Any Ideas on How to Do a Co-ed Barbie Party?

Since the party is in a month you could do a barbie pool party. include ken dollsa as well for the boys along with barbie boats for the pool the boys would love to drive the boats in the pool and both girls and boys would be happy.

T.-

As long as I tried to put it off my daughter (now 9) insisted on a Barbie party and we had one when she was 4. What to do with the boys??I thought about the GI Joe route, but that seemed to segregate the groups too much-- I like to have all the games themed related, too.

We decided to go a combo theme route. Barbie Goes to the Beach. All the girls had Barbie on their invites-- shovels and pails, and the boys did not. The games/decor were related more to the beach theme but incorporated Barbie, including pin-the-sunglasses-on the Barbie.(I can send you the details of teh party if you want. No need to reinvent the wheel)

There were a lot of other options we thought of: Barbie goes camping, Barbie on Safari, etc. Barbie can be a very adventurous gal-- once she leaves her dream house :).

If you do party favors, get the boys Hot Wheels-something boyish. Go forward with the girly plans, but make some concessions for the boys. They are still pretty young, so they won't care-as long as they don't go home with Barbie stuff.

Hi T.,

You might think about making the favors, hats, and gift bags that would be for the boys, boy related, and depending on how many or if you do games, maybe a game or two related also to a boy theme, or "unisex"(Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Twister, toss rings, etc.). Of course, it won't matter to the boys if the pinata(if you have one) is Barbie or not, as long as they get treats from it too<wink>. :o)

In the past when I had boys over to my daughters' parties, I did Hotwheels, Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, and something else once or twice for the boys(I think had dinosaurs for the boys one year), and everything else(esp. the cake--kids(besides the bday child) rarely care what the cake is, they just want to eat it) was girl related.

One year, the boys sat on one side of the table with their "boy" stuff, and the girls on the other with their girl stuff, but the other times, they just sat wherever, so they could all interact together.

Anyhoo, I hope I've helped! Good luck, have fun, and I'm sure however you do it, everyone will have a great time!

Happy birthday to your little one! :o)

K. W

Having 3 boys, i think they would care. The boy version of Barbie is GI Joe. My youngest boy is 4 and loves GI Joe, as did both his brothers! That's great of you to want it to be comfortable for all the kids. If you're doing some sort of dress up with it - you can get camouflage bandana's at Michael's or Walmart...little boys love being 'army guys'.

T.,

I wouldn't worry about it too much just yet. My son is also 4 1/2 and is happy playing with his 14 month old sister's toys as well as his. When he was at daycare I'd come in to pick him up and he'd be playing with barbies, or dressed up in a princess costume. That was over a year ago. Now, when I drop him off at kids' area at the YMCA we go to, he occasionally will do the same thing.

I think that society puts too much gender specification on toys and who should play with what. Obviously, at this age, the kids don't care as long as they're having fun. We shouldn't care either. :)

Hope this helps,
Melissa

you could do a castle theme and make barbie the princess and then do knights & horses for the boys

or you could do barbie & her convertible and do cars theme from Disney for the boys.

you could do barbie & ken as any guy figure and make up a theme...i.e.you could do barbie & ken as GI Joe and do camo for boys.

You can mix & match giftbags for girls and make up different giftbags for boys.

Have Fun!

Kids are pretty resourceful. If your daughter wants a Barbie party and you're willing to do it for her, the boys are going to be fine. They might pretend that Barbies are GI Joes and make them fight with each other (I know I'm being painfully stereotypical here, so please forgive) but they'll have a great time. I'm all for letting girls be girly and boys be rowdy if that's what their really into (and at the age of 4, they are really into those gender roles) but, personally, I hate to really play up the differences. My daughter has a boy friend across the street who is her same age (5 1/2) and when they play it often involves the two of them as mother and father with their baby (a doll) that they have to protect from some evil bad guy that is trying to get them. So there is something for each of them and they came up with it entirely on their own. So I say, do the party without any special boy stuff, but hopefully some games that are gender neutral (pinata anyone?). Have fun!

I just had a princess party for my girls. Boys were invited as well, so I had Speed Racer plates and napkins for the boys. I also had both princess and Speed Racer goodie bags with gender neutral items in them. The boys didn't seem to mind eating princess cake. Have fun!

