I absolutely love Central America and have been to Mexico on more than one occasion.  This part of the world is filled with architecture the color of the sunset and beautiful beaches.  Still, what makes a Mexican fiesta so special is its lovely culture, filled with amazing food ("hello, chili peppers!") sparkling festival lights and the cheerful sounds of mariachi bands.   Although the purpose of fiesta may vary, depending on whether a religious or secular holiday is being commemorated, each of these celebrations brings dancing and music.  So make sure that a dance floor features prominently as you throw a fiesta for  your minis!  Aside from an amazing playlist, the possibilities of which are endless, here are a few other things you may need to send along with your little amigos once the taco bar has been cleared: 

The possibilities for a tropical themed party are almost endless!  Shell we get right to it? (I promise, that's the last pun for this post).  When I think of a tropical party, I'm most inspired by the retro 1960s Hawaiian vibe, so I've tried to gather charming vintage finds here.  Hawaii went through a massive period of growth in the 1960s, when the rest of America became obsessed with its most alluring and beautiful new state.  It certainly didn't hurt when Elvis filmed three (!) movies there during that decade.  Here are a few ideas for Tiki themed party favors for your tropical party:

How adorable are these little palm tree candy boxes from Yacanna shop on Etsy.com? Scattering these across the table as part of the place settings would be such a charming way to make a beachy atmosphere.

If you wanted to create a craft for the little ones, you could always purchase a surfboard shaped cookie cutter and make plain sugar cookies for them to decorate at the party.  For those party planners looking for less mess, these adorable tropical-themed cookies from A Little Bit of Paris shop on Etsy.com stand out with their whimsical colors and attention to detail. 

I'm a big fan of purchasing "party details" that can be reused, like a set of wooden Tiki cups! This set is from Foxy Revival Shop on Etsy.  There are plenty of imitations out there if you don't want to splurge on a vintage set. 

For me, one of the best aspects of this kind of party is the vibrant color that you can infuse into decorations and party favors.  A scattering of these paper palm leaves across the table would add a really cheerful atmosphere for your little ones. 

Children's parties are often overrun with plastic toys, that while fun do not exactly do any favors for our beautiful Earth.  These palm tree plates are a nice eco-friendly touch, especially when paired with reusable bamboo straws.   This is a nice way to bring a little environmental consciousness into the day's festivities while remaining completely on theme!

Of course, you have to send the little ones home with their own little slice of Polynesian beauty.  Why purchase those plastic leis that will just sit in a landfill once their novelty has worn off? Fresh orchid leis are available year round from florists.  Ideally, you'll be able to find someone local to purchase from, to avoid the carbon and money spent on shipping from a warm location. 

For my son's fifth birthday, we decided on a "Geology" theme.  Like many children his age, he absolutely loves to dig in my garden for little treasures, like twigs or unique pebbles.  On a lark, we purchased a handful of gemstones from a local shop.  We would hide them in a pile of kinetic sand for an impromptu gemstone dig.  When it came time to put together favors for his birthday, it seemed natural to echo his beloved past time.  Here are a few ideas for party favor bags for this theme. 

We used adorable printables from 3 Little Monkeys Studio on Etsy.com.  This studio has a personalized banner, invitations and party tags in a rocks and minerals theme.   Just print on card stock at home or a local UPS store, and voila! These designs are under ten dollars each. 

My little man is at an age where he can spend hours outside just collecting unique rocks, leaves and sticks.  Since this was clearly emerging as his favorite past time, I thought that maybe his friends were having a similar love affair with playing in the dirt.  Even as a grown up, I like to keep a few polished stones with me all of the time, a habit I started years ago when recovering from a car accident.  Whenever I would start to feel achy or anxious, I would use the stones to distract myself.  They were especially helpful during periods of time where I had multiple blood draws.  Holding a cool, smooth gemstone in my hand had a soothing effect.  If you would like to provide stones to children, just be sure that they are age appropriate and shop the collection at TreasureCreek LLC on Etsy.

We added a few rocks and minerals themed snacks to our favor bags, like Pop-rocks and brownies layered with graham cracker crumbs and chocolate stones to imitate the Earth's crust.  These stones were incredible.  They look exactly like real pebbles but taste like good quality chocolate.   We ordered a bag of these from Sweet Kicks Candies on Etsy, a cute little store with more than one hundred and eight different candy products. 

You could easily create an on-site mini-dig for your little guests by simply getting a few big buckets and filling them with sand and gemstones.  Hand each of the children a plastic shovel (or the more eco-friendly wooden spoon) and let them dig for buried treasures.  To bring some of the fun home, there are many commercial rock mining kits available.  Here is one of my favorites: