Teen Outdoor Party Ideas

[palpluto]

Throwing a party for my son. There will probably be 40ish people, a good number of them middle teens. We have a large outside area. Have a cornhole set. Looked for a volleyball net but too much $ for possible play at a party. No water balloons allowed. Will last 2-3 hours. Any ideas of cheap outdoor activities that would be entertaining for them?

 

[luvmarypoppins]

How about doing some of the minute to win it games. A lot of them dont take up much space. Mostly skill involved etc. My boys love them!

 

[HeatherC]

Wiffle Ball, Frisbee, Ladder Ball, Bocce

 

[PA Princess]

How large is the outdoor area? My teen guys like to get a group together and play "man hunt" or some such version of that type of hide and seek tag type of game.

 

[palpluto]

It is an acre lot with a house in there somewhere, so decent space but no trees so not good for hiding.
Thanks.

 

[momxx5]

Load up the iPod with lots of great music, have an area for dancing, maybe some paper lanterns to designate the "dance floor", have a few activites....corn hole, limbo, volley ball is fun (please ask around and borrow a net), soccer ball with cones for course or net, table tennis is fun too.

A nice buffet is serving dinner or snacks.

AND smores.....

A fire pit or bonfire with music will keep the kids happy for hours!!!

 

[momxx5]

Another fun idea that is becoming popular around here is to show outdoor movies. Set up a large thick white sheet or tarp and then use a projector to show some movies. It is lots of fun, with popcorn and candy. It can be some quite summer time movies, etc.

Bubble are pretty inexpense and fun for all ages.

 

[onescgirl]

We always have a silly string fight. It will only last about 5-10 minutes but they always have the most fun doing it!

 

[ORDisneyfans]

We recently had an outdoor party for DD 16th Birthday. We had an outdoor projector set up with a borrowed amp and played music videos on it for the the first couple hours (thought kids would dance but really nobody did!) then the kids watched Pitch Perfect until 11 pm. We have a trampoline and ping pong table set up too. We had a buffet, cupcakes and a chocolate fountain because of the special day. I had a bunch of glow sticks and necklaces for fun!

For an everyday type party snacks, popcorn and sodas would have been fine. As it was they didn't eat much until about 10pm!

We are planning an end of summer movie party and I will have movie candy, popcorn, soda and water bottles. Easy peasy and the kids have really liked it!

I found the kids were pretty self entertaining at this age!

 

[amie416]

What about a DIY photo booth with silly, inexpensive props?

 

[2minnies]

Our city park and rec department "rents" nets, balls, outdoor games etc. for free.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Bonfires are huge around here. Provide plenty of hot dogs, marshmallows, sticks and let them go for it. Music, plenty of drinks and the smores fixings should be there too. We sometimes do corn hole if the party starts before dark. Our kids also love the cheap legal fireworks if you have someone you trust to handle them. Sparklers and glow items are fun too.

 

[Narnia_girl]

Lots of great ideas here! I'd add another vote for the firepit--our kids now request one for their birthdays.

If it's hot and you can't do water balloons, try the water sponge game (Pinterest).

Minute to win it is also a good suggestion!

 

[wiigirl]

We always have a silly string fight. It will only last about 5-10 minutes but they always have the most fun doing it!

or you could do shaving cream or those colored powder pouches.

 

[rszdtrvl]

I just had a group of 20 teenagers over last night.

I barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs, and we had some side dishes also.

The bonfire was lit, and there was music.

Music, fire, and food are the keys to a great teenage party!

The kids sat around and talked and laughed.

They are cheerleaders (it was a cheerleader bonding barbecue) so they practiced a few stunts (with the cheer coaches okay) and just danced and goofed off.

Everyone had a lot of fun and really enjoyed themselves.

Our backyard is huge, so we had a lot of plastic chairs, a gazebo (nobody sat under it though) and the bonfire. Snacks were in the house.

It was in the evening (don't know when yours will be) form 7-10p, so the bonfire was a must-do (we have a fire pit)!

edited to add : At night, glow sticks are a hit! And teenagers don't really need a whole lot of activities - with them less parental involvement is best. They are pretty good at entertaining themselves.

 

[crisi]

We had an end of season baseball party (14 year olds) - the boys shot hoops, threw the ball, skateboarded and ate for a few hours.

 

[palpluto]

The party will be in the afternoon.
Fire pits are great evening fun, tho. Just doesnt work this time.
Thanks for the ideas!

 

[writersblock42]

Badminton nets are a lot cheaper and that could be fun. Ultimate frisbee is very popular with the kids around here. Not that cheap but believe it or not, a lot of teen like certain types of bounce houses (they have ones themed more toward teens like with a wrecking ball where you try to knock your opponent down). Other ideas that boys seem to like are eating contests such as putting cherries in a whipped cream pie and have them dig them out or a watermelon eating contest or a hotdog eating contest such as how many hotdogs can they eat in two minutes. Another one is chubby bunny, how many marshmellows can they stuff in their mouth and still say chubby bunny. You could do relay races-there are tons of ideas.

 

[bfamily5]

what about a snowball fight? I saw it on pinterest...I'm at work so I can't access, but there is a recipe for "snow"...basically white fluffy stuff that you can form into snowballs...teenage boy dream come true

 

[FINFAN]

you said no water balloons~ but are squirt guns off limits? Think paintball but with water. teams can be shirts vs no shirts a(or have bandana's for them to use) Nerf guns are still fun at that age too...as for not a lot of trees, they can make "cover" from just about anything, umbrellas, garbage cans, lawn chairs, sheets tied stuff etc.