Birthday for 13Yo Daughter

M.,

Hire a dj! They have all of the dance music and karaoke stuff! They can also mc the event and provide games and prizes so that you don't have to. I know one that does school functions and is very affordable for at-home parties. Let me know if you are interested. Thanks. ###-###-####.

Have a luau! It's easy to find decorations, everyone could receive a lei (which are inexpensive and they have something to leave the party with) and food would be easy. Good luck!

My daughter is just 11, but her favorites times are when she has a big sleepover and they all play Sing Star (it's a karaoke game for Playstation)

What about rock climbing? There's Climb Time on Kenwood and Rock Quest on Kemper.

Have you thought of skating? my daughter(14) had a skating party last year and it turned out great.

I agree with the person who suggested an American Idol party. You can rent a karaoke machine for not very much if you want to splurge, or get a cheap kids version for a present for her. A friend of mine did this for her daughter and everyone loved it.

Can you surprise her? My mom planned a surprise 13th b-day party for me..........and I have never forgotten it! even all these years later.
YOu could choose a general theme, let her help with the guest list (as she might expect something, but on a different day) and you can take care of the rest. My mom had a special cake with a fountain and lights......very memorable.
Just a thought, but brought back good memories of my 13th birthday!
Good Luck

Dear M., 13 is a very difficult age for girls. They are not a child, but yet they are not really a real teenager. My granddaughter just turned 14 last month. She had a swim party at Cherry Valley Lodge. I am not sure on the price for such a party. Or, since she likes sports, maybe a backyard cookout, with a game they all like to play. Maybe volleyball. More can play this type of game.
Instead of the kids bringing gifts, maybe they could help with the cost of admission to a swim party. You could serve pizza and soft drinks and cake. Hope this helps you with some ideas. I know things are not as simple as they used to be when giving partys. GOOD LUCK.....K.

A house party, invite everyone to the house, play music, have snacks, let them dance. You can rent strobe lights and disco balls. The theme can be 70's disco.

Good luck.

Hi M..

Being a mom of three girls and one not being such a girly girl herself. Her favorite thing to do on her birthday was to have a fire and roast some smores. The kids sit around the fire and talk and make jokes. It is quite funny to hear sometimes. Because you know...I do keep a close eye on every boy and girl.

Hi! Hopefully this suggestion will help. When I was turning 13...a long time ago, lol, my mom took me and a few friends out for pizza and to our high school football game who was playing our rival. Mom let me pick the friends and paid for dinner, the tickets to the game, and snacks and drinks at the game. Since your daughter likes sports maybe something along these lines would help. Even if it isn't high school sports, maybe something college or pro that's reasonable would work?! Just a thought, good luck and happy 13th birthday to your daughter.

Not sure what price would be like, but how bout doing a party at a local rec center or YMCA or something. You could rent out the gym or pool or something and have both genders involved. Then have cake/icecream etc.
OR, maybe even a local park w/ a pavillion (Spelling?!) and an open field and have some activities going on ie: dodgeball, soccer, volleyball, football -- all those things that 13 yr olds like to play. Maybe even have some fun trophies or something that they could 'win' for fun.
Hope you come up w/ something good!

Hi M.,
I had a bowling party at a neighborhood bowling lane that specialized in that. On the weekend nights, after nine pm, they had bowling with the certain lights that made the bowling balls glow. With easy food and the bowling/ games, everyone was entertained and my son had a great time. Good Luck! L.

Do you have a roller skating rink nearby? I would suggest renting that or a bowling party is always fun for any age group. Do you have an arcade/game place where you could hold a party. We used to have one in our mall. All of these type of parties could have boys and girls. My daughter is going to be 13 in the Spring. She always lets me know what kind of party she'd like to have. I have had the game room and bowling parties in previous years. The only one we haven't done yet is the skating party but that may happen on her 13th birthday. A Karoke party would be fun if you have somewhere to have it. Some places you can rent the movie house but I'm not sure how fun that would be. Good Luck!!

