Happy Feet Party Ideas
- Get party guests happy with a "Happy Feet" party.penguins image by Mat Hayward from <a href='http://www.fotolia.com'>Fotolia.com</a>
The Warner Brothers movie "Happy Feet" waddled onto the big screen in 2006, winning Golden Globe and Academy awards for Best Animated Film, among other honors. The story of a young penguin, ridiculed for his love of dancing, charmed audiences of every age. If you're ready for the cool chill of a penguin party, put on your happy feet and get dancing. - Challenge guests to a race unlike any they've experienced when they compete to waddle, not run, across a finish line. Scientific American reports that penguins' waddling style of walking has actually evolved to help them gain a greater foothold on the icy substances they call home. Because penguins have such short legs (they're mostly torso), the waddling, or rocking from side to side, propels them on their way as they hunt and swim. Create a version of the traditional burlap sack race by cutting the bottoms out of the sacks (for small children, cutting the sewn end of a pillow case will also work) so you have two openings. Place the sacks around the person's legs from the middle of their thighs down to the ground. Gently tie the sack across the person's thighs and ankles --- take care not to cut off circulation. Have guests "race" to waddle toward the finish line and get a sense of how penguins move side to side to reach their goal.
- The "Happy Feet" movie describes the life of a penguin who feels the joy of dancing, despite how it ostracizes him from the rest of his penguin crowd. In the movie, he eventually prevails, and his penguin community joins him in dancing as the credits roll. Get your guests up on their "flippers" and moving to the beat by having a dance competition. Cue up familiar songs with words changed to penguin lyrics or challenge guests to write their own. Call all guests out on the dance floor and see who can dance the longest (keep with the "Happy Feet" theme by including songs such as "Ice, Ice Baby," "Ice Cream Man," "Fire and Ice" and "Avalanche."
- Male penguins keep their still-in-the-eggs babies warm and protected by shuffling them around on their feet while the mother penguins take their long, hard hike to find food. Create your own party egg-walk competition but to avoid mess, use water balloons. (Another way to ensure guests have "happy feet" is to protect their footwear by placing a plastic bag around each shoe and wrapping tape securely to attach the bag to their ankles.) Place a white water balloon to resemble the penguins' babies in the crook of the person's held together feet. Challenge guests to waddle, hop and inch their way to the finish line while keeping their babies intact and unpopped.
