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My son turned 13 a few weeks ago {gasp!} which means I'm officially old enough to be the mom of a teenager.
Ugh.
However, he's still not all that old to me (sorry kiddo), so we had to throw him a party. I searched “teenager birthday party ideas” on Pinterest and Google, and literally came up with nothing, so here's what we decided to do.
- Ate pizza (easy)
- Ordered a cookie cake (he was so excited . . . that was our splurge this year!)
- Played football (my husband told them they could play tackle football. I had to go inside because I was slightly nauseated while watching them just waiting for an injury. Football is not for this timid momma!)
- Made cute gift bags.
That's it.Â
so unexciting.
But, since this is the TWENTY-NINTH birthday I've put on for these kids of mine, he seemed just fine with it. 😉
 
We did make some really fun “treat bags” . . . even though I'm not sure it's still cool to send goody bags home with your kids? Here's what we included:
- Coca Cola Bottles (we looked everywhere for those things, but finally found them at Kroger thanks to help from a few PPP'ers on Facebook!  Our first goal was to find RC Colas, but I finally gave up on those. .  .)
- Moon Pies (Cracker Barrel sells them)
- Big League Chew and Sunflower Seeds (from The Dollar Tree)
- Buffalo Bills Beef Jerky (it comes in cans and apparently kids loved it ~ you can also find it at local gas stations but the Amazon price was cheaper)
- blue rope to tie the bags from the Dollar Tree (I asked my son if he'd let me Cricut some cute name tags, but he said that would clearly make me a dork)
Do you still host birthday parties for your older children?  I'm thinking my kids will want them until they get married, and for right now I'm okay with it. I would love to know what other suggestions you have for “gift bags” and at what age you think they're just too old for  them! (And I know they're not necessary, I think I just have way too much fun putting them together . . .)
If you're looking for girls birthday party ideas, you see what we did for my girls' birthdays this year HERE and HERE.
I'd love for you to join me over on Pinterest (I love that place!) See previous Friday Fluff Up projects and ideas . . . and Happy Fluffing!
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We stopped big parties at 10 but my twins golden birthday was at 12 so we had a big golden birthday scavenger hunt. My youngest is turning 10 this year so it will be his last big party! Super sad because I love planning parties! We will have our big summer end of school bash and Christmas cookie party and glow in the dark egg hunt at Easter as long as they will let me host them!
This is excellent!
this is the best idea I have seen all year. thanks for sharing.
For my son’s 13th, who is a godzilla freak.. a designer 3D godzilla cake, icecream,pizza,pop. I bought movie theater box candy(on sale .88) all kinds. Let them pick out their favorite and whisked them off to the Dollar movie theater. It was the 1st time for all the boys to be at a theater w/o an adult. They had a blast.
Great idea Marilyn – what a fun birthday!
I had a campout party for my 11yr. old last year. We had 2 large tents and we had one for the boys and 1 for the girls. I had a smores bar and a table setup with jars of trail mix fixins with containers for the kids to take home a homemade trail mix. We grilled burgers and had veggie tray with dip and also chips. The party was apparently a hit with the kids because they are all asking my son if he is going to have another one this year. My husband and I slept in our own tent nearby to chaperone and to make sure the ones that may be a little scared were more confident about sleeping outside. I have more ideas about how to improve on last years party and I can’t wait to get planning!
Love those ideas ~ I bet your son and his friends had a blast! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
We have had two nerf war parties. The fist time his 9th birthday I bought each boy a nerf gun ( also the party favor) and it was a hit. Pizza cake etc. Last year we did it again but on a tighter budget so I just brought nerf bullets and the kids all brought their own weapon. I have 4 girls and 2 boys and this is way calmer than any girl slumber party. This year is 12 and I need an idea. 13 is the last blowout and in the case of the boys we do paintball. So 12 needs to be something fun and inexpensive.
I still have parties for my kids, and my oldest daughter will be 17 this year. BUT, I stopped doing goody bags at age 10.
What cute ideas! I love doing big parties for my kids! But I love the challenge of doing it on a budget. I have found good deals on Amazon, Party City, Oriental Trading Company, Shindigz Party Supplies, and Dollar Store. I am not looking forward to the day when they are old enough that they don’t want my big parties!
Our Publix has Moon Pies!
