We live in a place which doesn't have much of anything for kids to do. I want it to be special afterall girls get sweet sixteens and quinceanera. What are some ideas to make this special for him? He is a really good kid and is very talented in basketball.
Thank you all for the great suggestions! I decided to have him a birthday party at Felice's pizzeria place which has volley ball nets and we can take our basketball court there and have a dunking contest! I hope he enjoys his self :)
When is his b'day? Why don't you take him and a few buddies to a Denver Nuggets game? Pre-season isn't until October, but if bball is his "thing" then he should be ok to wait.
You could also send him to one if the Jr Nuggets camps.... There are some in various locations in Aug (if the have avail) - there is info on the Denver Nuggets website and then "community" and pick "youth hoops".
-for a big party... Rent a room or have in restaurant with a private room and get a DJ.
-for a smaller group- rent a limo, go to a basketball game and dinner at a sports bar.
Ask your on son what he wants to do. Some years my daughters's don't want a friend party but prefer to go to NYC and see a broadway show.
What does HE want and has HE suggested anything?
A lot of kids do not want a big party.
When our daughter was turning 13 she wanted a huge party. We threw a huge party at the Country Club with a DJ and the works. It was a GREAT party and friends still talk about it today.
HOWEVER, at 16, she was more anxious to get her driver license. That is all that was on her mind. We had a very nice family dinner.
At 18, all she wanted was 5 friends and dinner. She chose one of her favorite restaurants, they got all dressed up, had a private room at the restaurant and had a good time.
I assumed she would want a big party at 16 and 18 due to he 13 yr old experience but I was wrong... I saved a lot of $$ as well!
For my son's 16th birthday he and two buddies went and did a pheasant hunt at a preserve. They had a blast and then came back to our house for lunch. He didn't want a big party.
Many places (Y or school even), you could rent the gym and do a mini-basketball tourney.
How about a surprise party at the Y or some other local gym. Have food, friends, music, a few decorations, cake and basketballs!
CSU in Pueblo offers basketball camps, but it's really expensive, especially if you're doing a big group. How about paint ball? My son went to a paint ball war party and had a blast! I think Colorsplash in Pueblo is still open, would he enjoy that? Or, what about zip lining? Royal Gorge zip lining is about an hour from you. My son also loves caving, but I have no idea what caves are near you! Hope one of the above sounds good!
Does he want a party? Most boys this age do not. Ask him. If he says yes, let him help plan. Don't be disappointed if he says "no way."
When we turned 16 down here, we had Surprise parties. So much fun..
Just getting together, hanging out, swimming, cook out, music, you could do a huge Ice cream sundae.. Take a 5 foot PVC pipe and have it split in half lengthwise. Cover it in foil.. Place on long tables 10 ft long. . and fill it up with ice cream scoops, sauces, toppings, whipped cream and cherries. Maybe a ice cream fight!???
Take them on a weekend camping trip.
Rent a sports court and have a Basketball tournament.
Do an outdoor Movie Night. Popcorn, candy.. invite all of his friends. We have a company here that you can hire to bring their van with the movie screen on the side of it. They have a list of movies that are available. Maybe have it next to a pool so they can watch while in the pool.
At what age do kids start driving in CO? I ask because that was the theme for my son's 16th. I made various "road signs" (shaped like speed limit, caution, yield, and stop signs) with various birthday sayings on them. Accent colors were mostly black and white with some red thrown in (may have had a bit of orange and yellow too but can't remember for sure at the moment). I was able to order some miniature wooden road signs (almost like a playset) to use as decorations for the tables, sign lollipops and made some chocolate "16" pops and had those on lollipop trees. We had food (can't remember what besides pizza but I know there was other things), snacks, drinks, and cake.
Anther option, especially since your son likes basketball, is a male version of a Sweet 16 party (think March Madness and Sweet 16 on those terms). Use basketball as the basic theme and supplement with his favorite team (or several is he doesn't have just one). Use some bracket sheets as decorations.
These were just off the top of my head so I am sure if you like the ideas you can expand by looking online and pintrest.
Does he want one? I don't know anyone this age that want a birthday party at this age.
I suggest you pay for him and his teammates to have a pizza party and movie night or something similar.
We always ask our kids. Like JC, they don't always want a party. If you want to do a surpirse though, you can't really ask him.
Good ideas so far for both large and small groups.
We are having our kids birthday party this Friday (birthday's were in March, April, and June). It is a big pool party for all 3 kids, their friends, and families.
My parents threw my sister and I a great 16th and 18th birthday party - they just rented the local community building, had a DJ, had appetizer type food catered, and called it a day...it was so much fun!
