Party Ideas for 11 Year Old Girl

It really depends on her personality, her likes and dislikes. Does she enjoy crafts or baking? You could have the girls make a cute craft (I'd avoid the cheesy foam ones; spend a little extra and get something gift-worthy), or have them make and decorate cookies. Or decorate canvas aprons for the craft, and then wear them while making cookies or another fun recipe, such as personal pizzas or make-your-own sundaes. Or if they are more experienced in the kitchen, select a slightly more challenging recipe, but one they can still accomplish with attractive results.

Or maybe she and her friends like board games; online, you can search and find free instructions and rules for some new ones and/or classic ones to print out. Make the supplies ahead of time, or let them create/decorate their own version and then spend some time playing them.

If she likes scented lotions, doing her hair, and painting fingernails, like others have suggested, you could make it a "salon"-type theme at home. No need for expensive products, either--have the girls each bring something from home (a nail color or a lotion to share), or make your own products as part of the fun (find recipes online or in books borrowed from the library). You could include "mud" masks and make it more of a "spa" theme, letting each girl take a turn being pampered by the others--hair, skin, nails, etc.

If she likes formal things, a grown-up-style tea party might be the way to go--bring out the good dessert dishes and a pretty teapot (you can put something in it besides tea if necessary) and serve finger sandwiches, hors d'oeuvres and fancy tartlets. There's just something about bite-sized servings that seems to appeal to kids of all ages. ;-)

My daughter is more of a tomboy, but for her birthday, she and her friends enjoyed making jewelry--of course, not using the cheap little plastic beads for kids, but the pretty glass, semi-precious, and metal ones that I have used myself. My daughter selected most of the beads herself--within reasonable spending limits, of course. They also played tag out in the yard for about 30 minutes, and then came in for cake, ice cream, and gifts. After that, they pretty much just chatted and giggled until it was time to go home. They could have played other games that I had planned (Twister, Crazy Eights, and Girl Genius: The Works, to name a few possibilities), but they were having fun as they were, so I didn't bother to interrupt that. :-)

HTH, and Happy Birthday to your daughter!
--A.

last year I had a victorian tea party for my 10 year old neice and 7 of her friends. The girls dressed up. we sent calling cards in their invitations which they presented upon arrival. Her mother dressed as a butler and esqorted each girl. We used the nice dishes and served the meal in courses. We went to the dollar store and got little toille bags meant for weddings and made goody bags. We found everything for the bags at the dollar store. They played crouchet on the lawn and were served lemonaide. We found a list of victorian palor games on the internet. If you'd like, I a can give you list of everything and the memus. my email is ____@____.com It required more time than it did money. We were really worried about keeping them entertained. we had set aside 4 hrs for the pary. They girls were so involved in playing crouchet and being served all the special food, that we never got to the parlor games, becuase we ran out of time. It went over so well that my 17 yr daughter and her friends decided to have a formal christmas party and agreed to even turn off their cell phones for over 2 hrs. and this was from a group of cheerleaders and ballplayers I was amazed.

You can have a makeover party. Girls that age are eager to wear make-up, but maybe show them the right way put it on. Style their hair too!! You can go cheap and do this at home and do it yourself and a friend or two... There's also a place where they will pick up the girls from your house in a limo and take them to to the makeover. MY GIRLS is the one I know of in Lake St. Louis. You can even do Rollerskating! Here is a sight that might give you a few more ideas if you want to leave the house for the party... www.kidsinstl.com/birthday_venues.html
Have Fun!!!

We always find great ideas in the Family Fun magazine. They have a wide range of crafts, activities, recipes...you name it. Here is a link to their website. Hope it helps!

http://familyfun.go.com/parties/holiday-seasonal/specialf...

I have used this site for a few years to plan birthday parties and my kids' parties have been total hits!! It has THOUSANDS of ideas- themes and for each age. It's awesome!

http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/party_ideas.html

I used to be a hairdresser and used to do a lot of birthday parties for that age group. If you have a local hair college in your area it works out a lot cheaper and sometimes they will give you deals for parties. We would polish their nails and fix the hair up fancy and they would love it. Afterwards you could take them out for pizza or let them walk around the mall looking gorgeous. Then they can go home!

There is actually a website called birthdaypartyideas.com
I found some great ideas for a fear factor styled party, I wanted to be able to do something really fun for my sons upcoming 13th birthday this December, and some of the ideas were like nothing I could have thought up on my own! Just wanted to toss that out there, I am sure what ever you come up with she will have a blast.
Have fun
B.

What about a friendship bracelet party. Buy supplies so they can make their own and trade at the party. There are some inexpensive books at the craft store that have ideas or you can get patterns on line. My daughter has just started liking doing that, but it's a little bit hard for her, she's only 8. You can get beads and colorful yarns and threads...

