13th yr old boys birthday party. HELP !!!

[mas6010]

My son is turing 13 in April, we would like to have a special party for him. He is 100% boy as are his friends. The town we live in is small and not a whole lot to do other than movies. The closest water park is 1 hour away as is fun things for this age group. I can take 3 other boys in my car if needed. A sleep over is possible, but our house is having some work done and most likely will not be finished. It will be to iffy to plan out door ideas. Renting a gym is possilbe but everyone does that. ANY IDEAS ???

 

[clh2]

What about bowling?

Are there any lazer tag places nearby?

 

[Vijoge]

My DGD is turning 12 in May. She wants to invite her friends to camp out in a tent in our back yard. They're planning on cooking dinner over a fire, making s'mores, etc. I'd really prefer to do it at a campground, but there aren't any close to us and I don't envision their parents being willing to drive them 45 minutes there and then pick them up the next day. My vehicle only seats 5, so with me, DH, DGD, and only 2 friends we'd be full.

 

[3boymthr]

When my oldest turned 13 he and a couple friends went to the movies then we took them out to dinner.

When he turned 14 DH took them to the indoor go-kart track.

 

[disneymarie]

My son is turing 13 in April, we would like to have a special party for him. He is 100% boy as are his friends. The town we live in is small and not a whole lot to do other than movies. The closest water park is 1 hour away as is fun things for this age group. I can take 3 other boys in my car if needed. A sleep over is possible, but our house is having some work done and most likely will not be finished. It will be to iffy to plan out door ideas. Renting a gym is possilbe but everyone does that. ANY IDEAS ???

Do you have horseback riding. We did dd a trail ride for an hour. Then Pizza.
It was over the top. They gave instruction to how to pull the reigns, heels down toes up in the stirrups, leaning back coming down a hill, forward going up..etc. Very reassuring and great fun on the trail for gals and guys.

 

[disneybound31]

My son just turned 12 last week...we scratched our heads for months trying to come up with a plan...we settled on a "Guys Sleepover/Campout/Junk Food/Video Game/Birthday Bash for Ethan's Birthday"

I got them all the junk foods I never allow and he invited 5 of his sweet friends over and they shot basketball, played Wii and made ice cream sundaes after eating pizza and they hung out all night- up til 3am! It was a hit and we do not have a big house at all! I took our daughter to a grandma overnight and DH and I supervised. I have never heard so much giggling and laughing in all my life- they really had a blast. Simple and fairly low cost...

 

[tavettava]

Ds just turned 13 last week. We have a place here where kids can go play xbox, wii, pc's, and PS3's. They get locked in and you pay for a certain amount of time. They also have over 500 games to play. I took ds and 3 friends there and they had a ball. They were there for 6 hours and got to play some games no one has. I also dropped off a couple of Hot N Ready pizzas and some pop about half way through. There was a lot of kids there.

 

[v.t.]

What if you rented the gym but filled it with different type of obstacles and set it up like a paint gun course but for nerf guns instead? Or see if you could rent it all night and have the sleep over in the gym, show movies, pop popcorn, etc.

 

[ENSOCK]

The best thing we ever did for DS was have air soft wars. We rented an area for that (an old house) and had a enough boys that we could do a red vs blue team. Every one had to bring their own airsoft gun. I provided eye protection and the BBQ. They had a blast. Now the boys just do it in our yard.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

For the past few years we've been taking a weekend trip for my son's birthday and letting him invite a friend. Last year we went to Universal and saw Harry Potter World, the year before it was Great Wolf Lodge. This is his party, our vacation, and his present all rolled into one, and it's great fun.

Do you think your son would enjoy something like that?

 

[cbiss]

What about a swim party at a local pool or YMCA?

 

[sam_gordon]

What about a swim party at a local pool or YMCA?

Hotels might also rent out their pool areas if you don't have a Y or other local pool nearby.

