12Th Birthday, Suggestions for Girl

Updated on April 28, 2015
S.J. asks from Des Moines, IA
14 answers

My dd is turning 12. Probably too old for a "birthday party", so what do you do? She is at a new school and has made 3 close friends and still stays in touch with a couple kids from her old school.
Any suggestions?

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O.H.

answers from Phoenix on

Why don't you ask her what she wants? My kids usually take 1-3 friends somewhere for their birthday. They have gone to a movie, bowling, laser tag, public pool, bowling, etc. Good luck.

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T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

What does SHE want? I always asked my kids (party? movie? sleepover?) and went from there.

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P.K.

answers from New York on

Ask her what she wants.

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G.D.

answers from Detroit on

Who gets too old for a birthday party?🐒 I would switch the type of party. Maybe take a group of friends to a pottery store (make your own). Here we have a haunted history walking tour-the guide takes you on a tour and then allows you to use their ghost hunting equipment. My 11 1/2 year old would LOVE to take a group to the mall or do a dance class with them.
If your asking whether the other parents will think 12 is too old-I never get tired of someone else entertaining my child for a while 😉

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S.T.

answers from Washington DC on

what does she want?
khairete
S.

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V.B.

answers from Jacksonville on

Just ask her what she'd like. My daughter will be turning 14. Years past we have done small sleep overs (3 girls), movies out, pool party/sleep over, water park day trip, etc.

A few times it was "pick A friend" and we'd go. Why? b/c I only had room in my vehicle for 1 or 2 extra kids. And only 1 if Dad was able to go with us. The days of big parties have been over for us for a few years. Her friends have had more traditional type parties... but they also involved going to go kart parks and such at times.

Just ask what she wants to do.

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J.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

My daughter turned 12 in February and she had a few close friends over and they decorated cupcakes and slept over.

My 17 year old and 10 of her closest friends are going out to dinner (Burtuccis) to celebrate her birthday.

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L.A.

answers from Austin on

I concur, find out what she has in mind.
Sleep over (In a tent in the back yard)
Game night
Karaoke
Roller skating
Bowling
IMAX movie then ice cream for giant banana Splits
Videos and pizza
Go for a "dress up,dinner"
Go to an event like a performance

Just party at home with make your own pizza, and brownies..

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❤.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

At that age, you can have her take 2 or 3 of her closest friends (either from the new school or the old school) & take them to lunch, shopping & for
pedicures.

Or you can take them tolunch & a movie.

2 moms found this helpful

M.D.

answers from Washington DC on

If 12 is too old for party then my almost 12 year old and all of her friends are out of touch. Mostly they do sleepovers now.

My daughter will be 12 in June and she is have her 12 dance friends over (they are a competitive group). We will do taco's or something for dinner and they can have the basement to do whatever (the gaming systems are there and a ping pong table).

Next year for her 13th we are renting a 4 bedroom Presidential Reserve Suite at a resort in National Harbor, MD. The resort is beautiful and we try to go a few times a year as it is, but for her to have a big 13th party there would make her life (to date).

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A.L.

answers from Las Vegas on

Hello
at that age, I needed and liked clothes.. of course, money was good in that it allowed me to buy something of my choice..
you could host a luncheon for her and the group of close friends..
at a restaurant or your home.. what interests do the kids have?

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D.N.

answers from Chicago on

At 12, they may not want the kinid of party you plan for a younger child with games and such. When mine turned 11, we waited a few months for it to be really warm. We had a splash party. We filled my younger daughter's kiddie pool with water balloons (took forever to get them done), had water guns and squirt pistols and had a bbq. They had a blast. Age appropriate.
You could let her have her own party, order some pizzas or something else, let them do their own thing: music, videos, etc or take a small group to a movie and out for some food or ice cream.

My older girls chose not to have a party for their 16th but they do want to have a bonfire this summer to celebrate their birthdays. We'll order a couple of pizzas and get some cupcakes and other snacks. At 8:30, I will pull in my younger kids and the teens can have their own little get togehter in our yard.

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D.B.

answers from Boston on

If you haven't asked her, do so. If you have asked her and she's unsure, maybe it's because she's at that awkward age of not being sure what's appropriate, especially in a new school. If she has a few close friends in her new school, that's terrific. I'd sit with her and work out her choice. If it helps to present a few options, do so. At this age, kids are more than capable of attending a movie together (you pay since it's her party) and just get dropped off and picked up by you. Then out for pizza or back to the house for take-out Chinese and a sleepover. If you want to include a few old friends, fine, but make sure your daughter feels comfortable blending the two groups. Sometimes kids at this age don't know how to find common ground, and they wind up hanging with only one group to the exclusion of the other.

But I agree that kids this age don't usually want the typical 7 year old birthday party with cupcakes and party games or Wii. By the time my son was 10, the kids just had small gatherings for pizza or bowling or DVDs.

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T.F.

answers from Dallas on

Have you talked to her and asked her what she might like to do?

When my daughter was about 12, the big thing was limo parties. She had a small group. We had a limo pick everyone up at their home so pictures could be made.

The limo drove them around and ended up at a high end shopping center that had a great hotel. The girls stayed (with me in a suite) at the hotel. They went swimming, we went to a nice restaurant for dinner, then ice cream shop for dessert, made pictures with all the pretty lights and places in the area.

Afterwards we went back to the suite, they went swimming again and then when we were all back in the room again, they had late night room service snacks and watched a movie.

The next morning, we had breakfast brought in, everyone left by 10 and the party was a success!

Other favorite things to do as they get older is have a special dinner at a favorite restaurant with a few friends.

Just see what she wants. By the time my daughter was 16 she only did a dinner with a couple of friends. Her big blowout party was at age 13 when she wanted a dance.

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