Ages 10, 11 & 12 — otherwise known as, “The Dawn of
the Double Digits” or simply “Pre-Teen”

Tween birthday party ideas take you and your kids to the next level, with sleepless sleep-overs, skating parties, soc-hops and camp-outs. Step aside Mom and Dad, ’cause your Baby may want to plan his or her own birthday party (if you wouldn’t mind just . . . paying for it).

Photo by aballant38. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).

Your Baby has arrived at the “double-digits” — ‘Tween-dom is upon you! I don’t know about you but that had an emotional effect on me when my son hit the double-digits. I was living under the delusion that he was still 5. How can a decade have come and gone already without my noticing?

Ten years under the belt

Can you believe it? They’re so . . . big now, smart, perceptive, boisterous, and that energy level is still right up there with that drum-banging, battery, bunny guy. They’re asserting their independence, testing those once serene well defined waters.

On the flip side they are learning to fit into their ever growing ever changing bodies as much as they are trying to fit into the social circles they deem desirable. Even so, our tweens still need, and even want, boundaries. But I think what they mostly want is to have fun and just hang out together. So let’s make that happen for them big time during these — their pre-teen birthdays.

10 Tween Birthday Party Ideas to Getcha Goin’

1. Try not to assume. You know your child well and her birthday party should be one that makes her feel the happiest and most comfortable. Ask your child what kind of birthday party they would like: big or small — family, friends or combination, or even a separate party for each group (I’ve done that a few times) — at home or another location? Plan for a 2 to 3 hour party.
2. If your pre-teen’s party will be held at another location remember to book the venue at least 4 weeks in advance. Take a gander at the desired location’s website for their party hosting details.
3. Because your child’s circle of friends has grown by now — keeping the guest list manageable may be a challenge. Here are a few options to consider especially if your child is involved in different activities:
   1. Invite all kids from one particular group i.e. girl scouts, soccer team, etc.
   2. Invite all the same gender kids from one group.
   3. Invite the closest one or two friends from each group.
   4. Go by the “number of years old plus one” rule.
4. Have an arrival activity prepared to engage guests as they arrive with an adult or teen helper supervising the activity so you are free to greet guests:
   1. Have an open ended sport or game in process in which arriving guests can easily join such as freeze tag.
   2. Have refreshments set out and a mingling time at the start.
   3. Have card games, board games, sports equipment and art supplies available.
   4. Have a camera or video camera available for kids to tape themselves and take group shots. Then, during cake and ice-cream time let them have a good laugh watching themselves.
5. Be prepared! During these 3 pre-teen years your child may campaign for a sleep-over birthday party. These are more popular with girls but boys have been known to enjoy them as well. Some helpful guide-lines:
   1. Invite guests to arrive around 7pm (earlier if you will be serving a meal).
   2. Plan the first 1/3 of the party like a traditional birthday party: games, activities, food, gifts, favors lasting until 10 or 11pm.
   3. The 2nd segment (the overnight part) should begin with guests donning their pjs packing dirty clothes, rolling out sleeping bags, and generally preparing for the night which will undoubtedly not include sleeping.
   4. Plan a few activities or videos for the next hour or so. Let them tell stories, watch videos, play cards or video games, play games such as: Wink, or Telephone, etc.
   5. Set parameters for the wee hours of the night such as:
      1. Lights out at 1am (or time you designate)
      2. Remain in the house
      3. Keep voices, giggling, screeching, screaming down to a minimum
      4. Allow grown-ups to sleep until at least 7am!
   6. The 3rd segment of the party begins as the guests wake-up and ends around 10am typically.
      1. Plan breakfast about 1-1/2 hours before pick-up time.
      2. About 45 minutes before pick-up help guests roll up sleeping bags, gather belongings, etc.
      3. Provide open ended activities for the final half hour.
6. Tween birthday party ideas include plenty of food! Pre-teens typically have voracious appetites with all those growth spurts they are experiencing. Therefore, food is not negotiable! Provide a snack station near the activity area so guests can grab a quick drink or snack. Offer:
   1. Vegetables and dip
   2. Apple or melon slices
   3. Fresh berries
   4. Cheese and crackers
   5. Chips and salsa
   6. Popcorn
   7. Mixed nuts
   8. Candy
   9. Set out water bottles or soda (place sharpie markers near the drinks so kids can put their names on their beverage containers).
7. If your party takes place during a traditional meal-time consider themed food such shaped pizza, sandwiches cut with themed shaped cookie cutters. For more creative ideas please visit our birthday party recipes page.
8. We all hope accidents will never occur but it is wise to make like a boy-scout and be prepared! Ask parents where he or she can be reached in the event you need to get a hold of them. Or have the parent at least leave contact information with their child.
9. Always have at least one other adult or teen assisting you especially for the off chance there is an emergency. This enables you to effectively take care of the situation while the helper supervises the other guests.
10. Finally, check camera and video camera batteries ensuring they will last as long as the party.