I kind of did this for my daughter's party. Our was the princess theme and we also had some boys attend. We wanted all the girls to dress up in their princess dresses, so we just told the boys to dress up in whatever they wanted. In the end, I don't think they really cared. I made sure to make the party bags boy or girl related. So, if you're doing games with prizes, just either pick some prizes that they both would enjoy.

We once had a "Barbie/Beanie Baby/stuffed animal" party. I know it doesn't sound quite like what you may have seen in women's magazines, but it worked for us. I did set up the table all cute like I had seen in magazines, however. I made cupcakes with a little pair of Barbie (or Ken) shoes on each one, and a little cupcake with a Kelly doll in it for my daughter, (like the Barbie cakes that used to be popular years back, where the cake is her skirt.) I was so proud of myself. Then, right before all of the guests came, my daughter took out the Kelly doll and washed her off so she could play with her, (like I had told her she could do AFTER the party...) Then, I remembered that it was not about everyone else thinking about what an amazing woman I am for putting on such a party, but about making my daughter feel special and loved. And, as a fellow Jesus-lover, that was an excellent thing for me to remember. :)

I wouldn't worry about it too much, but I really like the ideas about having it be a Barbie at the Beach or Safari or other fun place just in case! My little brother actually loved playing Barbies with me until he was almost 6 years old (at that point I was almost 11 and losing interest myself).

I think it's a little silly and very limiting that our culture is so constraining based on gender. There's nothing wrong with boys playing with dolls (my friend's boys have several and they have no sisters - they also play with all sorts of "boy" toys) and both my girls love trucks/trains/etc in addition to their baby dolls.

Best wishes having an enjoyable party!
~B.

How about adding dragons & knights? My daughter & I just watched "Barbie Rupunzel" and there are dragons and it is set in midieval time period. If you are doing party hats you can do crowns for the boys and the cone with scarf or ribbon hanging from the top for the girls. Think horses, swords & shields, coats of arms, castles etc. Have fun!

Hi T.-

I think it depends on the little boys. When my son was 4 he definitely would not have enjoyed a Barbie party. Do you have to invite the boys? I know we want to include everyone, but at some point the parties turn into all boy or all girl parties. We're not doing same sex until this year for his 6th birhtday, but girls are always more advanced. If you have to have the boys, I might suggest doing GI Joe things for them. It's still a doll, but a very masculine doll. Good luck.

What about Barbie and GI Joe?

Some young boys like girl dress up. But you can make them into Ken and get ties out, dads big shoes, cheap sunglasses and such. Make them feel special and put a bit old spice on there neck so they are ready for work.
You can also do a combo of whatever and get GI joe green face paint and deal with that too. 4-5 year old boys really are not that picky. GI joe figures are sold cheap at walmart in the small bags that are hanging up on the wall with tons of other ideas like hotwheel cars and so on =) good luck

Have a few boy themed items on hand. Plates, Whatever that you can pull out for the boys. Do this with the favors too. Make sure you have something that the boys will like.

Everyone has had some very good advise for you. I like the idea of having some of the G I Joe or rescue hero toys for the boys to play with and men clothing for dress up. As a former preschool teacher I do have to warn you that although a lot of boys have no problem playing with "girly" toys and dolls you may run across a boy that has been taught that it is NOT OK to play with these things =( and if his comments start to spiral you will have the entire group of boys not wanting to play. So keep an eye out for it you wouldn't want it to ruin your daughters day. If you do come across this type of boy (and hopefully you do not) have some sort of special back up boy activity that he can be part of. Example... a relay race, a board game, builing a fort for the barbies, a scavenger hunt( make it easy)something.. anything that will take the focus off of it being a Barbie Party for a short bit and it may save the day. Your daughter will probably not even notice if one activity is not centered around Barbie... and if she does explain to her that she chose to have boys at her party so she needs to make something interesting for everyone ... Thats what a good hostess does... MOST OF ALL HAVE FUN AND DON"T WORRY TOO MUCH

Isn't that what Ken is for? I made a life-size Barbie when I was in college....wow...the disproportionate size of Barbie is actually really appauling. But, I don't think that is worth mentioning to a 4 year old...just good to realize as she gets older. Have a fun one!

T.,
I think that you could mix a co-ed party by having Ken items for the boys...such as : his car....army thingswhere you have the barbie things for the girls.
You could get a pink,yellow and blue pinata that would fit her barbie theme.
I think that everyone will understand...they are coming to a little girl's birthday party. She is going to have a girl theme but you could add games and the pinata...and music that does not have tobe associated with Barbie. But if she has her cake, plates and decorations Barbie...I think that is just fine. Like I say...the boys know they are coming to a girl's party. L.