M. R.

For my 13th birthday my mom rented two rooms at a hotel with an indoor pool and gameroom. One was for her and my dad and one was for me and my close girl friends. I was able (with the permission of the hotel) to have a pool party and invite friends to swim and have pizza. Then when it was over me close friends and I stayed up and watched movies and played in the gameroom. It was a blast and the best part for my mom and dad (I SO get this now) was that there was no clean up before or after. A trillion adolescents weren't invading their home.

This was the first thing that came to mind for me. Hope it gets the creative juices flowing.

L.

My parents gave me the best birthday party by renting out a cabin and allowing me to select 4 or 5 friends to spend the night on our own (of course, the folks were right outside camping in a tent). But the excitement of having our own cabin and being able to feel alone really made the evening special. October would be a beautiful time to go camping--smores, the changing of the leaves, hiking, horseback riding--and it sounds like your more active girl would appreciate it!

Do you have access to a fire pit and a large yard? You could have a cookout with a fire going. She could come up with music to play and activities to do. My neighbor did a survivor theme party for her teenage daughter one year. She bought different colored bandanas for teams and then split them up. They did different games and scavenger hunts in the neighborhood. Everyone had a great time. They ended the party with a great fire, kids visiting and eating smores.

Hope this helps you in your adventure of a 13 yo bd party. Isn't it funny the lengths we will go to to give them everything that they want.

Have a great time. S.

Haunted House in the garage?

M.,
I had my girls birthday party at a skate roller rink. I rented out a roller rink for three hours. Do it on a week day that way you have the rink just for your party. Call roller rinks around your area. This way it is open space for girls and boys to have fun.

How about an American Idol themed party? The guests can do skits, singing, dancing or sports for the judges (the birthday girl or whomever she chooses to judge). The performances don't have to be real, just silly things, like a charades where you help her come up with silly things the guests can perform, like spoofs. This kind of depends on the guests though- this would be some for some kids, dreadful for others.

Another thought, go treasure-hunting. Letter-boxing and geo-caching are two ways to hunt for treasure- thousands of people are into this so there are treasures hidden everywhere. Letterboxing.org (I think) is the website to get you started and explain what it is exactly. You'll have to google geocaching (and geocaching requires a GPS).

im 13 n i like kareoke and lots of dancing

Try a Hawiian Theme. Or possibly a beach/surfing theme. You could have shaved Ice or snow cones. If the weather is nice do it outside with a fire pit and BBQ.

Try an outdoor party. We live next to a lake and we do a swimming party for my granddaughter every year. cookout, badminton, water balloons, yard games, swimming, etc. All of both sides of the family comes and they are allowed to invite whatever friends they want. Everyone has a good time.

What about a beach or Hawaiian theme? If you choose beach, they could play beach volleyball, do some Hawaiian dances (you should be able to find TONS of info on Hawaiian dances and games), have a luau, even put the meat in the ground like they do, if you live somewhere where you can do that, pool games if you have it somewhere there is a pool, etc.

What about a 70's or even disco party? There is SO much STUFF out there that looks like the 70's but is really in now......scarry. Anyway.....pick a decade and look into things that were popular, including games....like Twister. You can even find what FOODS came out in certain years, etc. Have games that guess the price of gas in 1972, loaf of bread in 1970, price of a car, etc. Kids will get a huge education AND have fun, too.

What about a RollerSkating Party. take all the kids to the local RollerRink and then come back to your house afterwards. It would seem like a teenage thing to do.

