In need of BD party ideas for 11 yr. old boy

ajrsmom · #1 (**permalink**) 08-21-2008, 12:41 PM

It seems like each yr. that my son gets older, the party ideas get harder and harder. He would really like to have a BD party this year since he hasn't had a party since we moved here 3 yrs. ago.

One of the problems is that we don't have room at our apt. for a "party" of any size. So if the party had more than a couple of kids attending, it would have to be held somewhere else. I'm at a loss for something "cool" to do.

I've thought of having a video game party where he and his friends (3 at the max) could play video games-and win prizes for being the best. Is that cheesey?

We have parks around us where I could rent a pavillion but then what??? Do kids his age still play games? I doubt it.

His birthday is Oct 27, so it could relate to Halloween--there is a haunted house nearby. Again that would limit the # of people because of the price of admission but that would be ok---what to do afterwards?

Maybe a movie and then out to eat? Bowling or Skating? One of his friends has already invited people to go climb the rock wall at our Whitewater place so that's out.

How about Dave and Busters? (This would be a drive for us so I would use this as a last resort)

I'm looking for ideas for something fun and original. Any ideas would really be appreciated!!

Thanks!
Tami

Cooked · #2 (**permalink**) 08-21-2008, 09:48 PM

Around here we would go - go karting, mini golf, glow bowling, movies, paint ball, corn maze with bonfire and hotdogs,all with pizza and cake of course!

ajrsmom · #3 (**permalink**) 08-21-2008, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cooked

Around here we would go - go karting, mini golf, glow bowling, movies, paint ball, corn maze with bonfire and hotdogs,all with pizza and cake of course!

We don't have a go kart place or corn maze nearby but I might look into the glo bowling at the bowling alley down the road from us.

Thanks! PS...I would love to go to a corn maze and then to a bonfire afterwards!

**Coll** · #4 (**permalink**) 08-22-2008, 10:49 AM

What about a bowling/Halloween party where the kids dress up? Make sure the kids bring a change of clothes if the costume might interfere with bowling.

**Sammi1961** · #5 (**permalink**) 08-22-2008, 11:41 AM

Some of the things we have done over the years for my ds2's birthdays (he is going to be 14 this Sept) are going to a Science center and hiking there, bowling, to the movies, to an arcade (didn't like that one, too loud and too hard to keep track of the kids), to museums, and let him rent several videos and have a couple friends sleep over. This year for his 14th birthday he wants to go to a skateboard park for a couple hours then out to dinner. I usually let my dks invite only one of two friends for any of these activities to save on cost.

ajrsmom · #6 (**permalink**) 08-22-2008, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sammi1961

Some of the things we have done over the years for my ds2's birthdays (he is going to be 14 this Sept) are going to a Science center and hiking there, bowling, to the movies, to an arcade (didn't like that one, too loud and too hard to keep track of the kids), to museums, and let him rent several videos and have a couple friends sleep over. This year for his 14th birthday he wants to go to a skateboard park for a couple hours then out to dinner. I usually let my dks invite only one of two friends for any of these activities to save on cost.

I wish that we had a science center closer to us. That would be a great idea.

The hard part is that most parents aren't willing to drive their kids very far to attend a party and we don't have all that much available to us right around here--and I don't have a way to transport more than a couple of kids.

Boys...they're so hard to figure out at this age! lol!!

dval · #7 (**permalink**) 08-23-2008, 09:10 PM

For my son, we brought him and his friend to play laser tag.
My birthday is Oct 28th and we usually celebrate it at our halloween party. Perhaps you could create your own haunted house.
Do you have a small hall you could rent nearby? I once rented a Knights of Columbus hall for only $50 for 3hrs. Maybe one with a tv that you could hook up video games to? Perhaps even bring a couple of tv's with you so he could have more kids attend.
My son went to a birthday party at a nearby restaurant that had pool tables, a few arcade games, dart board, fooseball, etc. The place had a big screen tv that the birthday boy's mom hooked up to their own Xbox.

ajrsmom · #8 (**permalink**) 08-24-2008, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dval

For my son, we brought him and his friend to play laser tag.
My birthday is Oct 28th and we usually celebrate it at our halloween party. Perhaps you could create your own haunted house.
Do you have a small hall you could rent nearby? I once rented a Knights of Columbus hall for only $50 for 3hrs. Maybe one with a tv that you could hook up video games to? Perhaps even bring a couple of tv's with you so he could have more kids attend.
My son went to a birthday party at a nearby restaurant that had pool tables, a few arcade games, dart board, fooseball, etc. The place had a big screen tv that the birthday boy's mom hooked up to their own Xbox.

I wish that we had a place like this nearby that we could rent. The only place around us like that is a small gym with a basketball course. I'm going to talk to them to see if we could rent it.

The only other places around us with rooms to rent are churches...and they usually won't rent it out unless you are affiliated with the church.

I'll keep looking.

dval · #9 (**permalink**) 08-24-2008, 07:35 AM

The basketball place sounds like it could be good if the kids like basketball.

If not, maybe you know someone that belongs to one of the churches that could help you get a foot in the door. Maybe one of the friends' parents?

ajrsmom · #10 (**permalink**) 08-24-2008, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dval

The basketball place sounds like it could be good if the kids like basketball.

If not, maybe you know someone that belongs to one of the churches that could help you get a foot in the door. Maybe one of the friends' parents?

I wish that I could say that I was friends with some of these parents but unfortunately they are pretty clique-y around here. I've tried to interact with some of them but they weren't receptive of an outsider joining their groups. I've never been into the clique thing so I've just gone my own way.

We'll come up with something and I'm sure that Andy will have a good time with whatever he decides that he wants to do. I know that he would love to hang out with his friends and play basketball and video games and after I mentioned this to him today, he really wants me to check into renting that place. So I'll do that this week and then go from there.