Family nights are an easy and fun way to keep your family growing together. This month is has been a goal for us to make family nights a regular thing. These can be something small like a game night at home or a bigger event like a family dinner and movie. Even the family night failures can be valuable moments that provide years of memories. Try out some brand new ideas with a Moana-themed family night. Then, keep reading to find out about our family night disaster below.

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About Moana

Before we get onto the fun family night ideas here is a little background about the movie:

“From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “Moana,” a sweeping, CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people. “Moana is the 16-year-old daughter of the chief of Motunui,” says director Ron Clements. “She’s brave, determined, compassionate and incredibly smart. She has a never-say-die attitude and a profound connection to the ocean.”

“So it’s troubling to her, to say the least, that her people don’t go beyond the reef surrounding their island,” adds director John Musker. “They stay within the confines of that reef, and Moana doesn’t really understand why, especially since she’s felt drawn to the ocean her whole life.”…

Telling the Tale

Pacific Island storytelling culture is celebrated as the fi lm opens. Gramma Tala, the mother of Chief Tui and Moana’s greatest confidante, shares the tale of Te Fiti, the mother island. “Her heart held the greatest power ever known: it could create life itself,” she says. “And Te Fiti shared it with the world.”

Gramma Tala’s story culminates with details of Maui, demigod of the wind and sea, who steals the heart of Te Fiti, unleashing a terrible darkness that threatens the life and habitat of islanders throughout the region. Maui is confronted by Te Kā, a demon of earth and fire, and ultimately loses the heart of Te Fiti to the sea.

The film introduces a very special presence in Moana’s life: the Ocean—a living embodiment of the sea who’s chosen Moana to find Maui and return the heart of Te Fiti, saving her island and her people from the darkness that has begun to take over. The only problem is that Chief Tui, Moana’s father, forbids voyaging beyond the safety of the reef that lies just beyond their shores. Tui has seen too many voyage past the reef—and never return—and out of love for his people, has forbade it. Moana must go against her father’s wishes to pursue her destiny set forth by the Ocean.

The mighty demigod Maui, a charismatic character in the film, was inspired by the varied tales and legends about him throughout the Pacific. Says Musker, “We were fascinated by the stories we read, the tales told to us by people of the region. In most islands, Maui is larger-than-life, a trickster and a shapeshifter. He could pull up whole islands from the sea with his fishhook; he had the power to slow down the sun. He is an incredible figure.”

Maui, who’s on his own journey of self-discovery, reluctantly guides Moana in her quest to become a wayfinder and save her people. Together, they sail across the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds, and, along the way, Moana discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity.” – Disney Press Kit

Moana-Themed Family Night Activities

Kakamora Design Contest

Step 1

Before heading to the theater, print out this free printable “Design Your Own Kakamora” worksheet for each family member.

Step 2

Have everyone design a Kakamora, number each one, and tape them to the wall.

Step 3

Next, each family member takes turns voting for his or her favorite by writing the number down on a slip of paper, folding it in half, and tossing it in a bowl.

Step 4

Wait to tally the votes until you get home from the movie. The winner can get an extra piece of leftover movie candy; pick the next family movie theme; or other small reward.

Special Dinner Coloring Sheets

Skip the kids menus at dinner tonight. Instead, print out these awesome free Moana coloring sheets for kids to decorate at dinner. They will feel like they know the characters before you even get to the theater!

Coloring Sheet 1

Coloring Sheet 2

Coloring Sheet 3

Coloring Sheet 4

Coloring Sheet 5

Coloring Sheet 6

Put on a Puppet Show

Let the fun continue after the movie! Print out these free printable bookmarks on cardstock. Next, cut them out and put in a cute envelope. Surprise your kids after the movie with their new “puppets” and they’ll be giggling the entire ride home.

Our Family Night Fail

Now that you have some awesome Moana-themed family night ideas as promised I’ll share our family night disaster with you. As you saw at the beginning of this post, I received 4 free premier tickets in exchange for writing this post. I was stoked and couldn’t wait for us to have our first big family night of the month (prior to this we had only done family nights at home). I set aside money in the budget for a nice dinner out with the 5 of us, childcare for the 2-year-old after dinner, and a fun-tastic Moana movie night at the theater. Ah, the best laid plans. Instead, getting out of the house was a disaster of all three kids insisting on trying to hold my hands while bumping into the door, the wall, the side of the van… pretty much everything. All of this while I’m yelling behind me to make sure the diaper bag was grabbed, there is a sippy cup inside, is the door locked, do we have the keys, and everything else that a large family needs when going anywhere for an extended time period.

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We get to the restaurant and thankfully are seated right away. That’s when chaos took over. Our kids are usually pretty good and, admittedly, they weren’t screaming or anything but they were knocking things over in their haste to get to drinks and crayons. It literally took us 20 minutes to even be ready to order… the appetizer. As dinner winds on, growing ever-more chaotic we still haven’t heard from the sitter. We start trying to get in touch with parents to try to find a back-up. Upon hearing this, the oldest looks at me and says, “I want to see grandma and grandpa. Can I go with them? Wait. What movie are we seeing again?” Talk about a knife in the heart of the momma. I know that grandparents will always trump parents but after all of the stress of the night this was just heartbreaking.

We finally get in touch with the sitter (who had gotten stuck at work) around 6 at which point we are all stressed out and in tears. We realize at this point that it is just not meant to be. We’ll have to take a family night mulligan. On the plus side, we had a dinner that I didn’t have to make and we still have a puppet night to look forward to. Have you ever had a family night goes wrong-side up? I’d love to hear about the tears and laughs in the comments.

Want to know more about the new Moana Movie? Check out the official Facebook and Twitter pages!

See where I’m linking up!