Maybe a make your own pizza party. Ready made crusts and all the goodies (my friends used to like that when I was a preteen). You can even make a cake that looks like a pizza or do a cookie pizza (all kinds of variations there).

That's what I've got right now. If I knew more about your daughter I might have more ideas... Maybe something around a favorite book or hobby... If you need more info on my suggestions you can contact me...I love this kind of stuff :) Have fun.

We use to get a hotel room either a poolside room, or if no poolside room, then we would hold the party down by the pool, food, pop, etc. We have done pizza, pop and cake. Then everyone drops their kids off like at 6:30pm or 7:00pm, and then pick them up by 9:30pm or 10pm. It is great no house to clean, and then you can go back to your room and crash after the party!!!!

We have even had other friends come by and spend the evening with us, while the kids swim!

Good Luck.. C. F/____@____.com

My daughter is only 1, and we are no where near throwing a party with friends. However, a couple of weeks ago we took her to JumpMania here in Springfield. There were a lot of tweens there, seeming to have a blast running around climbing and jumping on the inflatables. They have quite a few that are obstacle courses with big slides at the end. You only have to pay for the kids to attend, parents are free. This may burn off some of their energy, so then you can take them to eat or have them sleep over.
Like I said, I don't really know what 11 year old girls like to do, but maybe this would be an option for you.
Good Luck!

Take her and a few girlfriemds to Lunch and a movie.
If you live near the Independence center Libby Lu is
alot of fun,or build a bear workshop.Also a pottery
shop where they get to paint their own pottery would
be fun.Or lunch somewhere really different like the
Rainforest Cafe.

Hi K.... I used to work at Bath and Body Works and we used to do parties for girls about that age in the store. They were super fun and reasonably priced. I don't know if the stores around here do that (I worked in the Chicago area)but it might be worth a shot!

Another idea was if she only invited a couple close friends you could do a "mall party" and have the girls eat at the food court, get a cake from Mrs. Fields or ice cream from Haagen Daz and go to their favorite store for some supervised trying on of clothes and jewelry.

It's kind of a tough age, I understand not wanting a sleepover...good luck!

K.,
We have my son's party every year at the skating rink. The one here in Leavenworth, I pay $50.00 for ten people to skate for 2 hours, and we get reserved tables, popcorn and a free drink. We can bring in a cake (I found cup cakes much easier). There are more expensive parties with pizza or hot dogs, but the kids are too busy skating to eat. It's hard to pull them away for cake and presents.

You might want to suggest a roller skating party, laser tag, swim party at your community center, or a dance party at your house. We have done these or gone to these and my girls are 10 and 11. Even though they were girls they loved laser tag. Hopefully some of those ideas will work for your daughter. Good luck and God Bless and welcome to the tween years.

In Springfield, we have aCookie Cutters that does bday parties. They can have an undo, get their fingernails painted, while watching a movie. Call a local spa to see about a pedicure or how about a home based business that could come to your house and pamper the girls. Go to a pottery shop and have them make something to keep.

I recently discovered that our local technical college's beauty school program has a salon that is open to the public by appointment. Then I discovered that they offer glamour parties for little girls. At this one, you could get the girls a manicure and pedicure for $11 total. They also go into more if you want to, but you set it up ahead of time. I hope that offers an idea...even if you get a friend and do them yourselves at home, these girls LOVED it!!

How about a dance party? All the kids can eat pizza and have drinks and snacks. You can play all their favorite bands (for example all kids love Hannah Montana and Jonas Bros.). They can have a dance off or a dance contest. I'm not talking about a boy-girl dancing party...I'm talking about an actual DANCE party!

K.-
My daughter went to a pool party a couple of years ago and had a blast. Some of the hotels will let you have a party at the pool. They had pizza and played games. She still talks about it. The parents rented a couple of rooms and the girls had a choice of staying the night or going home after the fun. The parents said this was cheaper than the roller rink or fun center. You might give it a try. Good Luck and Happy Birthday!

When my daughter turned 11 we did a scavenger hunt at the mall. There were 2 groups of girls, each with a parent. We canvassed the mall earlier to see what fun clues we could come up with. We had "Mom's Store" as a clue & the girls had to figure out that it was L.'s Shoes. They had to find the most expensive pair of sunglasses at Sunglass Hut. They had to get 3 menus from the food court, a business card from a hair salon, and other fun things. We went over rules before it started such as not interrupting anyone at the store to get their clue, and to be polite & not run over anyonel. They had so much fun!!!!! The girls at this age love the mall & it was very inexpensive!!!!

