Tween Birthday Party Ideas

My twins turned 9 over a week ago. Their birthday was on a Saturday, but we had family in town and lots of activities going on that weekend so we couldn’t plan a party. We did go out to dinner with family though. And dad took them bowling while I took our teens to see a play our community theater was putting on. I was hoping that would be enough.

Of course it wasn’t.

I’ve been battling a sinus infection and had a midterm last week (and if you give me a few minutes I can probably come up with a couple more reasons why I procrastinated) so I really put off the birthday planning. You know what happens when you put off birthday planning. TWO sleepovers. With lots of LOUD kids. That’s what happens.

We have boy/girl twins so, of course, they don’t have the same friends. That meant we had a boy party on Friday night and a girl party of Saturday night. And, yes, it was just as traumatic as it sounds. For me at least.

So I’ve decided we need to start brainstorming ways to celebrate birthdays that don’t involve sleepovers.

First I dug in to the Weary Parent archives for inspiration where I found 13 ideas for a fabulous tween birthday party. These great ideas include:

• Bowling
• A movie
• Swimming (either indoor or outdoor)
• Snow tubing
• Mini-golf
• Rockwall climbing
• A sporting event (college, semi-pro or pro)
• Community theater
• Ice skating or roller skating
• Cooking at a make & take dinner establishment
• A cookout or picnic at a local park
• A trip to a local museum
• Volunteering at an animal shelter

Some other great Weary Parent ideas that can be done at a rented community center or a local park are a make-your-own-pizza party or a French dinner party. Or if you must have it at your house, have a a camping party (where the kids stay outside).

If that’s not enough some additional ideas for a tween party are:

• Have a scavenger hunt at the mall (or a park).
• Play laser tag.
• Play paint ball.
• Take a trip to a local amusement park.
• Go to a fun center (a grown up Chuck E. Cheese, such as Enchanted Castle in Illinois) where they have video games, bumper cars, go-karts and the like.
• Go to the zoo.
• Get facials at a local salon.
• Or manicures and pedicures.
• Go hiking at a local park.
• Play a game of football or soccer or go golfing.
• Take a self defense class.
• Have a Hawaiian themed party at the beach.
• Go sledding in the winter.
• Make pottery at a pottery store.
• Make jewelry at a bead store.
• This time of year go to a pumpkin patch.
• Take a trip to an apple orchard.
• Visit a farm. It’s a great place for hayrack or tractor rides. Some local dairy farms even let kids milk cows.
• Rent a room at a restaurant and have your own Tween Idol. Bring a karaoke machine and Mom and Dad can be Paula and a much nicer version of Simon.

What other ideas do you have? What not-at-home parties have your tweens had?

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