painting. No need to hire a professional, just buy a decent kit and limit the options to simple designs .

There will be no access to the beach room at this point, so to keep kids engaged, we recommend a TV show a beach-themed video, like Disney's Sing Along Songs Beach Party DVD.

Summary of activities:

Decorate a surfboard: pre-cut poster board surfboard can be decorated with markers and stickers

Face painting: with a good, but simple, kit you can create some impressive little designs

Tattoo parlor: give your guests the look of a real beach bum with some temporary tattoos

Show: Bob the Builder or Handy Manny can keep their attention while others arrive

Scene 2: With everyone arrived, announce that it is time to go to the beach. Lead the group to the beach room and let them play around for a bit: jumping in the pool, throwing beach balls, and playing volleyball. While the kids are playing bring them over, individually or in groups, to the palm tree for a picture with a boogie board or other beach toy. For added fun, have some grass skirts, sunglasses, straw hats, leis and other beach accessories available for dress up.

Before the fun turns to chaos, pull everyone back together to play some games. You can pack these in, one after the other. Our preferred order of play is:

Limbo: You can buy a limbo kit, but a broomstick with two willing volunteers will work just as well. Purchase some limbo music for an added touch.

Clean up the beach: Place all of the beach inflatables along with some towels on either side of the mini volleyball net.  Put half of the kids on one side of the net and half on the other. Inform them that the beach is messy and needs to be cleaned up. The goal is to get all of the beach stuff on the other side of the net. When the game starts, mayhem will ensue, but the laughs are priceless. There will be no winner in this game.  Playing a song like ‘Wipeout’ or the theme to Hawaii 50 will add to the experience.

Beach songs: put on some beach songs for some free and organized dance. For organized dances we recommend a train dance like “Hot, hot, hot”. They may not know the song, but if you give them some maracas and sunglasses, and lead they way, trust me, they will follow.

Learn to surf: Its time to learn to surf. Hand out everyone’s surfboards that they made during meet and greet. Have them all lay belly down on the surfboard and inform them they are going to learn to surf. Show them how first. Lay on your belly and paddle. Watch for the wave. When it comes, jump on your board and try to balance. Once they all have it, turn on the music and begin surfing. For music, you can't miss with “Surfing Safari” and “Wipeout”.

Scene 3: Take a break for food and cake. Instead of having the kids sit at the table, put beach blankets down on the ground for the kids to eat on. I guarantee they will get a kick out of this. Afterwards, send the beach bums back to the beach for some free play until pick up time. If you want to get one more activity in, a piñata is always a kid favorite. When it is finally time for your guests to pack up their surfboards, send them off with a party bag.

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