Hello everyone,
My daughter just turned 9. She wants to do something with just a few friends, so I was trying to figure out something fun for them to do. I remember reading about scavenger hunts at shopping malls, but most of them are for older kids that are split into teams and are able to run around in the mall on their own. Since the girls are only 9 . . . I will be following close behind them and was thinking of just having them find a few things that I put together on a list, and having them take a picture of themselves with the items, etc. and then grabbing something to eat in the food court together. I did find some ideas online that I printed out (again for older children) . . . but I thought I'd ask her too . . . just to see if any of you have done something similar or have some ideas. . . I don't want to make it to difficult or involved for them . ... but I obviously want them to have fun.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice.
T. M.
Wow . . . I wasn't expecting this much negativity with the idea . . . but I do appreciate everyone's response, even the harsh ones. I know sometimes when you write something it could come across in a different tone than expected, and other times you mean it exactly how you wrote it. I hope you ladies aren't judging me by this idea . .. I just wanted to get some different opinions and feedback and boy did I.
I should've made more clearer in my post that my intention wasn't to "let a bunch of girls run around in the mall or the stores bothering store owners, workers or customers". . . Of course that would be annoying to everyone! As I mentioned in my post the girls are only 9 . . . so I would be following them around. I would never let girls that age walk around themselves! And it's not a "bunch" of girls . . . it would only be my daughter and THREE of her friends . . . and I wasn't planning to break them up into teams and have it be a competition with points or how fast they can find these items, etc. Yes, that could easily get out of hand if it's a competition and if it's being timed. I was thinking more along the lines of just giving them a list of stuff in the mall . . . the items or objects don't have to be "inside" the actual stores . . . maybe a movie poster, something in a "window" of a store, in the food court, in the aisles as they're walking, etc. . . they wouldn't be running around, unsupervised. . . but more of just following a map and directions to find things. A kind of a "I spy" type thing. Again, I would be with them, just walking a few steps behind.
And for those of you who mentioned actually having a party somewhere like bounce houses, gymnastics, etc. I did that for her when she was younger for her school friends. It got very costly to do both because we also have a family party. You made it sound like I didn't want to spend the money to have a party for her. I've always kept the parties separate because I have about 30 family members come to my house for a birthday picnic every year, which works out okay because everyone is outside, but if it were to rain . ..I don't really have the room in my house to accommodate that many people, let along kids from school too. Since she's older now, she doesn't want the school parties that she used to have . . . she just wants to hang out with three of her good friends. Yeah, we could just have them come over to hang out here, or just go out to eat somewhere . . . but I wanted to do something a little different, where they could all work together as a team. Can't really do a neighborhood hunt, we live on a main road . . . can't do the town pool because it's starting to get cool here, so the water is cold, plus there are so many people there running around, the moms would have to stay because I wouldn't want the responsibility of watching all of them myself. There are also times they have to shut the pool down if a younger child has an accident in the pool, and the weather can be so unpredictable, it would be hard to plan. If we go ice skating, to a bounce house, etc. - they have a minimum of either 8-10 people for the birthday party packages, so we wouldn't be able to have food and cake there . . . we'd have to go somewhere else for lunch and cake and I don't have the room in my car to be able to drive them all, which means that their moms would have to hang around to drive them to the restaurant, etc. - I figured at the mall, the moms could hang out with me or do some shopping, etc. and then we could all eat in the food court . .. and then get dessert there too - Yes, something like this could get out of hand, but I also think with some careful planning, and making sure the kids aren't running around unsupervised, it could work. Are you telling me none of you have ever met friends or family at a local mall to just walk around and get something to eat? We do it here all the time. Especially in the winter where we're couped up with nothing to do. I have to sit and think about it some more . . . but I'll figure something out. Thank again to all of you for taking the time to respond to my post.
I really don't think this is a good idea. Malls are a place of business not a playground for 9 year olds. While not intending I can see how the girls would start running or racing to the next clue. You are going to have a lot of people annoyed. Not a great environment for a party.
