Can we brainstorm ideas for a birthday party for my soon to be 12 year-old son? He turns 12 in a few weeks and I just can't get my brain around anything cool yet appropriate for his party. He wants to invite quite a few kids (and I think he wouldn't mind having girls there too, which I'm not sure how I feel about that)...A few of my ideas:
-Rent a limo and let them ride for a few hours, stopping at a few friend's houses, McDonald's, etc. Only problem here is that he would be limited on how many people he could invite.
-Scavenger hunt (maybe combined with the limo ride)?
-Sleepover (starting around 8:30 or so) including a stop at Applebee's for 1/2 price appetizers and then off to midnight bowling (they turn the lights off and play good music)...this we did last year and it was a hit (and obviously, no girls!)...
-Rent the batting cages and hit for awhile , followed by a party at my house (limited space though)...
-Rent the clubhouse at my parent's condo (they live in the same town as we do) and just do a regular old party but he would be able to invite a lot of people (and if we pick this, I need ideas as to what activities to plan)...
are you surprising him with the theme, or will he know ahead of time? Does he want anything in particular?
I think girls would be okay if he wants them, when my friends and I were 12 most of my friends were guys, and it was never weird. Although, you of course would want a party with girls to be something you could supervise, so like you said no midnight bowling.
I think the limo idea would be really cool, though, especially to go to McDonald's. Or Dairy Queen, where you can get birthday cakes at the drive through!
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The limo scavenger hunt sounds awesome, but I'm thinking you are going to have to find the most patient limo driver ever.
When I was about your sons age I had a reverse surprise birthday party. My friends parents knew about it, but my friends didn't. So My mom and I went around surprising my friends early in the morning and scooping them up, then we went and did a whole bunch of silly fun things (lunch, bowling, movie, ect.). So my friends were surprised, not me even though we were celebrating my birthday.
The limo scavenger hunt sounds awesome, but I'm thinking you are going to have to find the most patient limo driver ever.
When I was about your sons age I had a reverse surprise birthday party. My friends parents knew about it, but my friends didn't. So My mom and I went around surprising my friends early in the morning and scooping them up, then we went and did a whole bunch of silly fun things (lunch, bowling, movie, ect.). So my friends were surprised, not me even though we were celebrating my birthday.
-gd
GD-I love the reverse surprise party idea! That would be great w/the limo because he could pick up and drop off people (allowing more people to participate) then maybe all of them could meet at the bowling alley later (good idea Farrah)...Thanks ladies!
Since it was a reverse suprise, I bought my friends presents (one each) but if you are considering a large crowd plus renting a limo, you may decide not to do this. Besides, no 12 year old wants to have to pick out presents for girls. Talk about hard! But, maybe there is something that all of them could receive that isn't like the candy bags you used to get at a party (do kids still do that?) and isn't too presenty and pressure-y.