Best of Honolulu 2020: The Best for Family on O‘ahu

The 5 editorial and reader picks for the places and businesses in Honolulu that make our lives just a bit easier.

Best Party Entertainment

Reader Pick

photo: karen db photography

Luckily, you don’t need a fairy godmother to get your child to meet his or her favorite princess or superhero. Storybook Entertainment Hawai‘i specializes in finding talented (and always sweet) performers who mirror more than 260 fictional characters that everyone loves. We’ve seen girls frozen with delight upon meeting life-size Elsa and Anna. Captain America can entertain a wild pack of boys for hours—that’s an incredible power. And, of course, there’s always Moana and demigod Maui to ignite some Island fun. The locally based company also offers face painting, balloon artists, magicians and jugglers as part of its making-dreams-come-true packages. When Honolulu locked down, Storybook started facetimefun.com to let kids chat with Batman, Cinderella or Tinkerbell—since we all could use some magic fairy dust. —Stacey Makiya

storybookentertainmenthawaii.com, @storybookhawaii

PHOTO: COURTESY OF COCO MOON

Best Local Brand for Kids Clothes

Reader Pick

Amber Thibaut first became known to local moms for her super soft and sweetly patterned blankets for babies. The mom of two started her business, Coco Moon, in 2015 when she was wrapping her little one in a pareo. A few years later, she branched out from her signature bamboo fabric swaddle clothes to adorable rompers and onesies, and just last year expanded to mommy-and-me robes and blankets big enough for everyone to cuddle in. —Christi Young

cocomoonhawaii.com, @coco_moon_hawaii

PHOTO: COURTESY OF TINY HEARTS 808

Best Magnets for Little Foodies

Sheri and Kevin Ching started Tiny Hearts 808 a decade ago by selling paper crafts at fairs. Soon, the husband-and-wife duo came up with the idea to turn Kevin’s adorable drawings into food magnets. Their first set was of local favorites, including Spam, poke and saimin. From there, they branched out to other ethnic foods—from Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese to Hawaiian, Mexican and Italian—and sell their popular six-pack sets online and in stores such as Valia Honolulu, Celebrations, Kira x Miffy and Andaz Maui. In the lū‘au set, there’s an edamame family with a sleeping baby pod, a chicken staring at a bowl of steaming chicken long rice and a coconut smiling at a haupia block. “We just kind of grew it from there,” says Sheri, who, along with Kevin, works full time at UH. “Food is something that everyone can relate to.” —Jayna Omaye

etsy.com/shop/TinyHearts808, @tinyhearts808

Best Keiki Behind-The-Scenes Tour

photo: courtesy of honolulu theatre for youth

Approachable, fun-loving and talented, the actors and actresses of Honolulu Theatre for Youth are like rock stars to keiki of O‘ahu. Join the party with HTY On Stage Workshops, where cast members guide kids through acting exercises and a backstage tour just hours before a live performance. It’s an extra thrill for young fans. —Cathy Cruz-George

Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Tenney Theatre, 229 Queen Emma Square, (808) 839-9885, htyweb.org, @honolulutheatreforyouth

Best Local Wood Play Sets

photo: courtesy of KEIKI KAUKAU

Dreamt up by local mom April Hail (a former teacher and au pair), Keiki Kaukau’s adorable wood toys encourage creativity and learning while celebrating some of our favorite elements of Island life. Made from eco-friendly wood and nontoxic paint and felt, the play sets are themed around shave ice, tropical lei and local kine grindz—think too-cute poke bowls, lau lau and Spam musubi. And several pieces can be broken apart and reassembled, sparking fun for kids and developing their motor skills at the same time. Plus, for every play set sold, the label donates five meals through the Hawai‘i Foodbank. —Brie Thalmann

keikikaukau.com, @keikikaukau

This story originally appeared as a section of the annual “Best of Honolulu” in the July 2020 issue of HONOLULU Magazine. Get your copy at shop.honolulumagazine.com and subscribe to the print and digital editions now.