I'd make it either a Barbie and Ken party or a Barbie and GI Joe party (that is if they have GI Joe anymore). Kids that age shouldn't be so cognizant of what is for girls and what is for boys that is unless their parents have made a big deal of it.

Have a great party,
C.

What type of work do you do from home? I would love to be able to do the same, and I'm always looking for legitimate from home work!

As for the party, I usually do two themes, just buy some boyish stuff for the boys (party favors, etc.) but still keep the main theme as Barbie!

T.,

The only suggesting I can make is to talk with the parents. Many parents today would not mind the theme, but may have a suggestion as to GI Joe, Ken,...other male doll figures to help incorporate for play. Maybe they would even help decorate or provide toys as needed.

Good luck. Let us know how the party is.

T.

My son loves cars, specifically Hotwheels. Many of his friends are girls so we have done parties where we have Hotwheels and Barbie, and one with Construction trucks and my little ponies. Both parties worked great and the kids all had fun. So I would suggest picking something more boyish to pair with the Barbie theme.

Have Fun!

Maybe you could ask her if it would be okay to incorporate another gender-neutral character she likes into the party as well. Or maybe have Spiderman or Batman party favors for the boys.

Hi T.,

My suggestion for a co-ed party would be to do either a Barbie/Ken party or a Barbie/GI Joe party. Both of them go together pretty well and you can find most party supplies. At least that way, the boys won't feel totally left out.

I hope that helps and you have a wonderful party! :)

My 4 yr old daughter had the same issue. I still did the princess party, but in the boy gift bags I put in stickers and a truck from the $ store. At this age it didn't seem to be a big deal. All had fun.

make it a barbie and ken party, or GI Joe, since no boy wants to be the guy driving barbies pink car. Thank-you to you and your husband for their service to their country

Is Barbie just decorative, or are you doing more with Barbie? Are they dressing up? Depending on what you are doing, you could have Ken or GI Joe too for the boys.

Hi T.,
We had a Princess Barbie party many years ago for my daughter when she turned 4. We incorporated the boys by making "Prince" items for the boys. We decorated jewelry boxes-girl and Treasure boxes for the boys. I then did a treasure hunt and filled a big treasure box(plastic bin) with cheap cereal (or rice or beans) and put little prizes like rings, gold coins(could be chocolate coins too) stickers, things like that. you can buy or make princess and prince crowns and have the kids decorate them with jewels, buttons, pom poms and glitter glue. Wands and cup cakes are fun to decorate too. We also had a pinata(both boys and girls like that).
Have fun! Happy Birthday!
A.

I think the only thing that the boys might really care about being too girly are the favors. Either make all the favors pretty gender-neutral or customize them for the boys and girls. The only problem with customizing them is that you could very well have girls that want the "boyish" items and boys who want the "girlish" items. (I know I was always one who would have rather had the toy car over the Barbie doll at that age.) Party favors like: bubbles, mini or golden books, stickers, balls, a slinky, funny glasses, etc. are all great for boys or girls. Our little girl will only be 3 this fall, but I always make the favors the same and appropriate for everyone so no one is upset that they didn't get an item. I'm sure that won't last forever, but so far it's been great! :-) Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it. It's her party, so her/your theme. I think the other kids understand that and have fun no matter what. Happy Birthday to your little girl!!! :-D -D.-

My four year old son would be perfectly happy at a Barbie party. He LOVES being around other kids and balloons and cake, etc. He's never been overly interested in the actual Barbie dolls - but he's always been happy to play with the cars and accessories, etc. It wouldn't even be a blip on his radar if the plates, cups, napkins or cake were pink and "Barbie-fied!" (BUT, if you happened to have anything with Thomas the Tank Engine on it, he'd be squealing with excitement!) Hope you guys have a wonderful party.

Hi T.,

my kids, girl, 8 and boy, 6 played happily with barbies all summer long last year... they still do periodically. my son had a bunch of Kens and some GI Joes, who either "rescue" the barbies or are nursed by them when GI Joe turns into VA Joe :) They make up different stories and play them out - lots of fun for all of us!

I'll pray for your husband to return healthy!

God bless you!

B.