Lilo Hula Accessories

Natalie has liked Lilo and Stitch as long as I can remember, but suddenly over the last few days she has been very interested in doing the hula.  We play videos from the first movie and she will hula.  She started to wear Mardi Gras beads to make up her custom (we had a lei but it broke, not that Lilo wears one anyway).  Today she said she wanted a crown like Lilo has.  William was napping, so I put together a few things to make her a hula custom. 

What you need:
Green card stock
Scissors
Brown construction paper
Tape
Glue stick
Marker (OR printer Click here for a printable for the leaves).
Elastic string
Needle (I used a size 16 tapestry needle, which had a large eye and a dull tip)
 
What to do:
First you need to make some leaves.  I drew one, then cut it out and traced it.  Then I used the cut out of several leaves as a stencil.  This saved a lot of time drawing the leaves.  I made a printable of the leaves.  You can just print it directly on to green card stock. 

I cut out all the leaves and drew a line down the center for a little detail. 

Next, I cut two stripes of the construction paper.  Natalie taped them together, and then we measured her head and I taped the ends forming a band. 

I taped on a couple leaves, and then Natalie wanted to do the rest herself!  I put on a couple more to fill in the gaps.  I was very impressed with Natalie's work!

 But, once we were done, I noticed we had a lot of extra leaves.  So, I pulled out the elastic and a needle.  Natalie wanted to help thread the elastic through the leaves, but with the elastic through the eye of the needle, it didn't pull through the card stock well.  So, I poked all the holes with the needle, then  put the elastic through by hand.  I'm still thinking about taking it apart and putting some beads in between the leaves to keep them spaced.  I also should have measure the elastic because it dug into her ankle a little.  At first she was resistant to put it on, but then when it was time to go out I had to talk her into taking it off!  By the way, I had originally offered to make her the leaf bracelets but she said she liked the ones she already had better. 

And, of course, the final step is to get dressed up and dance!

Here she is dancing. 

Substitutions:
Craft foam or fabric like felt can be used instead of the paper and card stock.  

Extensions:

• Make grass skirts and leis!
• This was great gluing practice for Natalie, and an lightly older child could also practice cutting.  
• You can measure your child's head and use that to then measure the band.  Same for the ankles and wrists.  
• You do simple math with the number of leaves you make and use.  
• Watch Lilo and Stitch!  Or Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch!  The second movie has more information about hula, and when we watched that Natalie started to dance hula.  Our DVD of the first movie has a hula lesson as an extra, but we haven't watched it yet.  
• There are several books based on the movies, including the Step Into Reading series.  
• Natalie likes to hear the music from the movie when she dances.  We look it up on YouTube.  You can also download it if you'd prefer not to have the video because its too like TV.  The opening theme of the first movie, He Mele No Lilo, and the song Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride both stand fine on their own.  I'm sure a little searching can find you all sorts of Hawaiian music. 
• I could only find one children's book about hula.  Hula Lullaby by Erin Eitter Kono.  It pairs well with the movie since it has the same instruments and customs.  It has a nice rhythm and rhyme, while also giving the Hawaiian names for some things. 
• Make some Hawaiian food.  The easiest and most obvious is pineapple!
• Read some non-fiction on Hawaii.