I would pick a different venue and theme.
I would not let my daughter attend a party like this. She was invited to a hotel pool party and sleepover and she didn't do that either with the family we didn't know. The family we are very close with, different story and she went. Both were when she was 9.
I don't trust other people at the malls nor would I want my child running around, which would happen even if they were told not to.
Great idea, bad setting.
Let me clear, I think this hunt should be as a group. No way should it be girls going in all directions..
Wow, I am so sorry that a mom was so harsh. I worked in retail for over 30 years. With an attitude like that we would have gone out of business!
We accommodated different things like this over the years. As long as you give the shops you will be dealing with a heads up, I am sure they will be delighted to participate.
Just remind the girls no running and to keep their voices down..
I think the Scavenger hunt is a cute idea. If you do this in a Mall, consider some of the items for them to search for be in the main sections of the mall like a fountain or a sculpture with a hint to look for the next clue. Another clue could be located from the map of the mall, that would lead them to the Clue at a toy store, where they would pick up a small toy that you have pre-purchsed (jump rope for each child), Then the book store to pick up a book mark and maybe a magazine like Spider or another children's magazine (prepaid) for each child. Then end up in the food court at a table covered with a birthday table cloth birthday Balloons,, etc,, Enjoy lunch with a Pizza party/ lemonade and a Giant Birthday Cookie that is displayed with "Happy Birthday (daughters name)" in the display counter at the Cookie shop..
If this seems like a lot of work, consider a roller skating party or a "kidnapping" Our daughter was invited to one of these at about this age. The mom called the moms of the girls invited and said on a certain Saturday morning early.. 6:00 am, they would drive by and "kidnap" our daughter. I was to answer the door and let them come in and wake our daughter up. They then went around to the other houses and picked all of the guests.. In their pajamas and took them to have an early breakfast and celebrate the birthday girl.. They went to a local restaurant that is open 24 hours. At that tie in the morning, there were not many people there. They are famous for their pancakes. The girls all knew there was a party on that day, but thought it would be in the afternoon..
The photos are so cute. Yes, their hair is mussed, they look half asleep.. When the girls graduated from High School, we were able to recreate that group of most of the girls for a photo.. Precious.
I have done two mall scavenger hunts - one for my daughter's ninth birthday and one with our girl scout troop. For the birthday, we had team pink and team purple. Each team is supervised by an adult. They are given a certain amount of money and a set time limit. The object is to buy as many of their color items as possible with the money they have. Only one item per store. Also, there were bonus point items and freebies. Bonus point items fit the theme of the party or could be random - a rainbow, a ladybug, etc. Freebies are items you can find around the mall - business card, napkin, straw, scent sample. They lost point if they were loud, ran or interrupted other shoppers.
We were very careful to be courteous of the other shoppers and mall employees. Also, we were spending money in the stores. Most of the stores were very helpful in assisting the girls in finding their color item. At the end of the hunt, all of the points are totaled up, and the items are placed on the table. Birthday girl picks first, then the winning team and then the other teams. Each person can pick one item and that continues until all the items are gone. (No goodie bags required at the end of the party!)
Also, we purchased our cookie cake at the mall and ordered pizza for the girls in the food court. It was a lot of fun!
Not a good idea at a mall, a place of business.
Plus I don't think it's safe to have a bunch of 9 yr olds running around a
busy place where it's hard to keep a very close eye on them. Think of
all the abductions in the news.
My kids would not be allowed to attend this type of event.
I like your idea though & would change the venue of the scavenger hunt
to a park.
Have them look for items (water fountain, sprinkler, slide, bathroom) then
take a picture of them by it.
Then meet at a picnic table decorated w/balloons for lunch, cupcakes &
presents.
I have a good friend in mall management, and if security guards find groups like this in their mall, they ask them either to stop or leave. It's disruptive to businesses, and most places don't like their merchandise photographed.
