Berkeley Parents Network: Pre-Teen Birthday Parties

Berkeley Parents Network

Pre-Teen Birthday Parties

Berkeley Parents Network > Advice > Birthdays > Pre-Teen Birthday Parties

Birthday party for twin 10-year-old boys
Horse enthusiast 9-year-old
10-year-old outdoorsy twins
11-year-old boy
More Ideas

Birthday party for twin 10-year-old boys

March 2004

Can I get some recommendations or fun birthday party ideas for my twin boys soon to be 10 in late March? I'm interested in something outdoors-hiking at PT. Reyes, Mt. Diablo, staying overnight on the Coastside-something along those lines. Mom

We had fun taking a a few 8 year old boys (and a few 11 year old siblings) on the ferry to Alcatraz. You can either book an ''Alcatraz Kidz Tourz,'' including night tours, or just go on your own during the daytime for the regular tour. The website is: http://www.parksconservancy.org/parksites/nightkidz.html I believe I learned about the Kidztours on Berkeley Parents Network. All ages of kids loved it. Diane

Try the Pt. Reyes youth hostel. Think they have an extra cottage for groups. Outdoorsy

Hi Mom, The Oakland Zoo has a Bedtime with The Beasts program in March. I think there are 3 programs for the month of March. You can always check online at www.oaklandzoo.org and go to ''news and events'' and then ''calendar of events''. It's really a fun event. Your kids can spend the night in the zoo and everything. There is also a Family Sundown Safari that is for the whole family. Check it out. These are both really great events. ankie

Horse enthusiast

2001

I am having a birthday party for my horse enthusiast 9 year old. We are having it a a local stable where she takes lessons and will offer rides. Any creative, fun ideas for other activities besides rides and food? Terry

I don't know about games and activities but I have an idea for party favors. My daughter at 9 also wanted an outdoor type party. In her case we went hiking from the big meadow in Tilden to Lake Anza where we had games and a picnic. As a party favor everyone got a different colored bandana (from REI) and a water bottle. The bandanas sort of sound horsy. Janet

How about a horse-theme craft? Our pony club camp in the summer makes t-shirts using horse stencils and fabric paint. Or a build-your-dream barn project with graham crackers and baking (powder?) cement, a la gingerbread houses. You can buy Breyer Stablemates, very tiny Breyer Horse models for a couple dollars apiece as favors to go with these, and use little plastic trees, etc. from a craft store to decorate. And maybe paints. Or set up a "cross-country" or show-jumping course in the party area with miniature jumps and have the each kid jump the course and award ribbons and medals Nancy

See additional recommendations here: Horseriding Trails & Stables

10-year-old outdoorsy twins

March 2004

Try the Pt. Reyes youth hostel. Think they have an extra cottage for groups. Outdoorsy

More Ideas

Sept 1999

A friend of mine had a great idea for a bday party. She bought Chinese takeout for dinner, rented a minivan (since she doesn't have one) and took the kids to a drive-in. her husband brought their own car so that they could have all the kids in the minivan and park next to them and not have to hear all the shrieking and carrying on (it was a bunch of 11-year-old girls). then she drove the kids home for a sleepover. If you have a mini-van, it is pretty cheap, since usually a drive-in price is per car, not per person. just some clean-up the next day! And the kids had a blast. I went along too, and thought it was about the best idea for a party I had seen. The trick is to find a drive-in a safe area with age-appropriate movies.

Sleepovers are always popular, and I've always been of the mind that the kids will have fun no matter how much you spend, so why spend a lot? it doesn't have to be a competition. Pizza and videos and maybe some activities or crafts and voila. One party I had (for girls) involved beading - i went to the bead store on Shattuck, picked out a bunch of different beads (be careful, it can add up quickly!) and wire, and had the girls make their own jewelry. they had a lot of fun, and I was chasing beads around my floors for a couple weeks. One year I tried scrap-booking - i took a bunch of pictures of the girls when they came to the party and tried to get them developed at a 1-hour place so that they could make their own scrapbook pages of the night's activities. that didn't quite work out, because what I didn't realize is that all the 1-hour developers shut their machines off around 7-8:00 pm, so I wasn't able to get the pictures done until the next morning. A little planning goes a long way!

One of my friends had the girls (age 8 or 9, I think) make sock dolls out of toddler socks that turned out to be really cute and the girls had a lot of fun making them. I like the idea of the kids doing a craft and creating their own take-home party favor, and doing something creative or physical as opposed to passive entertainment.

Another fun BD party is ICELAND in Berkeley or the skating rink in downtown Oakland. I did a BD party for my daughter (12 years) at Iceland and all the kids had fun. I think it ran around $5-6 per kid, including skate rental, if you had a group of at least 10(?). you can bring your own cake, but no other food - you can buy sodas from their machines. I was surprised to have 2 of the kids not want to skate at all, but who asked me for money for the video games - you might want to think about what extras you want to pay for up front, if you go this route. Nancy

Try Hilltop YMCA (either swimming party, gym party or combination) or Albany Bowl. We've had parties at both places (swimming for 7 year old girl, bowling for 8 year old boy) and both were fun and successful. The price is probably more than $100, but with the bowling, if you have the party part at your house and just bowl, you can certainly keep the costs down. Of course, this time of year, you could do something outside, like a kite flying party at the Berkeley Marina kite flying park, or maybe even an outing to Lake Anza at Tilden Park (and just pay the admission fare for the kids). Good luck and enjoy! Helen

I remember a fun party at Albany Bowl. They have a party room, no charge. I also think it is possible to get alley bumpers so the kids are not too frustrated with their bowling. Perhaps other bowling places offer something similar.

Years ago, there used to be puppet show up at the Nature Center in Tilden and we scheduled a party around the show. The kids got to go to the Little Farm and or the Nature Center. We had a picnic on the grass out back. Mostly the kids just ran around. Sometimes, you can also arrange for them to bring out the stuffed owls and live snakes etc. No charge.

Swimming is another option. One can rent Albany Pool and probably others. That's all for the moment. Sgerry

Pool parties are great: Albany Pool, Strawberry Canyon Pool, El Cerrito Pool. Bowling at Albany Bowl. Take them to Iron Giant (this film has heart and great animations!) Iceskating at USA ice in Oakland or the Berkeley rink. Good luck! Dorothea

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