You could just let her have several close friends over for a slumber party. I rmember doing that when I was young. They could order pizza or something, maybe rent movies that they would like. You can have cake, ice cream and all too. You could even invite boys to the "birthday party " part and they could play music and dance. I remeber one of my friends did this around that age and we had a great time. From what I understand kids are still into that. You wouldn't necessarily have to have a theme. If you want a theme for the party maybe it could be something that surrounds the type music she likes. People could dress up as their favorite musician or singer, bring their CD's whatever. That might be fun too. Kids that age are usually really into music and since your daughter is into music, singing and dancing she'd probably really enjoy that. Maybe they could have Karaoke if you have or could rent a Karaoke machine. Have fun what ever you decide on, and Happy Birthday to your daughter!! :)

Hi M.. I feel your pain. My daughter just turned 13 in May. I have always made a big deal out of birthdays, but 13 is really special!! Her birthday is in early may and this year she really wanted to swim. We've done karaoke parties, Hollywood themed parties. She originally wanted to ice skate, but then decided that no one ice skates in May. She is in between girly and not. Not real athletic, but at 13, they change so much daily! So I don't know how much you want to spend, but... WE ended up getting a hotel room and swimming in the pool there and then the girls spent the night. It sounds a little much at first, but it really was cost efficient. It was equal priced to a 3-4 hr ice skating party. I had pizzas delivered and bagels in the morning. They also had the continental breakfast. Good Luck with it!

Hey M.,
Funny you should ask...I just did a 13yr old party last week it was hilarious. It was a 70's party for 13 year olds and since they werent't born in that era it was so interesting to see their faces and have theme interact. Myself and my team had the parents help out, they dressed them in 70's wear (age appropriate of course no hip huggers or knotted halters)at the party we had a disco ball and all the 70's fixings that dressed the scene. The parents even showed them how to do the hussle, they had mostly finger food and we named them after the birthday girls name was "Makayla" so we made mini burgers that where "Mc-M's". We had we made root beer floats, if you can make theme they are really cheap do tie dye shirts as give aways. You can go to your local dollar/craft store get packs of t-shirts, rubber bands and paint/dye. Some of the kids where in my daughters class and they are still talking about do you think your mom can show my friend how to do that one dance we did at the pary. Let your imagination go wild I get ideas from everywhere & anywhere...you where there so think back. I'll give you a few links to look into and go with the theme.
- birthdaypartyideas.com
- party411.com
- kidspartyfun.com
Good Luck and remember....Life's A Party!!!

Depending on how many kids are invited, you could always have it at a park and have them play a soccer game. Or a softball game. You could have the kids play each other or if the parents are coming, make it the kids vs. the parents. Instead of a cake you could get her or even make her a cookie and decorate it like a soccer ball/softball. Good luck!!

My daughter has been to several Lazer Tag parties. Both boys and girls like it, and my daugher is even kinda girly and she had a blast. I think you can take a cake and everything there--just call ahead to check. And I don't think it's too expensive.

My niece at that age had her parents get a hotel room that had an indoor pool- and during the day they were allowed to have a certain amount of friends and swim at the indoor pool)boys and girls) They had a great time, then during the night time, you could either have family night at the room, order pizzas and play games or let her have her best g-friend or 2 joing the family fun. Or let her have a real slumber party.

If it were me, and I were going to spend that $$, I would let her know that there will not be a gift as well- that IS the gift! Shop around. It really is less than having a party somewhere. I thought is was original.

At my nieces party, I did makeovers for all of the girls...hair, nails, eyebrows, make up- and I let them do me too...It was SOO fun and they will never forget that party. I think my SIL got 2 rooms next to each other and let her daughter have several g-friends stay in one room while the adults stayed in the next room- (popping in from time to time and calling for one reason or another too.)

RULE being that the door in between the rooms remained unlocked- and also, the BOYS had to be picked up by a certain time.

We told the hotel that it was our family staying the night so that you don't get a HUGE per person charge if you do the slumber thing afterwards! (get the hours of EVERYTHING).

Shop around- compare ammenities, pool hours, and connecting doors....

OH and GET a copy of their room door key tooo!!

Have fun and let us know what you decice on!! If you have any Qs about other things we did, let me know.

A.

You could do a western theme and have a BBQ with a fire pit that you could surround with straw bales for the kids to sit on. Play music and games. Hotdogs roasted over the fire and smores. OR, It will be October so you could even go to a pumpkin patch and let the kids run through a corn maze and do a hay ride. COme back to your place for a dinner of chili, hot dogs and chips and maybe even carve pumpkins. You could even still do a fire and smores.

