Create a themed birthday party for your 13-year-old.
A teen's 13th birthday party can be just as important as a 16th or 21st birthday party. This age heralds your child's transition from the title "child" to a full-fledged teenager. This means he is growing up. It also means the party must be appropriate for budding adolescents. You'll want a theme that lends itself to plenty of activities but feels and sounds more mature than childhood themes. Fortunately, there are plenty of ideas for such themes. Does this Spark an idea?
Spa Day
Girls often love pampering themselves. You can throw your daughter a spa-themed birthday very simply and inexpensively. Invitations should instruct the guests to come dressed in their cutest pajamas to set the theme for the day. You can then decorate the party area with colorful terrycloth robes, towels and flip-flops. Put temporary plastic hooks on the walls and hang the items artfully, staggering them around the room. Clusters of clear frosted balloons will look like bubbles pressing against the ceiling, while scented candles round out the decorations. Girls can make and apply fruit facials and hand scrubs. Discount makeup and nail polish kits will let them enjoy the experience. Serve cheese and chocolate fondue with fruit, veggies and cookies. Herbal tea and cupcakes complete the menu.
Coffee Shop
Kids who are turning 13 often like to engage in more adult behavior like drinking coffee and hanging out in coffee shops with live music. You can throw this party for both boys and girls. Decorate the space with coffee poster prints and popular band posters. Let your teen make a few pieces of art to display as local art pieces. Hang a variety of tea and coffee cups on the walls on temporary plastic hooks. Set up several small tables around the party area with vintage-looking tablecloths. Get a few of your teen's musical friends to play live music or ask a few of them to bring their favorite (appropriate) CDs.
Serve several different flavors of coffee and tea, coffee cake, fresh fruit with chocolate dip and a variety of muffins. Have a rapping contest, toss coffee beans into cups and hold a relay where teens must maneuver an obstacle course with a plastic coffee cup on their heads. Each guest may take home a small bag of chocolate-covered espresso beans.
Sports
This theme works for boys, girls or a combination of both. Choose your teen's favorite sport and decorate the party area according to that theme. Hang jerseys on the walls along with hockey sticks, baseball bats and deflated sports balls. You can also hang goalie or basketball nets from the walls, and hang things like soccer cleats, boxing mitts and helmets from the nets. Activities for this party are very simple; the guests can play sports. Set up a few areas for different sports such as basketball, football, soccer and outdoor hockey. Put bottles of soda and sports drinks in big metal pails full of ice. Serve mini-pizzas, hoagies and trail mix. For dessert, bring out a cake decorated like a sports field.
Tags: birthday party, party area, your teen, area with, boys girls