Tween Birthday Party Ideas: Eats ‘n Treats

Tween Birthday Party Ideas: Cake & Ice Cream!

Need some help with what to feed your tween birthday party guests? Here are a few ideas:

1. If you are hosting your party during a meal time any kind of “make-your-own” meal is fantastically fun. Here are some ideas:
   1. “Build-your-own-pizza” is always a winning idea. Just purchase a pre-cooked pizza crust (or if you’re industrious make your own dough). Have various and sundry pizza fixin’s laying out and let the kids have at it.
   2. How about a bar-b-que?
      1. Get some of those nifty grilling bags, lay out a variety of veggies (cherry tomatoes, onions, carrots, peppers, etc) and meats such as chicken and/or beef. Have each child fill a bag with their choice of edible chunks.
      2. How about shish-kabobs? Let them skewer their own.
      3. Give your birthday guests a choice of either stuffing a grilling bag or skewering their own veggies and beef.
      4. Chunks of cool wet fruit make fun and healthy shish-kabobs, too.
2. If you have a birthday theme serve all theme related food. Such as this idea for an Olympic themed birthday party:
   1. Hot dogs
   2. Hamburgers
   3. Fries or onion rings
   4. Soda, water in sports bottles, or a sports drink
   5. A sport, Olympic rings, or torch shaped birthday cake and, of course . . .
   6. Red, white, and blue ice-cream
3. Have a buffet style baked potato bar.
4. For dessert, a buffet style ice-cream bar with yummy fun toppings. Remember the canned whipped cream – fun stuff!. This is the ultimate in “cool” food fun.

You get the idea. Your menu is only limited by your imagination (and budget).

Tween Birthday Party Ideas: Games

If you have a birthday party theme, use theme related games when you can. In continuing with the Olympics Theme idea, here is what I have been known to do (and gained “Cool mom” status in so doing) for “Olympic games.”

“Olympics” or obstacle course games which included:

1. Horse-shoes
2. Various kinds of challenging races such as:
   1. Balloon race
   2. Raw egg/spoon race
   3. Gunny-sack race (What, no gunny-sack? Just use a heavy-duty plastic garbage bag.)
   4. Broom pony race
3. Sharpshooter — a game played with shaving cream coated balloons; with water guns in hand cowpokes shoot shaving cream off.
4. Lawn darts
5. Water balloon toss
6. Bean-bag toss: they go for hours (or at least a lot of minutes) just trying to get a bean bag or ball in the designated hole. You might also know this as the Cornhole game.

More tween birthday party ideas for games:

1. Bingo (make it theme based if possible)
2. Charades
3. The Costume Relay
4. Scavenger and treasure hunts are still great fun
5. Limbo (how low can you go?!)
6. Memory Game
7. Obstacle Course
8. Water Balloon Toss
9. Various types of races and relay races
10. Tag or Tail tag (team tag)

For a 2 1/2 to 3 hour party, 10 games of 15 to 20 minutes each will energetically wile away 1-1/2 hours, unless a game or two goes longer which is wonderfully fine.