 

[toesmom]

Drive to the water park. Best idea

 

[karliebug]

we had my DD"S party at a local park. We used their pavilion for our Stuff and everyone brought sports equipement. They played basketball, soccer, and I arranged a nature scavenger hunt. I brought cupcakes and had pizza delivered right to the park. What I liked best was I had minimal cleanup and the kids had a great time. Her birthday is in April too. We picked a rain date in case we had to cancel but it all worked out.

 

[reagan75]

We had a geocaching party for my DS. All you need is a handheld GPS and coordinates you put off the internet (or you can place and object and mark the coordinates yourself). We had a bunch of boys over on teams each with their own GPS, figuring out which direction to go and at each cache there was someting for them. For the cake I printed out a map off google images of our town and had it printed on an edible cake image and placed it on top of a sheet cake. Had burgers and dogs to eat and the boys just played outside. It was a hit!

 

[reagan75]

We had a geocaching party for my DS. All you need is a handheld GPS and coordinates you put off the internet (or you can place and object and mark the coordinates yourself). We had a bunch of boys over on teams each with their own GPS, figuring out which direction to go and at each cache there was someting for them. For the cake I printed out a map off google images of our town and had it printed on an edible cake image and placed it on top of a sheet cake. Had burgers and dogs to eat and the boys just played outside. It was a hit!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

My ds turned 13 in Jan., we took him and friends to Blue Man Group, and then had a sleepover. It helps to live in a city with a BMG theater...they also love playing with the Wii and just hanging out -- our pingpong table is a big hit -- maybe an active gift the boys could enjoy for the party?

Maria

 

[mas6010]

Thanks for all the great ideas, I guess at this point we are thinking the water park is sounding like the best bet. Thought about having a cake and things before going then head to the water park (an hour away). Hopefully the house will be put back into place somewhat by then. Thanks again

 

[brennicksmom]

I know that you said that you are working on house projects-if you can get around those try a sleepover. My sons are turning 9 and 12 within the next 2 weeks so we are having a combo party for them. We used to go bowling/jump houses/etc, but last year we had a big sleepover-19 kids all together. They played video games, movies, and had nerf wars all night. This Saturday is the 2nd annual event. 25 kids invited this time We bought eveyone coming a nerf gun as their party treat ($3.00 each on rollback at Walmart) and they want me to grill burgers, hot dogs, and brats. We ordered 9 large pizzas last year and had 5 full pizzas left.

It will be loud, but fun. Last year not one thing got broken, everyone was respectful and got along. We let them invite more this year and I know it will go just as well. I am going to take PP advise and get stuff for ice cream sundaes. We really love having a party this way. My kids and their friends tell us that they prefer to stay home and hang out and the parents of their friends tell us that the kids love it. I think it is because we don't mind the loud craziness.

Our, excuse me, MY only rule is that Mom doesn't get taken out by the Nerf wars, I continue no matter how many times I get shot! Yes, my hubby and I each have our own guns during the battle. Gotta defend ourselves

I hope you guys have a blast. Happy birthday to your son.

 

[disneybound31]

I know that you said that you are working on house projects-if you can get around those try a sleepover. My sons are turning 9 and 12 within the next 2 weeks so we are having a combo party for them. We used to go bowling/jump houses/etc, but last year we had a big sleepover-19 kids all together. They played video games, movies, and had nerf wars all night. This Saturday is the 2nd annual event. 25 kids invited this time We bought eveyone coming a nerf gun as their party treat ($3.00 each on rollback at Walmart) and they want me to grill burgers, hot dogs, and brats. We ordered 9 large pizzas last year and had 5 full pizzas left.

It will be loud, but fun. Last year not one thing got broken, everyone was respectful and got along. We let them invite more this year and I know it will go just as well. I am going to take PP advise and get stuff for ice cream sundaes. We really love having a party this way. My kids and their friends tell us that they prefer to stay home and hang out and the parents of their friends tell us that the kids love it. I think it is because we don't mind the loud craziness.





PP here: Ditto on the pizza leftover comment...I ordered 4 large pizzas for the 5 boys and worried they would run out. They only ate 1 1/2 and DH and I ended up eating the rest for 3 days after in our lunches and as family dinner the next night. But they TORE UP those ice cream sundaes!!!