16Yo Birthday Party

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.

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.

Hi D.,

Does he have any "best friends" you might want to enlist their help in planning the surprise party. That way you can be sure you won't "embarass" your son in front of his friends. You can always blame them!

If you have any questions about some of his friends in regards to underage drinking issues you might want to think twice about hosting a party in this age group, all it takes is one or two problem guests and you could have a libability on your hands. These parties can get out of hand very quickly.

Good Luck
J. L.

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

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.

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!

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

Assuming your child is very social and can handle a surprise, you can consider checking with a couple of his friends (who can be trusted not to blab) - my son is a little older and they like to hang out and watch DVDs a lot or listen to music. You might get someone to hook up their iPod to some speakers, or just bring CDs. My son's group went through a long phase of playing games like Uno and another board game - I think it's something about Apples & Oranges. You can ask a few kids to bring things they would like to do - you can always say you can't have too much stuff around because your kid will catch on and figure out the surprise. Other than that or having a ping pong table, the kids don't usually like organized games. Some kids like to do karaoke, but renting the equipment is an expense if they don't go for it.

Be sure that word of the party does not get out and you have a bunch of non-invited guests, particularly if there is a basement entrance that is not through the house. Have an extra set of parents on hand if necessary but do not let others into the party - this is the age when this type of problem starts. Having another 2 parents bring the food over - since you may be "hiding" it so your son doesn't catch on - is a great excuse to have them show up and hang around to help.

For food, the kids like snacks but also hearty foods like pasta and meatballs. I also make sweet & sour meatballs which they love - use the frozen turkey meatballs (available at BJs and some markets) and make a sauce of half chili sauce (like ketchup but a little spicier) and currant jelly. It's delicious. Keep it warm in a crock pot or one of those chafing dishes from BJs. The kids think this is SO cool. Put out a lot of cut vegies with baby carrots or sliced peppers & cukes, and a dip such as ranch dressing. If you put the microwave down there for the night, they can make their own popcorn. We put a small fridge in the basement for sodas, but you can use a big cooler full of ice and a few dozen cans of soda. They also devour those mini hot dogs (we get the all beef ones) wrapped in pastry - use the low fat crescent dough in the tube, but roll out the triangles and cut them into smaller ones - I usually get about 4 mini crescents per large crescent. Roll the little hot dog starting at the wide end of the triangle and ending with the point, and put them on a greased cookie sheet for about 20 minutes at 375 until browned. You can serve them on a plate with a small bowl of ketchup and a small one of mustard. Or you can do pizza, but have the pizza place cut the pies into 16s instead of 8s - makes it easier to pick up. Put out something to collect the cans for recycling, and a trash bucket, a stack of napkins, etc. Check in once in a while - under the guise of collecting cans and dirty plates, changing the garbage bag, or bringing down more food. Definitely be a presence but don't go down any more often than every 20 minutes. Put lots of paper hand towels in the bathroom that they will be using.

We always found that, by having our house be one of the prime hangouts, we always knew where our kid was and who his friends are! Have fun!

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

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.

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.

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

Hi D.
Why not ask your son for suggestions. See what he has to offer and then work from there. My daughter recently had her sweet sixteen and we ended up having a outdoor fire (with fire department permission of course) in an outdoor pit, and they played music and ate and drank sodas and laughed and laughed. I had both boys and girls here and the rule was no coupling up of any kind and no disappearing where I couldnt see anyone. The parents of the kids were invited to drop in anytime during the party to check in. My son hasnt hit his sixteenth birthday yet but he said that sounds cool too. We also have a pool table that they could use if they wanted to but they were more content to hang out with friends and just be crazy. My husband has figured we could rent a hall and a dj and stuff (a girl has to have the "perfect" sweet 16 i guess) but my daughter didnt want that. just a comfortable atmosphere where adults werent sitting on top of them but were being supervised. In the end my daughter and her friends told me to hang out with them anyways. Before that i kind of hung in the background just watching and listening for inappropriate behaviors. Only once or twice did I have to ask them to watch their language.

Hope this helped

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!

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.