Tween Birthday Party Ideas

Making the plans with your tween!

As you start making plans for this party, sit down with your tween and get them involved in the process. Let them help make decisions about the number of guests, venue, entertainment and food. By giving your tween the opportunity to help plan their own party, you’re giving them more responsibility and independence, which is an important lesson at this age. The first thing to figure out is what kind of party your tween wants. Will this be a small get together of friends at home, a slumber party or a large-scale dance party with music and food? Will the party be themed? Theme parties are a very popular party idea. Some theme ideas for a tween birthday would be Hawaiian luau, Hollywood, sports or even an American Idol themed party! Once you’ve decided on the theme, choose your location, date, time and guest list and get your invitations out right away. Make the invitations yourself or use a professional service to design something that matches your theme!

It wouldn't be a party without games and entertainment!

No matter what kind of party you are throwing, entertainment is absolutely necessary for a party for this age group. Even if you've chosen to just have a get together of small friends at home you need to plan games or movies or something to keep them busy and make the party fun! If you are having a larger party, you may need to hire entertainment to come in. Some fun ideas would be temporary tattoo artists, magicians or an impersonator of your tween's favorite celebrity! If you are having an outdoors party you could bring in carnival games or an inflatable bounce house. If you want to get all the guests involved in games, send the guests on a scavenger hunt or set up an interactive game show. Or maybe your tween would just prefer to have a dance party, in which case you should consider hiring a DJ or party band to perform. Or book a karaoke DJ so the guests can get up in front of their friends and sing their favorite songs!

Other things to consider

If you chose to have a theme party, you will definitely need to get appropriate decor to set the scene. You can get creative and make your own decorations or purchase it at your local party store or online. It's also important to consider giving out party favors. This is a great way to thank them for coming to your party and also gives them something fun to save as a keepsake to remember the wonderful party they attended! Your party favors can often tie into your theme. For example, if you have a luau, hand out Hawaiian leis. Or if you have a Hollywood party, give out small personalized Walk of Fame stars. If there is no specific theme to match favors to, then consider goodie bags of candy!

You will definitely want to have food available at the party, whether it be a full menu of food or just snacks for the tweens to eat as they party. If you opt to have a full menu, you may want to consider hiring a caterer and have them help you come up with creative party food ideas. Match the menu to your party theme or just stick with something as simple as ordering pizzas and setting up a pizza buffet. If the party is outdoors you could barbecue hamburgers and hot dogs. Or just set up a table of refreshments and snacks such as chips, dip, fruit trays and desserts with bowls of punch. If the venue or location you have chosen does not provide tables and chairs and these things are necessary for the party you've planned, then you'll will want to contact a party rental company to provide them for you.

A party worth remembering!

Another very important thing to remember is pictures! You can take the pictures yourself or designate a family member to take pictures. If you have the budget, you can hire a professional photographer to handle all the pictures for you so that you can either enjoy the party as well or stay busy handling all the other details. Another fun idea is to set up a photo booth. This way your tween and their friends can take goofy candid pictures that print out right away. Tie-in idea: have your party favors be picture frames that match your theme and then your guests can take photos in the booth and put them in the frame and take them home with them!

If all of this still sounds like a lot to take on, you could always hire a party planner to handle it for you. However, with the right resources you and your pre-teen can do it yourselves and have fun doing it. GigSalad is here to help you every step of the way as your one stop shop for all your tween birthday party planning needs!