Most of you moms out there have younger babes. I have a 3 year old daughter and a soon to be driving wonderful son who is turning 16. I would like to plan a suprise party for him... any ideas?
I just wanted to tall everyone Thank you for your help and ideas! My son's best friend passed out small business card sized invitations to kids at school. We hoped on having about 20-30 kids there. About 20 kids came and were quietly waiting as my son walked in. He was pleasantly surprised and he had a great time. We ended up having a DJ come to the house, ordered lots of Pizza, had a lot of chips, & drinks out and just let the kids hang out until about 10:30/11pm. The only thing that we would have changed is the date. Due to a school event, we didn't have many girls come out to the birthday bash. the kids would have enjoyed the DJ more if there were a better mix of kids. Otherwise it turned out great - and the house survived too.
My boys - now 20 and 18 - just liked the low-key, pizza and board games nights. Maybe ask the invitees to each bring a favorite game, and let the kids decide what to play. You job is to stay in the background and re-fill nut bowls, sodas, etc. Have fun!
This will depend on your son, he's 16 not 6. In two years he'll be old enough to vote. What does he want? My son will be 15 soon and I doubt he'd be thrilled with a costume party but your son might be. Why not something like a bowling party? Tell him you're going to Brunswick, have his freinds waiting there? Or paintball? The skate park? Is there something he's been wanting to do that you could include a few budies on? If he's more the preppie/country club type he might like something more formal? Be a little crazy, how about a limo to Pizza Hut? An afternoon of soccer, a Rapids game - or whatever is his sport? A day at the car races? A chance to drive the cars on a track? There is all kinds of stuff out there to excite a young man's fancy. Ask his buddies, they may have the best ideas
you know your son pretty well but i must say at 16 he has some secrets. if you have access to his friends and if they could help you out then it would be great. like igetting you on his myspace page to see what he is really about . if that is too personal then it could be as simple as letting him plan the kind of party he wants at home w/ friends and as the surprize part you could include family as well. the surprise could be a gift rather then spending $$ on a a party. good luck and god bless
My son just turned 16. I didn't do a party like you, but I gave a neat present (not a car) that he liked. I wrapped 16 pennies in a tiny box, 16 nickels in a bigger box, 16 quarters, 16 one dollar bills, 16 two dollar bills, 16 five dollar bills, then the biggest box was a hoodie he wanted. When he saw the one dollar bills, he started counting and looking at the bigger boxes and he got really excited. I was afraid he might be disappointed when he saw the hoodie, but he wasn't. He said he knew I'd never give him 16 twenty dollar bills (he didn't think of two dollar bills, so he skipped right over that denomination).
My son is a real outdoor guy and he loved the paintball party he had this year. It is a bit expensive, near $200 for enough paintballs and all the gear rental but a whole group of kids can go at a discount. Your local sporting good store might know of a good place to go or look up a place on Google. Stop by an all you can eat place after and you have a really happy group of teenagers.
i'm not great with party themes and such, but the game "curses" is a HUGE hit around the teens in my area. I have only been able to find it online, but it's worth it. They LOVE it!
i can't remember details for sure but a friend of mine had a get together of her sons friends including 3 girls willing to play the dating game. ( i guess he was suppose to wait until 16 to start dating ) anyway... at this party the birthday boy played the dating game with 3 girls hidden away answering questions he asked. then he chose a girl and mom and dad had a fun date set up for the next night.. ( and paid for i think or gave him money ) it was something like this. just an idea.. good luck. hope he has a fun time with whatever you do for him.
The costume party sounds like a great idea. I like to have my daughters parties (now 12), at a local hotel. We make it a slumber party. The kids love it. Homewood Suites and Embassy Suites are good for this. You may even be able to use a conference room to have some activities in. I'm not sure if this will work for a 16 year old boy but the young girls love it.
My youngest turned sixteen last year and we made it a custome party. I made all her favorite foods and made a sand casle cake. We have a fire pit in the back yard and made smores. We had "Apples to Apples" and a few other games on hand but basicaly kept an eye on them to make sure nothing unsafe happened. They had a good time. No one tried anything because they knew the house rules and know me.
C. B
T., I am a 70 year old grandmother. I raised two sons and two daughters. When my oldest turned 16 I wanted to surprise him with a surprise party. It went over like a bomb. He was embarrased and upset. I don't know your son's personality so maybe he would be thrilled but my son is rather quiet and shy. He would have liked to plan his day and invite those friends that he personally would choose and also make the decision as to where to celebrate. I had chosen a movie and restuarant for the party. We survived the day but he was not happy with the arrangement. Grandma J.