What about a Wii Party? That would appeal to both girls & boys. Not that you have to go buy a Wii, I think you might be able to rent them or borrow one. I think they have dance/music games, I think they even have an American Idol game. Just a thought! Good luck! Planning a party for a 2 yr. was hard enought, can't wait for the complicated teen years!

M.,
The best birthday parties I have heard about have reached out beyond the celebrants typical activities.
**If your area has a reasonably priced sports center, she could invite friends to come and join her for the assosrtment of sports activities available there.
**If she is into church or political activities she could ask her wide and growing group of friends to join her in serving at a hunger center, or attending a candidate's event. If one of these ideas appeal to her, she may want to suggest that donations be made to the cause instead of bringing gifts.
**Habitat for Humanity is another good cause and they might appreciate some extra hands to help. It would not cost anything to join the house building or renovating project, so maybe she could bring pizza for her friends and the other workers.
**Check out the nearest college town to see if there are any free activities offered to the general public that match her interests. Her friends might enjoy mingling with college folks, and again, I would think of pizza either before or after the event.
**In our area, a lot of young folks are roller skating at the local rinks. The rinks around here offer birthday party packages, and MANY youngsters prefer these. The skating is easy to have fun with, but when their pizza is included you will want to check out the taste appeal.
Good luck, M.!
With the extra effort you are putting into planning it, her chances for a happily memorable 13th birthday are very high. Nancy Ann Smith, Wakeman, Ohio

We do a sleepover for my sons friends, up to 5 friends. We take them bowling then come home and have pizza for dinner. Popcorn in the evening with movies. Then breakfast the next morning with an early afternoon family party. All the kids are picked up after the family party. All the boys had a great time last year.
If you call the bowling ally ahead of time and reserve your lanes, they (at least where we went) have special birthday pricing. Saved us a lot money doing things that way. My son wants to do all of this again this year.
What if you had a unisex party for bowling then have some girlfriends stay over?
Good luck! At least you've gotten the gifts out of the way. My boy turns 10 next month and I'm clueless. Thank heavens for his dad! T. M.

Renting the local skate place might be a good idea for a boy/girl activity party. Each place has their own rules about what you get for their price, but quite often you can bring in a cake.

If you don't prefer to go to that fuss and expense, kids also love to just have an outdoor BBQ. You can set up a volleyball net, croquet set, corn hole game, horseshoe pit, and just have it right in your backyard.

--=V. Blackwell
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What about going Ice skating? Call the chiller, see whattype of packages they have- and if goign "with " the chiller... pay for everyones admission and skates provide a few pizzas and a cake and there you go????

My daughter loved the indoor water park idea for her 13th. There is one in Newark I've heard is good called Coco Key or something like that. Not too bad price wise from what I hear although I have never been. Good luck and hope the party goes well!

For my 13th I had both female and male friends over. We just had the norm at parties, pizza, pop and cake. No theme, nothing to rent and we had a blast. All us girls stayed up all night long and slept all day after.

how about a sleepover or movie night at the house...you could make up snacks or dinner that the girls could help with sucha s making their own pizzas or something...or they could play viedo games or whatever. it's cheap and fun.

Maybe you are over thinking this. I h ave a 16yo and he is always happy with a backyard hang out and minimal adult supervision. We usually let him have a few friends over and set up backyard games. Volleyball, bouce ball, crochet, hillbilly golf then hamburgers and hot dogs. One year we made it more of a hawaian theme and the kids were in swim suits - we still had burger but added pineapple and bbq suace to them. We usually do a sherbet and Sprite punch. I like that it is an afternoon party and over before dark. The games keep the kids up and active and there has never been any problems.

I know of a family who had a movie theater party for their teenage daughter. They actually rented a movie theater (I think it's around $100.00 for a few hours), and screened the movie of her choice.