4 Birthday Party Trends We’re Suddenly Seeing Everywhere

It is not a Saturday unless you’re booked for back-to-back parties at SkyZone and Rockin' Jump—just two of the trampoline park chains that are spreading across the country faster than a runny nose in kindergarten. Ask any kid under ten: You’re not officially a year older unless you and all your friends are airborne.

Maybe it’s The Emoji Movie. Maybe it’s the fact that their parents are constantly on their phones (worried face!). But to little kids, emojis are everything. From wearing hoodies bedazzled with laughing-crying faces to hanging squishy key-chain versions from their backpacks, kids are doodling heart-for-eyes-guy when they should be meeting the standards of common core. It only seems obvious birthday parties would be next.

It’s not just the children of celebs like Kim Kardashian and Jessica Simpson who are crazy for this tropical shero. Thanks to the doable theme (one sweep through Party City’s luau section and you’ve got a backyard Montonui-in-the-making), Lin-Manuel Miranda-scored soundtrack (instant playlist) and readily available Moanas-for-hire to serenade the birthday kid, this theme shows no sign of going "away, away."

Whether you’re renting out a party room at a Legoland Discovery Center or hiring professionals to bring a life-size engineering project to your living room, this STEM-tastic activity has all the building blocks of a memorable (and ‘Grammable) bash. And thanks to pop culture tie-ins like the Lego Ninjago movie, its popularity is built-in.