Your child has graduated from princess themes and Spiderman parties, which means it’s time to start brainstorming some good preteen birthday party ideas.
Now your mission is to plan something fun and “cool” (whatever that means, right?) that they’ll be excited to invite their friends. They’re not little kids anymore, but they’re still not quite old enough to go off and do things on their own for a birthday celebration.
These are our top three favorite birthday party ideas that will help you start planning your next birthday party.
1) Their Favorite Sport
Is there a sport that they’re absolutely obsessed with? Use this as a starting point for planning their party. Maybe they’re obsessed with basketball. Book a court at your community center and supply snacks and sports drinks for them to enjoy in between games.
Perhaps baseball is their thing. Reserve a baseball field nearby and let them go to town. Take them all to your child’s favorite fast food joint afterward.
While it’s not commonly regarded as a sport, video games are becoming more and more popular in the sports world. Have your child pick a handful of their favorite multiplayer games and let them clock a few hours gaming together with their friends. These Lizard Skins gaming grips would make an awesome party favor!
2) Crafting Party
If your preteen is into crafting, use this to your advantage and plan a party around it! Sit down with them and ask if there are any particular crafts that they’d like to do. Come with your own ideas in case they don’t have ideas. Here are some of our favorite ideas:
- Have everyone bring a pair of solid white slip ons or lace-ups. Buy sharpie pens in all colors and let them personalize their shoes.
- Buy a handful of different essential oil scents so that they can create and personalize bath bombs
- String art just requires a string, wood boards, and nails. Choose a design ahead of time with your kid and prep the boards. Be sure to supply plenty of colors of a string so everyone can make their own board.
- Snag some small round magnets, clear pebbles, and some cute scrapbooking paper. Have everyone bring photos where the people would be small enough to cut out and incorporate into the magnets. Perfect to put in their locker!
3) A Classic Sleepover
What is more classic than a sleepover? Get some good snacks (popcorn is always a must) and write a list of movies to include and consider. Find some games — board games or video games — to play so that the kids aren’t just sitting in front of the TV all night. Make sure everyone brings a sleeping bag and pillow!
It’s important that as your kid grows up, you allow them the freedom to help plan their own party. These are good starting points as you start to plan, but your kid may surprise you with a few of their own plans that work well.