How about you try like a ceramics place. They can paint their own thing and then they have something from the party. Or I found a place where we live where they have jewelry making parties at a Bead Store. You could try something like that. My only other suggestion would be Build a Bear. I know its kinda for little girls, but they might think its fun!!
Hope it all works out! Enjoy!

Bowling, ice or roller skating, Justice has a girl thing, Libby lou, Swim party if warm.
Or if at home a makeup dress up party. If that is the case make homemade pizza bagels the girls can actually make and create their own. Good luck

My daughter just turned 13 and we had the same dilema. We ended up going to an indoor water park about 30 minutes away from here, we also had a sleep over, but you wouldn't have to do that. Other ideas we talked about were a shopping trip and giving the girls each 30.00 or whatever since you were avoiding all the costs of a party, A manicure/pedicure day or the girls could pick one-contrary to what I thought that really is not htat expensive and then maybe lunch or ice cream after that.

Good luck!

Have a cookie party. Let the girls make cookies and just have fun in the kitchen and together - under your supervision, of course. Decorate the party area like a bakery. My daughter (now 26) still talks about parties like this one.

I remember the parties my mom would throw for me & my GFs when I was younger but I think my favorite had to be when she took us to her hair dresser & we all got our hair done & and a manicure with our choice of 'do' and nail color. It was a pretty good time. Another idea is a theme party. I'm not sure what's in for girls her age nowadays (all my nieces are 4 & under) but maybe a Hannah montana rock 'n' roll kareoke party (that's just off the top of my head). Some others mom threw for me was a 'swap party' where each guest brings something to 'swap' (I forgot all the rules but it's a really classic party idea that's a really good time), dress up parties, etc. Just have some fun 7 run with it & it should be fun for all of you. Hope this helps.

My girl will be 8 next year. Yes, I am already thinking about what to do. We had a sleepover at a hotel with swimming this year. I think next year, I am going to let her invite 3-5 girls, have them dress up a little, then take them to the Spaghetti Factory, in downtown STL. Then take them on a carriage ride. That is if the cost isnt too crazy, otherwise I thought I would let them walk around a little and see the sights. I thought it would be fun for them. Since she is inviting less people, I can spend a little more.

When my daughter turned 11 we went to the movies and invited 2 of her friends to go. Then afterwards was the sleepover...not my favorite part of the party, but the girls had fun. Another idea we almost did was taking the girls to a nail salon to have a mini-manicure..just a quick buff and painting with a design is what a lot of girls this age love.
Over the summer my daughter and her friend went several times with her friends mom and had a mini-manicure, it costs around $12. Good luck with your decision, my daughter always wants to go all out for her birthday, but we're on a budget too, but I do let her pick several things to do like I'm sure you will!
Take care,
V.

My niece who will be 12 in November was just talking to me last night about having a Mary Kay party for her birthday. They do the party for free and if you are not ready for her to do make-up yet, you could just do their spa line or something. You could also contact Avon for the same thing. Get some cute hair stuff and have them all do eachothers hair as well and then have them model while you take some fun pictures. They will have a blast.

This may sound corny, but I wish I had thought of it when my daughter was little.
Have the party be a social responsibility themed one. You can have them make those fleece blankets with the tied ends to donate to a hospital or women's shelter. Make Christmas cards for service men, bake cookies for a nursing home. All they really want to do is hang out, eat some snacks and talk and laugh, but they can do it over a project. Your expense includes the snacks and materials or if your daughter is VERY generous, have the friends bring materials in lieu of presents. Let your daughter pick the cause.

I had a scavenger hunt at our local mall. I had the girls separated in groups of 4 with 1 adult with each group. Each group had a list of items they had to find and after they found all of their items then whoever met back a the checkpoint first would get their next list of things to find and whatever group found all of their items first won. I had a central checkpoint that they would meet me to get their list or turn them in to win. I had them looking for ie: what store has a tree in front of it (Hollister), has big flowers painted on the walls (Limited Too), they had to try on an ugly dress, ride on a baby ride, find out how many different colored bears at build a bear, what was the 3rd book in Junie B jones book series at the bookstore in the mall and many other things. They had a blast and said it was the best birthday party. we also had a camera with each group so they could take pictures of all the different things they had to do.

will im turning 11 so where goin to have a party just grirls u get ur make up done [lip stick macksara] then tie die shrits play game on a wii if u have a wii then get her three best friend to have a sleep over the next day take them to the mall

Updated

will im turning 11 so where goin to have a party just grirls u get ur make up done [lip stick macksara] then tie die shrits play game on a wii if u have a wii then get her three best friend to have a sleep over the next day take them to the mall

Updated

will im turning 11 so where goin to have a party just grirls u get ur make up done [lip stick macksara] then tie die shrits play game on a wii if u have a wii then get her three best friend to have a sleep over the next day take them to the mall