May 1 is often remembered as May Day, with long held traditions of May Day Baskets and May Poles, but did you know it’s also Lei Day? Equally flowery, but infinitely more fun to say!
Where did Lei Day come from? Don Blanding, a writer and childhood friend of Joan Crawford, proposed a holiday be dedicated to the Hawaiian tradition of making and wearing lei. Grace Tower Warren, also a writer, came up with the idea to have it coincide with May Day. The first Lei Day was celebrated on May 1, 1928, and it continues to this day. Want to learn more about the history? Read this short piece about the origins going back to the early 1900s, with historical photos!
Here are 9 ideas for celebrating Lei Day at your dance studio!
Gift Everyone Leis
Our kids go bananas for leis and grass skirts. You can pick them up from Amazon in bulk – either the plastic party type or the artificial flower type – for a super reasonable price. Welcome students to class with a Lei ceremony and shoot a few pics for your social channels!
The dance marketer elves did some sleuthing for you and here are the best options we found on amazon:
- 50 Pack of FlowerLeis for $18.99
- 100 Plastic Leis for $15.99
Create A Hashtag for Studio Lei Photos
Don’t forget to publicize a hashtag for any lei photos your dance families take so you can capture all the fun.
Create An Aloha Photo Wall
Decorate a wall space to celebrate Lei Day with some festive streamers, an Aloha sign, some festive tropical leaves, or a ready-made backdrop. Add some leis and skirt photo props and invite your students to snap some pics, or capture videos of their best hula dance. If you love the Aloha banner in this pic, you can score it on Amazon for $12.
Teach Students How To Hula
Host A Virtual Hula Contest
Let your families submit their best hula dance video and reward your favorite submission with a prize! Even Dads can get in on the Hula fun!
Kakatuwang panoorin ang tatay na ganito kasupportive lalo n sa mga activities ng kanilang anak#spreadthegoodvibes
Posted by Cristina Santos Antinero on Friday, March 9, 2018
Play Hula Music In Your Lobby
We’ve made it quick and easy for you to check this one off the list. Ready-made playlists from Spotify & Prime Music.
Add Hula Moves To Your Warmups
Little Passports has a great breakdown of hula basics and then additional moves to build out your hula skills. A great way to pick and choose a few things to incorporate into a warm up. Here’s a link to their instructions. Clearly the darlings in this preview video show how much fun the littles have with Hula!
Decorate Your Studio Mirrors
Whether you’re breaking out the dry erase markers and adding some tropical detail, adding some festive window clings, or hanging a few ready-made decorations, you can add some fun to your mirrors. We’ve scored clings for as little as $1 from the dollar store. Quick searches for luau and beach theme turn up a number of bargain items that could be turned into some fun mirror decor!
Charge Up Your Diffuser
Are you using a diffuser to scent your lobby? (If you’re not already, borrow that play from fabulous hotels around the world and start doing that today!) Add a nice mixture of tropical fruit scents, vanilla or coconut and fire up the diffuser to add a tropical air to your welcome area.
Here are some trusty recipes from our playbook:
- 4 drops Lime + 4 drops Bergamot
- 4 drops Grapefruit + 4 drops Lime
- 2 drops Ginger + 3 drops Orange + 2 drops Ylang Ylang
- 3 drops Orange + 3 Drops Grapefruit + 3 drops Lavender
- 1 drops Sandalwood + 1 drop Lemon + 2 drops Bergamot + 3 drops Lavender
Keep It Simple: Go With A Social Post
We’ve given you tons of great things to pull from for an interesting social post about Lei Day. Grab one of the graphics below, jot a few lines about this beautiful tradition and run with it!