And just an aside about the "kidnapping" party that everybody is getting their undies in a bunch over.... You don't have to call it that. My daughter had this type of party when she turned 12. We called it a "reverse surprise" party. We went to each house and when the friend answered the door (because the moms knew we were coming) we yelled "suprise!" and silly stringed the guest and then they came with us to the next house until we had gathered up all the girls. At that point we went bowling and out for pizza. My daughter and her friends (now 25) still say that was the best party ever. I guess because of the surprise factor.
Not a good idea. Too many things could go wrong. Malls are meant for shopping not for birthday parties. Go somewhere where they are free to run. Without getting into trouble with businesses and people trying to get things done.
I would not let a bunch of 9 year olds run around the mall. Instead, I would take them to a park or some place where they aren't going to bother other people.
They do an adult scavenger hunt in town here as a fundraiser. There was one group who went running thru the mall looking for items. Security was none too happy with a bunch of people running thru the mall and ended up kicking them all out after detaining them.
wow, I'm still trying to get my head around this, Never in my life have I heard of this. NOR the Kidnapping party. My Dd is 8 and neither of these seem like something I would want her to do next year.
Maybe at 12 or 13, but not at 9. and even then I agree that it just doesn't seem like the right venue for a party, can't you take htem to the pool or have a sleep over at your house? even iceskating or something!
A mall is a place of business and you have no control over who will be there.
It's not an appropriate place for a scavenger hunt - and I don't care if it's been done before.
Chuck E Cheese, skating (ice or roller), bowling, bounce house, swimming, laser tag, Build a Bear, go to a movie, etc - all these places are great for birthday parties for 3rd/4th graders.
Don't over think this.
Keep it simple.
Bug did come off a little harsh, but I totally agree with her. It's inevitable that the 9 year olds will run around the mall and potentially bother other patrons.
What my neighbor did with her 9 year old daughter was have a scavenger hunt around the neighborhood. She gave them a list of items and a list of homes that were okay to go to. She let the homeowners know to expect some kids and if it was okay.
The kids got to run around and be loud and it didn't bother anyone who didn't know what was going on.
I was involved with a similar event for a children's community group. (The event was not my idea.) BAD experience. Never again. Store owners were livid. Good kids, the kids were fairly well behaved, but the element of "racing" to get done resulted in kids running through stores, etc. And no store likes unattended children.
I do not agree with some below posts that you can solve the problem if you call the stores in advance. Might not be the same manager in store that day as the one you spoke to, can't speak to every security guard, etc.
Be very careful if you try to do this.
If you are spending money at a store I see nothing wrong with a small group of girls entering the store, looking for a particular item and buying it? Taking a picture of something, no way.
I like Laurie A's ideas. Have small affordable "favor" type items on the list. After the girls find everything they each choose a gift. Eat and get dessert at the mall, there's your party. Unless these girls are wild animals I certainly think stores that cater to tweens would like the business and exposure.
As for the "kidnapping" party, lighten up people. Must everything remind us of some horrible threat? Being kidnapped for a pancake party in no way reminds me of Ariel Castro.
What about taking them before the stores open (not so many people) and they can take a picture of the things in the windows (use your clues for things like that).
I think somewhere in the middle of your last two responses should be good.
I think Lauri A and two Princessesoneprince both had great ideas. I think it's cute and different. If that is what your daughter wants go for it! As long as it is properly supervised it could be a lot of fun!
Haven't read the other responses yet, so pardon if I repeat anything.
I would figure out something else. They are only just turning 9. I probably wouldn't even do this with my 12 year old. It is summer. There are so many other things you could do!
At 9, they aren't even too old for bounce house stuff. Keep it simple while you can. If you really think they want to be treated more grown up then take them to a movie and out for Pizza after or something. But usually, in the summer, anything with water is a big hit. For my kids (boy and a girl) at that age, a pool with water blasters of some sort would have been like sprinkling magic dust on them.
