Tweens are defined as young adults between the ages of 8-12 years old. This is a fun age, but also an interesting one. Tweens do not want to be seen as children anymore. Their focus has gone from toys, toys, and more toys, to fashion and current events. They want to be style setters, they want to be cool, they want to be a little more grown up then even you might be comfortable with. This needs to be taken into consideration when throwing a tween birthday party.
When you throw a tween birthday party you want to make sure that the tween gets his or her input into the party ideas. They are learning to express their individuality and your idea of a Barney Party might work for a younger child, but a ten year old will not enjoy the theme music to Barney at her tween birthday party. So what party ideas do tweens like, while still being acceptable ideas that the parents can embrace. Here are three parties your tween can be proud of.
ROCK STAR PARTY
If your child loves to rock out then this is the tween birthday party you need to have! There is actually a great party pack available at Oriental Trading Company complete with pink pirate girl invites, cups, plates, balloons, and napkins. Nothing is more rock star these days then this lovely skull and cross-bone pattern and it is affordable.
If you want to make your own invitation’s you definitely can. Make it a fun activity by creating a rock star invite by cutting out pictures of rock stars from Rolling Stone and decoupaging them on the front of a blank invite, then just fill in the info on the front.
Once the invites are in the mail it is time to start planning the party. I would recommend having your tween heavily involved in this one. What is great fun at a rock star party is Karaoke! Start looking into where you can rent a karaoke machine at.
Another pre-party plan you need to have in place is the music. You will want to make a mixed CD or two for the party. What would be a lot of fun would be to give these CD’s out as party favors.
No rock star party would be complete without a little bit of the rock star look. You might want to get some props costumes. You can go to a thrift store for some crazy rock star shoes, some t-shirts you can cut the collars off to look a little more rock, and other supplies. You will also want to pop into your local costume shop for a wig or two so your tween can have their Hanna Montana moment.
For the actual party you want to keep it structured, but you don’t want to linger. Remember tweens want to assert their independence and having their mom or dad hanging at their party is just not cool. Be there to greet guests and take coats, serve refreshments (a punk rock punch would be way cool), and to set up the karaoke machine. For the majority of the party hang out in a nearby room, but please don’t hover. You might want to invite a parent of one of the guests for company and conversation.
Now the cake! Well cakes are just not punk rock anymore, you want cupcakes and you want to forget having your little girl blow out candles. No way, you need the little rocker to have a sparkler on her birthday cupcake!
Once the cupcakes have been served, presents have been opened and it is time to go don’t forget to give all of the kids a memory of the party with your little rocks stars very own mixed CD!
RED CARPET EXTRAVAGANZA
The theme for this tween birthday party is bling!
You can have a lot of fun making the invitations, the one recommendation I would have would be to make them red carpet ready by sprinkling them with silver glitter! Fun stuff!
For the actual party you can go to any local discount store and get red plates, napkins, table clothes. Your other option would be to go online to a sight such as PartyCheap.com and get any one of there movie party decorations, including a red carpet for your guests arrival.
I recommend going to a costume supply shop or a party decoration store and pick up a few key Hollywood items like a boa for guests to wear and several pairs of Hollywood sunglasses. If you have time and additional funds go to the thrift store and pick up a few movie star dresses the guests can wear.
For the table decorations you should give each kid a placemat that features their very own star from the Hollywood walk of fame! Nothing is more fun then seeing your name on a Hollywood Star!
For the actual party I would suggest that the main activity be a movie, even if it is just for background noise. You can pick something that tweens love like “High School Musical” or “Hanna Montana.” You might even want to take the theme of this movie over to the cake. Who doesn’t want to eat a tasty treat decorated with the cast of High School Musical? Or maybe just a standard cake wishing your “star” a happy tween birthday!
When having a red carpet tween party make sure to have a red carpet gift bag to go. The stars receive fabulous gift bags, and so should you party guest. I would stick with the red theme, get a red gift bag from the craft store, glam it up with sparkling stickers or glitter pens with each of the guests name on them, and hop over to the dollar store to stock up on much have goodies that the little starlets can go home with.
GLAMOROUS SLEEP OVER
This party is only for the girliest of girls. If you are the proud parent of a little Diva it’s time to get Glamorous. This is the tween birthday party for you!
Think pink and Diva for this party. Invitations need to spell out the night of pampering. A pink theme is in order for this one. Decorate with pink everywhere, from streamers to party plates. If you can find DIVA plates, get them! One place to check out is partycheap.com.
You will want to start the movie a little later, say 7pm on a weekend night. You will want to have some planned activities, but leave lots of time for pampering fun. You will want to have gift pack ready for each of the glamorous girls when they get to your house. The gift pack should include there very own peel off nail polish, toe separators, and various other beauty goodies. This gift bag does not have to break the bank. Check out EyesLipFace for cosmetics, and none of them cost more then a dollar each, you might even pick something up for yourself.
Once the guests enter you will want to give out the pamper bags, have some healthy and glamorous snacks such as little mini sandwiches and sparkling water (you will want to keep pretzels, chips, and pop available as well), and let the guest mingle.
I would recommend about a half hour of mingling then you will want to pop in a glamorous movie that tweens love such as Hanna Montana, pretty much any Disney made for TV movie, Princess Diaries, early Lindsey Lohan flicks, etc. This might be the time to slip into your pajamas?
About halfway through the movie it is time to break out the cake! Divas love pink cupcakes with pink candles. After cake and the flick it is time for mom to go to bed and for tweens to get there pamper on. Good luck sleeping with all the giggling and glamorizing going on.
Have fun!
