13th birthday party ideas

[luvmyfam444]

brainstorming for dd. Trying to come up with something special for 13. It's a girl only party - maybe about 6 girls

 

[mousebymarriage]

for DD's 13th birthday she just wanted a sleepover. We had 12 girls (DD made 13) and we had pizza,chips and other munchies, ice cream cake and cupcakes(one of her friends is lactose intolerant). We also did tye-dye t-shirts. It was an all night dancing, singing, playing games, playing the Wii etc. non-sleepover. The girls had a blast.

 

[nancys]

A friend took her daughter and 4 or 5 friends to a shopping mall for a scavenger hunt birthday. They took photos of whatever was on the lists. I think they traveled in pairs, and had a time limit. Don't recall all the details, but it was a great success.

 

[katesorad]

I always had fun doing sleepovers when I was growing up. One of my favorite things that I did at a party was get a blank sheet cake from Costco and we were all able to decorate it and make crazy things on it before eating it! My parents also did this with cupcakes for parties for my brothers growing up as well. Super fun.

You can do a movie marathon, or rent a karaoke machine (or if you already have one..), and let the girls go crazy! Chances are, you won't get any sleep.. but your daughter will have a blast! And something you can do if you wanted to do goody bags, is give a disposable camera to each of the girls so they can take pictures to remember the night!

Other things that you can do include bowling (that's always fun, but it can get expensive too), outdoor things (friends and I went kayaking in the ocean for my 15th birthday), or go to a local amusement park (I did this for a few birthdays growing up.. it can get expensive too, though).

 

[jedijohn]

Maybe a boy-girl sleep over. I am not really sure what is appropriate for teenagers these days.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

Maybe a boy-girl sleep over. I am not really sure what is appropriate for teenagers these days.

That would be a NO for me!


I am watching this thread, because my DD will be 13 in March. I am in need of some ideas too!!

 

[Desnik]

My DD will be 13 tomorrow!!
I wanted to do something really special for her but she just wasn't into it! Here is what I offered her:
A mommy and daughter weekend trip to Disney
A big party at a restaurant for all her friends and family
A Broadway play in NYC and dinner in NYC
A weekend trip to Washington DC
A weekend trip to Boston

She had the big sleepover party last year so she didn't want to do that again.

What did she want to do? She wanted a day to go shopping and buy whatever she wants!

So, that is what we are doing today. We will be taking her to a big mall, not too far from us and giving her $500 to spend as she wishes. Then we will take her to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.( it's at the same mall)

At first I was nervous thinking what the heck is she going to spend this money on. But, she actually made a list of all the things she needs for spring/ summer clothing. She even printed out coupons from her favorite stores!

On another note, she is already planning what she wants to do for her sweet 16! No party, she wants to go to Europe!

 

[golfgal]

We were pretty much done with "parties" by age 10 for our kids. Birthday's after that were pretty much just sleepovers with a few friends. The kids preferred that. When DD turned 12, she and one of her best friends had birthdays a week apart so we invited all of the girls from their grade (Catholic school-25 girls) and had a Bunko party. The girls had a blast. We were moving at the end of that school year so it was one last time for all these girls that had been together since preschool to hang out as a group.

We have 16th birthdays coming up in March, we will probably have a big party for that. DS18 had a bunch of friends over and they had a bon fire and played "night games"--hide and seek, ghosts in the graveyard, etc. but his birthday is in the summer. Not sure what the twins want to do yet.

 

[PatsGirl]

DD had a sleepover with a dozen (so 13 altogether) of her besties. I took all the girls out to dinner then her father and his SO picked them up and took them to his house which could better accommodate that many kids.

What she really wanted and has asked for again this year (March btw) is a road trip to Carlos Bakery in Hoboken which is about 5 hours away. It seems to be the thing to do at her school.

Unlikely this will happen UNLESS my son can get leave from his combat training an hour away from Hoboken and we go to see him during the same trip. Needless to say, she has her fingers crossed.

One of her favorite parties though was a scavenger hunt at the mall, with food court dinner, and a movie so I'd definately give that a thought.

 

[jackemail]

My daughter is 40 now--but on her 13th, I took her to a nice hotel in town, with 3 of her friends. We got connecting rooms, so they could stay "alone". It was in December, and they enjoyed swimming in the indoor pool, then cleaning up and sitting in the lobby having "drinks" (non-alcoholic, of course) and listening to the pianist.

