Hello moms...any ideas on what to do for daughters 13th bday next month? We had a slumber party last yr. for 12th bday. Want to do something S., but inexpensive. She would also like an MP3 player...any ideas on what the kids like these days?
Update: We decide to redecorate her bedroom...
Thanks for all the suggestions/advice. On a huge budget, so I think I may take her and 2-3 friends to a movie as there are quite a few out right now. Her b'day is the wk of spring break and lots of people will be out of town.
UPDATE...we ended up going out to town to grandparents for Spring Break. She got to spend time with family. We decided to paint her room and redecorate for her 13th b'day. Doing little at a time
My friends have have a S. tradition. When each kid turns 13, they get to take an overnight trip with either Mom or Dad - depends on the kid!. One went to a play in NYC, one went on a shopping trip, and one went to a S. soccer game.
M.
When our daughter turned 13 she wanted a big party with DJ and the works. We did this and it was SUCH a hit. They kids loved it. It was not cheap though.
You could do a smaller version of this. She had a smaller party about 6 months after her bday and instead of getting a DJ, we got a Bose speaker that would dock her IPhone or IPod. She made her playlist and the Bose worked great.
Ever since she had the first dancy/DJ party, we've had about 4 more parties all of which were huge hits.
To scale down, you could do a limo party. We've done this and had the limo pick everybody up at their home, then drive around town, then go to a nice hotel where I had a suite and the girls played in the pools, then we all went to dinner, then dessert, then back to the hotel and midnight room service with movies.
EDIT: Our hotel party was supervised and I was in the room next to them in a suite. It is not too hard to keep supverision when you are all basically in the same room. I got sleep as did they. Our girls were well behaved and only had 6 total. I gues it is whatever you are comfortable with....the hotel thing is a hot item and fun in the Dallas area.
They go to the mall but they go in groups and do their own shopping with a parent or 2 in the area. I guess I am more open minded that most and I let my daughter explore her options and don't hold her back.
Enjoy! They grow up so fast.
A homemade spa party is fun. Making an oatmeal mask is easy. You can google for more ideas. If she likes music, a dance party would be fun, even at home. Maybe you can rent a disco ball? Or a karaoke machine. My daughter's 13th birthday is in March as well. She wants to go to see Alice in Wonderland with friends. We may do a dinner for them too.
If you plan to get her an MP3 player, let that be the theme for the party, music invitations & decorations, if she has a favorite artist incorporate that into your theme. We did a music party for my daughter when she was teen, I found little gift bags covered in music notes and filled them party favors, the girls came dressed as thier favorite artist, we painted cheap tshirts with music notes. It was alot of fun. As far as buying an MP3 player, I did a little bitty Ipod for my grandson for around $50, if you tell the other parents that is her gift, they could just grab an Itunes card for the gift and not have to shop, they will appreciate that, I'm sure, considering how busy parents are these days.
I read the other posts, no one suggested a "kidnap breakfast" we did that a couple of times with all of our girls. The parents know ahead of time and they are sworn to secrecy, then you wake your daughter up at the crack of dawn and proceed to drive to each of the girls houses, and your daughter and friends wake up each guest as you go. Then you have breakfast at your house, they are all in thier PJ's not allowed to do hair or makeup, not even brush thier teeth, its hilarious, the girls are complaining all the way, but they still talk about this and its been 15 years at least since we did it.
Enjoy, these really are some of the best years.
iPod,iPod,iPod- if you order it directly online from Apple they will engrave it. I've got three teenagers- that is what they want if you can swing it. Best quality and their warranty is fabulous. Add in extra earbuds.
For a party- uggh- I'm struggling with this with my youngest. One of the best parties we've had is going to the beach. Wait til it warms up a bit and take 3 or 4 kids to the beach for the day -or if you can swing it rent a cabin for a night. They are self sufficient enough at this point that all you have to do is give directions and take a head count occasionally. Rent/buy some boogie boards (or surfboards if any know how to surf! Surfside is great for that.) We've also done a night at a nice hotel (lots of them have weekend rates) with room service breakfast- have your daughter invite 3 friends and YOU get the rollaway! A day at Schlitterbahn for a couple of friends. I prefer the simple excursion for a few friends over the big parties for lots. Good luck.
How many girls? What are her/their interests?
I remember just being able to go the mall for the day and to see a movie was a big deal....maybe not these days. But, if I know girls they like to walk the mall and look at boys and giggle A LOT!
I would hesitate about taking the girls to a hotel overnight. It is hard to keep check of all the girls and to keep them confined to their rooms. You won't get ANY sleep. I don't know that I'd trust all the girls invited to be well behaved.
You can easily buy an MP3 player very inexpensively and give her money to download new songs (maybe not ITunes....heard they can be irritating). I can guarantee that if she doesn't know how to download the songs, her friends do. They also have docking systems that the MP3 player can plug into and make a great stereo system.
The last idea I had was a possible spa day for either just your daughter or the lot of them. Simple mani's and or pedi's? Depends on if they are into this. You could take them to the beauty school (call in advance) and this would be MUCH cheaper!
Good luck and HAVE FUN!
Check out the options Apple has...
http://www.apple.com/itunes/
