If you’re hosting a birthday party for teens, you’ll want to choose activities that are both fun and age-appropriate. Thankfully, there are plenty of options.
Host an outdoor movie party with a screen in your backyard or a nearby park. Serve popcorn and candy to make the occasion even more special.
Outdoor Movie Party
If your teen loves to watch movies, host a backyard movie party with a projector and screen. Set out a popcorn bar and candy for an easy snacking experience that will keep the teens happy.
For a more active event, plan a dance party with 70s inspired outfits. Or have a capture the flag game in your yard, which can also be fun for winter birthdays with snow tubing.
Another fun idea for teens is a photo booth party that highlights their favorite expressions and poses. You can find cute photo props that will make this party memorable. Or, speak to their social media savvy by hosting a hashtag #13 party. You can even create a special hashtag just for the occasion. This is one of our favorite 13th birthday ideas for teens.
Paintball
Make your teen’s next birthday a hit by planning a paintball event. Gather their friends for a day of splatter-tastic fun and make sure to have plenty of water and Gatorade on hand.
Malls remain one of the hottest hangout spots for teens, so this is the perfect party idea to get them to bond with their peers while doing something exciting. Choose from an informational scavenger hunt that tests their knowledge of the mall or item-based one where they hunt for items around the store.
Encourage your teen and their friends to face their fears with this daring party theme inspired by the popular TV show that does just that. Set up a few challenges like “Crack an Egg on the Head” or time each kid to see who can pick up the most candy worms with their hands behind their back.
Karaoke
Teens love music and karaoke is the perfect way to get everyone up to dance. You can even use a karaoke app to make the experience fun for guests without any expensive equipment. This is a great idea for a night-time party that will keep teens away from their phones and socializing with each other.
For a less active party, choose fun board or card games that appeal to teenagers and divide the group into smaller teams. Or have a campout theme, complete with a fire pit and s’mores, for a relaxed, cozy party.
If your teen is a fan of a particular movie, TV show or artist, surprise them with a pop-up experience of that inspiration. This is a fantastic way to really make the day feel unique and special.
Music-Themed Party
For teens who love to jam out to their favorite tunes, consider a music-themed party. This is a fun way to get them off their electronic devices for the day, and you can even hire musicians to entertain them.
A capture the flag game is a great outdoor party idea that gives teens an opportunity to work together, as well as have some competitive fun. Just be sure to emphasize safety rules, especially in an outdoor setting.
Teens love taking pictures of themselves and their friends, so they’ll have a blast at a photo booth party. Set out a wide variety of cute photo props, like these funny face ones. You can also set up a backdrop curtain, like this one, to create the perfect setting for some social media-worthy selfies.
Dinner Party
Teenage birthday parties require a little more planning than kids’ party themes, but you can still create a fun environment for teens to gather and socialize with their friends. You might host a karaoke party to encourage guests to get their groove on and feel like pop stars for a day, or you could turn your backyard into a campsite and throw a campfire-themed party.
You can also host a dinner party themed around your teen’s favorite book or movie. Choose pizza as the main course and decorate with red-and-white checkered tablecloths to get the right vibe. This is also a great way to get teenagers involved in preparing food and can help avoid any potential food allergies. Another option is a game night where they can test their skills at video games or board games that take them back to their childhoods.
Pool Party
If your teen loves to soak up the summer sun, you can transform your backyard into a pool party with plenty of tropical fun. Set up a kid-friendly tiki bar to serve nonalcoholic tropical drinks and fresh coconut water. Add some Hawaiian music and a buffet of pineapple chicken kebabs and Hawaiian pizza.
Make a glowing pool party even more awesome by stocking up on glow-in-the-dark accessories and games. Use glow sticks inside ice coolers to highlight drink selections, and place them in balloons floating in the pool and in and around table decorations. You can also find blinking light-up pool noodles that are super cool to play with.
Give your teen’s friends a chance to go “fishing” by setting up pool floats with fish shapes, and hand out plastic fishing rods they can use to catch gummy worms and ping pong balls. A party isn’t complete without a tasty treat, so add some homemade popsicles to the mix.
Escape Room
If your teen isn’t interested in the usual birthday party entertainment ideas, consider throwing an escape room at home. You can purchase a complete escape room kit that will give your kids everything they need to play. These kits come with a story and all the puzzles you need.
To make this activity more fun, create clear goals for your kids to find and follow. For example, place a first key inside one cupcake and the puzzle that will lead to it on another tray. This way, if the birthday party chaos breaks out, your kids will know where to go and what to look for.
To keep the kids engaged, have them divide into groups of 4-6 and race in real-time to be the first team to solve all the challenges. This is a great way to avoid a big group of kids getting too crazy and makes it easier for them to stay focused.