16Yo Birthday Party

Hello D.,
I have a 16 year old girl who at first wanted a party, then said she didn't. We went ahead and planned a surprise party for some of her friends and family together. A backyard barbecue. A few days before her birthday she said to us, "I can't believe you guys aren't going to do anything for me on my 16th birthday". I told her if she remembered she said she did not want anything. The day of her birthday we surprised her with the party, It was small, about 12 to 15 people. She was shocked and happy. We had some 16th year old stuff, and gag stuff to decorate, like a tiara (she is not a girly girl). But she had a lot of fun and the teens went to her room to hang out for a while but it was very laid back, not a formal party. It worked for her and us. Good Luck with whatever you do, trust your intuition and remember he will love whatever you do to recognize this milestone in his life.
N.

1 mom found this helpful

Guitar Hero is a great idea -- get two guitars so they can battle. Rock Band is also fun, if you have the game systems. What about scary movies -- get a big screen (rent one if you don't have it from an AV company) and load the kids up with food and drinks and leave 'em down there to do whatever they do.

A scavenger hunt is always fun at any age - just make it age appropriate.... Great prizes too!

At sixteen, teens just want lots of snacks and soda. Make
sure you provide a variety of different food and drink items. They want privacy from adults, stay close but don't stay in their area. You really can't play games so just provide music (have each person bring favorite CD) At that age they entertain themselves. Good luck.

what about that guitar hero game? that seems to be a huge thing right now.. rent a big screen tv and have a lot of junk food! kids tend to take care of themselves, so just supply the place, some food and music and it should be fine.

My 15 yr. old son had about 14 boys and girls over for homemade pizza, a cookie cake (read LOTS of colorful candy attached to a pizza sized chocolate chip cookie with equal parts peanut butter and melted chocolate. Candles do stand up in the PB/choc mixutre.) ice cream, chips, and soda. Before food, they played capture the flag. After eating, (when it was dark) they played manhunt. Some of the girls didn't want to play manhunt, but they were happy hanging out inside with those who got found early. After 3 rounds, they came in for cocoa (Nov.) and they sat around and talked/played the guitar or piano. I asked my son if he still wanted the traditional birthday decorations and he did! So we hung balloons, streamers, and a banner. It was low-key, but what my son wanted to do. Everyone seemed to have a great time. I stayed out of the way except to visit with the girls who didn't play manhunt until a few more gathered. I hope your son has a wonderful birthday. They grow up too fast!

music and dancing. could you talk to your son's best buddy and perhaps get some insight into what would be cool?

Why not try a movie theme? What are some of your son's favorite comedies, for instance, that might be appropriate for a group? Provide popcorn, pizza, drinks, etc. for a theater-like feel. When guests arrive, have music from the soundtrack of the movie or movies playing. Set up as many comfy seats as possible in a theater-like arrangement. If you have a big screen TV, great. If not, see if you can rent one from a local appliance rental for the weekend, or, if you have a laptop computer that can play DVDs and access to a laptop projector from work or through a rental, you can project onto a clean white sheet hung on the wall. Make the invitations look like theater tickets. If you're son is accepting gifts, make suggestions like theater passes, DVDs, movie soundtrack CDs, etc. I think this could be fun, age appropriate and not hokey. Good luck and I hope your son has a great birthday!

For a ice breaker game and to give us extra time we needed in the house, we set up an outside game called bigger or better. We gave each team the same item, and assigned each team one side of the street. They were to go up to neighbor's houses and ask for something bigger or better in exchange for the item that they were holding. They had a set amount of time and then had to be back. By the time they were done, a can of soup had turned into a huge beach ball and a watermelon. The winning team got some candy. We organized a poker tournament so that we were able to hang out with the kids for a bit and get to know them. We then had video games going too, Halo and DDR on two different tv's. They all seemed to like it and everyone had a good time.

Hello D.
WE did celebrate my grand son 16 years old Brthday party last year we invited is uncle and Aunts along with friends,so ths way he'll get probably money from Uncles and Aunts and we had a cook out if anybody wants to bring a plate fine so ths way it won't cost you and you don't have to do all the food, with all the money my grand son had he put it away for his liscence and his vehicle insurance, you can have few outside games so adult can play also, hope you have a nice day.
GOOD LUCK

i would talk to his friends and ask them what would he like.

Try a "Theme Party"......What are his interests?
At that age kids like music, why not try some thing like hiring a DJ. If you are inviting both girls and boy's this would be a huge surprise,(they are not that expensive if you do a 2 hr pkg or as little as an hour up to as much as you would want him there)if interested I can give you a referal to the one I used for my Daughters Birthday, he was wonderful, and will play what you want or dont want! Also decorating with mabey a disco ball, a fog machine, strobe lights would be a good idea as well,you can usually find these kinds of things at party stores or even Wal-mart or Target may have something like a disco Ball, I know you can even rent these items as well from your local party store. You could even do little things such as having a door prize, just have every one who comes to the party put there name on a peice of paper and then at some point during the party have your son draw a name from the hat and that person would win a prize(of your choice and price range)obviously something that would be co-ed of course. Also another party idea for that age would be to fill up a large jar full of gum balls or candy of your choice, you can even do Hershey kisses and let every one guess how many are in the jar, who ever guesses the closest wins, I know this was a big hit at my daughters Halloween party, we used a glass pumpkin jar and filled it with candy corn. it's the age.... they love these kinds of things, like I said depending on his interests,this may or may not be a good idea, its just a suggestion, I hope I helped!!!! I will be anxious to hear what you did please let us all know how it went!!!!
K. E.