We always have one big party and I want to do something different this year.
With that kind of age gap I think you will have to do two separate parties, maybe a kids party early in the day and a dinner/movie/sleep over for the older girls that night.
Do you really think either kid wants to share a party with the other? A family party with a cake, sure. But a friend party? No 13 year old wants to hang with 6 year olds...
You could try separate parties.
Each would only take a few hours.
Try to celebrate on the nearest weekend - or do one on the weekend before and the other the weekend after.
Maybe a Build a Bear party for the 6 yr old with a few of his friends.
Maybe a movie party or a bowling party or a laser tag party for the 13 yr old with a few of her friends.
Neither has to attend the others party.
I'm sure the 13 yr old is probably pretty over little kids parties by now.
What interests a teen girl is probably boring to a 6 yr old boy.
What do your children want to do?
With this age difference, there's a lot of options. The 13 yr old is likely pretty bored with regular parties. What are her likes? Spa day, movies, sleepover, etc
6 yr old.. laser tag, ball game, etc.
Two of mine are only one day apart and we always had separate parties. Usually 6 to 10 kids each, or less if we did a "destination" party, like skating or laser tag. I rarely had a party at mealtime, 2 to 4 PM was normal, so just light snacks, punch and cake. We played games and/or did crafts, and opened presents. Sometimes there was a theme or we went to a movie or the pool or had a sleepover (when they were older.) Mostly they just wanted to play with their friends, we kept it easy and fun.
ETA: we often had a pinata or treasure hunt of some kind, and in nice weather I splurged for a bounce house!
what do they want?
khairete
S.
Afternoon party for the 6 year old and his friends, sleepover that starts in the evening for the 13 year old and her friends. Done.
At this age, I think you can start to ask them what they want, especially the 13 year old. The older my son got, the fewer kids he invited, and that's considering we did the "year" rule (5 kids invited at age 5, 6 at age 6, 7 at age 7...) but by 11-12 he just wanted 3-4 kids at the movies and then out for hamburgers or pizza. Your 13 year old can certainly go to the movies with friends wth you just doing drop-off/pick-up (although if you have concerns, you can ask the theater manager if you can pop in to be sure they are settled, or you can sit separately). We always had a family dinner/party on the actual day if it was mid-week, and we used the nearest weekend for a friends' party. You could do a Saturday for one kid and a Sunday for the other, or do something on successive weekends (give one kid first choice this year (maybe the younger one) and the older one first choice next year).
If you keep your parties small in size (rather than the "whole class" insanity of 25 kids per party), you have tons of choices. The younger kids like those jump/bouncy places or the local children's museum, the older kids might like bowling (especially in the evening with the lights and music), laser tag or even those "escape room" things if geared to teens. Re bowling: sometimes younger kids do okay if the gutter bumpers are put in so there are no gutter balls. In New England, we also have candlepins (thinner pins, much smaller balls easy to handle). One place even has a party room and you bring your own cake/decor and either your own food or use the pizza place next door. If the weather is going to be mild when their birthday hits (you don't say when it is), you could consider miniature golf and ice cream. We also have a science/environmental museum near us that has all kinds of programs for kids of different ages (animals being rehabbted, permanent and rotating exhibits, a train ride, a nature walk, and more. If there are places near you, ask if they do parties with a program and let you bring your own food in.
Do you have a trampoline park near you? Those usually are a hit with all ages. That way you are only having to pay for one party. Or maybe bowling and get multiple lanes where the 13 year old can have her friends in their own lanes and the 6 year old can have his friends in their own. You can have two different parties but it would probably be expensive and very time consuming.
You are in my neck of the woods!
Two things stand out to me in this VERY short post.
1. I would have HATED sharing my birthday with my younger brother...a younger brother that is significantly younger. (not sharing the actual day...but sharing my party. The party would probably always be aimed at the younger one)
2. There IS a way to do it!
Up here in the north end there is a place called "elevated Sportz" where the kids can jump on trampolines, younger ones can play in a HUGE play area....might be something to think about. OR you could do Arena sports. There is bowling, rock climbing, inflatables, video games, laser tag...then the older one can go off with her friends and play while you keep an eye on the younger ones.
Good luck.
G.
Welcome to mamapedia!
Your 13 year old is old enough to tell you - heck - even your 6 year old is old enough to tell you what they want. ASK THEM!! Set limits and boundaries and ask what THEY want to do for THEIR birthday.
My kids birthdays are exactly one month apart, one in June, one in July and they are two years apart. When they were little, we did joint birthday parties. It made sense because all the guests were family or family friends. A lot of the kids attending were actually the kids of OUR friends. Also, when they kids were little they had several mutual friends. We did huge outdoor BBQ family fun type parties. It was great! I even rented a dunk tank once and a giant slip and slide a diff time. BUT as they got older, idk exactly what age, they started to out grow this type of mutual party. They were having more of the own friends from school and stuff. I'm sure that by ages 8 and 10 they were having their own parties. I would def let your 13 daughter decide what SHE wants to do and then help your little guy with his plan too. They could each have a weekend before and after birthday ro something.
You don’t have to have both parties on the same day. Have one the weekend before and one the weekend after.
Imagine going to a birthday party and there are a bunch of little kids running around and you can't even talk to the person sitting next to you.
I truly can't imagine kids of this vast age difference having a party together.
It's time to give them separate parties and I would imagine the older one is only going to do this year, maybe next year but they aren't going to want to invite people and have a kid style party anymore.