 

[minniebeth]

Somthing similar to a pp: An overnight with friends in a very nice hotel next to a large mall~ girls get a GC to shop with, have dinner at Cheesecake factory, swim/spa, have a fun night together, breakfast the next morning.
We have hotel points, so not TOO expensive, but very fun.

DD really wants to do WDW with a couple of friends for her Sweet 16, too.

 

[DisneyMissy318]

For DD's 12th last year - we rented a limo for a couple of hours to take her and her friends to "town" - we live in a rural area - town is about 20 mins away... she basically just wanted to ride around in the limo. We did go to the mall - I gave each of the girls a $5 Claire's card for their "goody bag item" - and they spent a good amount of time in there shopping... then off to the other stores - it's a fairly small mall (1 floor) - so I was comfortable letting them go off on their own while I waiting in the seating area. After the trip to the mall - we made a surprise stop at a chocolate shop - I had pre-ordered chocolate dipped strawberries and they shop owner had them laid out on a silver tray - just waiting for the girls to stop by! We then ordered take-out to pick -up from a great oriental place we know - Madi didn't want to waste precious limo time eating inside a restaurant. We got back to the house - put the girls in the basement with movies and video games - and we hardly heard a peep out of them! One of the better B-day parties we've had!

This year - DD has opted for a trip in February to an Anime convention she really wanted to attend - for her actual B-day a month later - she will most likely have a friend over to spend the night - and our plan is to get her a Paypal Student Debit card - loaded with $250 - so she can start doing her own budgeting and shopping.

Happy Birthday to all of the DD's!! Isn't it such a great age?!?

 

[smb6]

My ds turned 13 last year and he had 4 friends sleep over and we all went to Six Flags the next day. It was a hit!

My dd is not 13 yet, but her recent bday I picked up her and 4 freinds from school and we went to the nail salon for mani/pedi's.....

 

[hereyago]

DD turns 13 this year, so keep the ideas coming because I am at a loss.

 

[luvmyfam444]

Thanks for the ideas.

Her bff shares the same b'day & she always has a spend the night party every year I think that's why my dd doesn't really care about doing that much.

I have thought of the scavenger hunt party before (forgot about it this year though) - we don't have an enclosed mall - but one of those outdoor kinds - I do like the idea - but I think I'd be a nervous wreck being in charge of other kids @ a mall & letting them roam. And I'm SOOOO not creative with coming up with things -

There is a hair school here - so we've tossed up the idea of going there & getting nails/hair/makeup done - but they aren't open on the weekend -which makes things difficult.

We do have a scrapbook store where she could have a party - but I'm not sure if her friends would like it though - if they have pics to scrapbook - ya know?

 

[luvmy3]

My daughter is 40 now--but on her 13th, I took her to a nice hotel in town, with 3 of her friends. We got connecting rooms, so they could stay "alone". It was in December, and they enjoyed swimming in the indoor pool, then cleaning up and sitting in the lobby having "drinks" (non-alcoholic, of course) and listening to the pianist.

That what my dd wanted to do for her 13th but instead we decided to go to an indoor waterpark and get rooms there.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

We do official parties till the kids are 10, then again at 13 and 16. 13 is a hotel sleepover. So far only 1 DD has reached this point, but it was great. She had 5 friends come. We got a suite, I was in one room and they had the other. They had the pool to themselves, it was perfect. We had pizzas delivered to the pool. Then when they were done they went back to the room where I had set up make your own sundaes with 13 toppings and they watched movies all night. They got up, we had a nice breakfast (free atthe hotel) and they swam till it was time to take them home. It cost under $100 for the room and then pizza and ice cream. She loved it and DD11 can't wait, just over a year for her to get to do the same.

 

[luvmyfam444]

I like the hotel idea - but I checked her & the suite is $139 @ the Hampton. And i don't believe there are any indoor pools here - well other than the resort near by where the regualr rooms are $229 a night!

 

[minniebeth]

I like the hotel idea - but I checked her & the suite is $139 @ the Hampton. And i don't believe there are any indoor pools here - well other than the resort near by where the regualr rooms are $229 a night!

One of the reasons we were able to do this is because we are fortunate enough to be able to use points for rooms~but you can always try to call the hotel directly and try to negotiate a rate. My DH does this all the time and many times they will. The nice part about if you go with a Hampton suite is that you will have access to a microwave and can bring your own snacks, soda, popcorn, etc. to cut down on costs and breakfast is included.
Just something to think about!