The feasting portion of your party should last 45 minutes to an hour. Once you see the chowing down is subsiding: Bring on the cake and ice-cream!

Gift opening will gleefully take up 30 to 45 minutes. After which another game or two can be inserted to last until departure. So make the last game an open ended one such as freeze tag.

Visit my kids birthday party games page for more fun game ideas for Tweeners plus detailed game instructions.

Tween Birthday Party Ideas: Themes

Tween birthday party themes for the 10 to 12 crowd run the gammut from Nascar to skakeboardig and swimming to tea parties. Since your tween will likely have a lot more input on their party at this age, you might be surprised at what they want! Check the table below to get your brainstorm blowing.

What are your favorite Tween Birthday Party Ideas? Do you have an especially cool theme you have tried in the past that really came off well? Any advice on what to avoid?

Please share your experiences in the form near the bottom of this page. Then, take a look at the tween birthday party themes immediately below. Remember to have fun!

A Luau	A Surprise Party
American Idol Party (or other reality show)	A Beading or Craft Party
A Tea Party (no, not that tea party)	Sports Party
A Spa Party	Fashion Party
Soc-Hop or other Dance Party	Glow-in-the-dark Party
Swimming Pool Party	Backwards Party Party
Martial Arts	Beach Fun
Surfer Party	Skateboarding Party
NASCAR	Murder Mystery
WWE (use to be WWF – you know, the wrestling dudes)	A Favorite Movie, Video Game or Book

Tween Birthday Party Ideas: Locations

Go carting is one of the more expensive tween birthday party ideas. But it’s fun! Photo by Kenn W. Kiser/aka click

Explore the list below to get ideas on places to go for your tween birthday party. As with most kids birthday party locations, remember to plan ahead.

Whether you are calling, emailing or using an online reservation service, make reservations at least 4 weeks in advance. This is especially important for park venues during popular seasons — like summer time in Portland, Oregon (when it’s not raining!).

Here are a few more things to keep in mind:

• If your venue offers birthday party packages, ask what will be included. Examples include decorations, cake, entertainment, invitations, etc.
• Get specific when asking about the cost. In other words, is there a flat fee for “everything” (ask what “everything” is)? Are there “extras” that can be purchased? Are beverages included? You get the idea.

Bad food can give you heartburn, but so can surprise costs. Always ask lots of questions.

By the way, if you have any great tween birthday party ideas, please head to the bottom of this page and share with the rest of us! Here come the ideas:

The Mall	Skating Rink
Gymnastics Center	Skateboarding Park
Theme Park	The Beach
Family Fun Center	Camping
Pizza Parlor	Water Park
Host a “Video Game-athon” at a Community Center	Bowling Party
Sheltered Picnic Area	Snow Skiing
Paintball	Batting Cages
Lazer Tag Facility	Go-cart Track

Tween Birthday Party Ideas: Gifts

Tweens are at that in-between stage (thus the nick name), where they still get enjoyment out of their traditional toys. Buuuut, electronics and online games are making their play for your tween’s changing and maturing interests.

Check the table for more than 25 tween birthday party ideas for gifts. This should help you get your creative juices flowing!

DVDs, CDs, Books	Mobile Apps
Video Games	Puzzle Games
Gift Certificate	Money!
Karaoke System	Justin Bieber Paraphernalia
Board Games	Stereo
Radio Controlled Vehicles	A Zip Line
Table Tennis or Foosball	Basketball Hoop
Dart Board	Clothing and Accessories
iPods	Webkinz
Cell Phone	mp3 Player
Musical Instrument	Digital Camera
Hair Accessories	Magazine Subscription
iTunes Card	Skateboard or Other Sports Equipment

What are your Tween Birthday Party Ideas?

I would love to hear about what made your Tween a happy camper on his or her birthday. What was your theme, cuisine, games, location that made the party a great time for your child and guests? Please share your ideas in the form below. Can’t wait to hear from you – thanks!