Also, a note to Judith – for piñatas I heard a trick a loooong time ago when my soon to be 19 year old turned 3. Divvy up all the goodies into baggies (one for each kid) and then fill any leftover room in the piñata with confetti. The bags don’t need to be fancy. This way all the kids get an equal share of the goodies. This will eliminate any kid feeling left out or do away with the problem of only a few getting the majority of the goodies and no one can complain.
They do Angela? I didn’t look that closely, but to be honest I thought surely Cracker Barrel would have the RC Colas and when I went there I grabbed the Moon Pies b/c I didn’t want to do any more hunting! Love the ideas on the pinata also Angela 😉
Maybe because I’m in Tennessee where they’re made, but I saw a display of them just today…it was hard to resist 😉
P.S. I just visited their website and there is a link to a coupon – I didn’t print it, so I can’t offer any details (other than it prints via SmartSource). Webiste: http://www.moonpie.com/
Coupon: http://coupons2.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=WL2LOJBIRZUBM
Love that Angela – woot! Thanks so much for sharing (I can’t believe I forgot to check our store to see if they had them tonight….)
We don’t have a cracker barrel nearby, but our Kroger just recently started selling moon pies in bulk. It was odd that they weren’t with the little debbies and breads, but with the international snacks. I don’t see how that makes sense, but just in case anyone was wondering – try Kroger!
Thanks for the tip Bree! (In the international section though? How strange ~ I’ll never figure Kroger out!)
Last year my youngest girl (for her 14th) wanted her nails done and to go to a Havoc game with her older sister and me. (Easy) The last couple of years my oldest (she will be 19 this year) had her friends over and we have done a “hamburger bar”. The kids get to choose what spices go on or in their hamburgers (they make them) and we grill them. She also had ice cream sundaes and then they were off to the neighborhood pool. One advantage to a late May birthday. This year she wants to make smores instead of sundaes.
Love that Jennifer – what a fun birthday, and I love that you’ve found things to do with them as they’ve gotten older!
i have two within two days in may. They are 3 years apart so it is kinda hard now to do a dual bday. My oldest will turn 11 this year and my youngest will be 8. My middle one is in November thank goodness. My mother always threw the best parties. I remember every birthday was made special and made a bid deal. I wanted my kids to have that experience. Two years ago hubby told me that for my sanity and our pocket book we had to scale way back. Mind you my backyard parties were way cheaper than any bowling, skating etc party. So we give them each a budget and they decide what to do.
Last year the big one opted for a girls day out shopping and getting her ears pierced instead of a party. This year however, I have my work cut out for me. She wants to recreate in a non violent way the hunger games. At first there was nothing on the internet but I dug deep enough and finally found some. Our biggest delima is can we make it work in our backyard or do we take it to our local park and if we do that what kinds of permissions do we need from the city.
Last year we did a Judy Moody not so bummer summer. We just had tons of gross games and then ate cake etc. This year she wants a bug party. Luckily once i acquire the plastic bugs by the gross the rest can be games played at little or no cost. We are going to make “dirt cakes” in individual cups. The girls are going to help me make paper bugs and stuff to decorate and my oldest does face painting so she is doing bugs on the kids faces. We aren’t doing treat bags because there will be a game digging for bugs(plastic ones). They will each get a paper lunch sack with stickers and the words Bug bag. Anything they “win” or collect from the games goes in their personal bug bag that they can take home. We are having a pinata(homade) that looks like a beehive. I found a ton of stretchy bugs, slug gummies, centipede lollipops, crunchy fly candy that is going inside it. I saw one lady say she pads it with rolled up streamers that look cool when the pinata busts but they also take up space so you don’t have to have as much candy filler.
I am excited. We are getting ready to plan so I can have time to order stuff off the internet. Cheaper in bulk. Gotta love Oriental Traders. If anyone knows other resources would love to be able to have other places to order from. Thanks.
Wow – I love your birthday ideas Judith! I would check Amazon for prices as well as Oriental Trading… and even Sam’s Club for those bulk purchases (things like a huge box of gum seem pretty reasonable there!) I love how creative you’ve been and it sounds like you do have your work cut out for you. So fun to hear how you’re doing it all while sticking to a budget!
I still do bday parties my son turned 13 last year! It was the first year we didn't have cake but I took him and 6 friends to Dave and busters then they walked the mall! They all enjoyed it! I may do that again this year
Love that Kristen – so glad I’m not the only one who just loves doing those birthday parties! 🙂