My daughter LOVES the beach so much I wanted to give her a 8th Hawaiian birthday party. I own a preschool so I decided to host it there. I used birthday invitations that came in a plastic bottle with sand, a small palm tree & a lei. I asked each child to come in their bathing suit (even though it was the end of October) It was perfect for the event. I decorated the lobby with my home deck umbrella covered with green straw, tropical fish hung from the ceiling, I made(virgin) pina colada's in coconut shell cups waiting for the guests as they arrived, luau music played in the lobby, I had bright clusters of balloons (yellow, purple, red & green)scattered and taped throughout the hallways and classrooms.  After each child enjoyed their pina colada I escorted them to a classroom where they changed into their bathing suits and they each were given a luau set consisting of a straw skirt, 1 lei each for their neck, hair & wrist. Next it was onto the next classroom where they picked out a pair of sunglasses and Hawaiian tattoo.  The next room we played the limbo game and pass the coconut (played like hot potato).  Another room was the arts & crafts room where the girls got to decorate their own paper mache flip flop box, create their own flower tissue paper frame and dolphin sand art.  For lunch we kept it simple with pizza then afterwards they got to make their own fruit kebobs. I couldn't find any cake that had what we were looking for so Bailey & I had to be creative. She remembered that she had some beach related items with her Polly Pockets so we searched and came up with beach chairs, palm trees, beach accessories and 3 Polly Pocket dolls that came with bathing suits. We went down to Shop Rite, gave them all the pieces and asked if they could create a beautiful day at the beach scene. It was amazing.  They had air brushed sand, water & waves and used all the pieces we gave to create my daughters dream cake. After the cake I divided up the 24 girls into 2 groups of 12 and each group had a captain (one of my teachers). I created 2 large boxes with items for them to create a day at the beach.  Since 8 year olds are still beginner readers I created lists that they were able to read.  Each child had to choose one item from the list that they were responsible for.  At the count of three the race began. The list included items like: spread out the beach blanket, set up the beach chair, blow up 2 beach balls, dig through the pail of sand to find 10 sea shells, set up the plates, cups, napkins and snacks for a picnic on the beach, 2 children to put sun screen on their arms and wear a sun hat and lastly all children in their group had to be sitting down on or near the beach blanket having a fun time at the beach wearing their sun glasses.  This was so much fun. The adults had a great time laughing and watching their child participate in this halarious game. Next it was onto the treasure chest hunt in which I hid buried treasure (McDonald's gift certificates, gold trinkets, rings, change)inside a tereasure chest (from Oriental Trading). Each child received a key to one and had to go through 3 other classrooms in search of their treasure.  We ended the day having a photo opportunity of all the girls in their luau outfits & sunglasses standing in front of the straw umbrella. This photo I used for the thank you cards. It was a spectacular party.  The goody bags were beach bags (from the dollar store) filled with sunscreen, snacks, frisbee and a bottle of water.