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Birthday party ideas for 12 yr old

Marylojo45's picture

SS turned 12 this month and looking for ideas for a party. In the past we would do places like bouncy house places or Chucky E cheese. Obviously SS is to old for those places now. BM hates dealing with the stress of planning a party so it falls on SO. Those of you who have/had kids SS’s what are some good ideas for his age? Also in the past SS would just give us the names of the kids he wanted and we the adults would contact the other kids parents about the party. At what age is it normal/Expected the child takes over contacting/inviting the kids they want at their party instead of you contacting the other parent? Obviously they would check with you first regarding how many kids and such BUT they would then be responsible to invite whoever they wanted and you would stay out of it unless a parent contacted you. 

ProbablyAlreadyInsane's picture

How close are you to his birthday and how warm is it outside right now?

Lndsy747's picture

I would think at 12 that the kid could pretty much put the party together themselves with a little guidance from you and SO. I would say maybe activities like skating, bowling, or laser tag would be good ideas.

elkclan's picture

A few friends and bowling - not a full blown party. Something like that. We might just do a BBQ with a couple of friends. 

lieutenant_dad's picture

For the SSs, BM would let them take a friend or two out to go-karts, movie, bowling, laser tag, etc.

DH and I would do a family dinner and then take them out to do something fun for all of us (all of our birthdays are literally 1-2 weeks apart, and we all have similar tastes).

I think boys have sleepovers, but it's more "gaming until they literally pass out". It's a cheap option - order pizza and lock 3-4 boys in a room with a game system until morning.

TrueNorth77's picture

Exactly what LD said- SD12 spent his 12th birthday having a sleepover with 3-4 boys, gaming until they passed out. I bought a little cake they could eat, we got them some chips and pizza, called it a day. This was what SS wanted, and he contacted the kids and coordinated it. He also had a dinner with my SO's parents and his aunts, but we didn't even go to that.

This year we talked about possibly laser tag for a few kids, but it may just end up being the same as last year. They're totally fine with that.

Aniki-Moderator's picture

Laser tag, paintball, or a sleepover with a few friends complete with movies and pizza.

Monkeysee's picture

Why not ask him what he wants to do? At 12 he should have ideas himself. If he doesn’t suggest anything I’d just say sleepover with a few of his friends, video games, pizza & snacks. Keep it simple! Birthday parties are so overdone a lot of the time, there’s so much pressure these days. Kids don’t really need all that, especially at 12. He might love the independence of choosing for himself.