Birthday party ideas for 12 year old DD?

[Rivendeluge]

Helpfully, she has none. Can't involve a sleepover or trampolining. Two of her friends recently had a laser quest and escape room, so she's not keen on those.

Pamper afternoon then a dinner out? Could you pay for a group of her friends to get their nails done or similar, then early dinner at her favourite restaurant?

Bowling?

Do you have a dessert place that does ice cream, waffles etc ? Couple it with a wander around the shops ? She might want to spend some birthday money

DC2 just had a bunch of friends over to the house for a couple of hours. They played games - Dobble, Herd Mentality, Charades, the one with a post-in on your head with a Celebrity name on. Then Dominoes delivery, followed by cupcake decorating (got the cheapo plain buns 12 for a quid in sainsburys).

At that age we did craft (decoupage - I bought the papers and stuff to decorate at hobbycraft) and something else can't remember what, followed by afternoon tea. I made it all, dainty sandwiches, various small cakes, scones, choc dipped strawberries. Served with elderflower fizz in champagne flutes, tea or hoc choc in cups and saucers. I set up the craft round our dining table and left them to it, then cleared craft to one end and put out the afternoon tea. I like baking and this was easy and reasonable cheap.

At a similar age we did or went to rollerblading, ice-skating, cinema, film at home with Dominoes pizza delivery, paint a pot place, one or two friends to the theatre or Alton Towers.

Go Ape
Cinema
Face masks, nail varnish, pizza & a movie
Meal out - I saw a big bunch of girls that age having a meal at Zizzi
Theme park
Trip to London with shopping/lunch/show

Depends on your DD and your budget really.

Pizza making ... make and eat watching a film

I hired a limo which drove around town for an hour and a half and they had drinks and snacks in the car. Came home for pizza and a DVD. Not as expensive as you would think

Go karting
Water park/inflatable course
Climbing

Pamper afternoon/shops is really not her thing.
We did card games, pizza and film last year, but can do it again if we can't think of anything else. (Film ideas? Last year they watched Percy Jackson)

How long does a bowling game take? And how many games would you expect them to do? You can reserve in hour slots.

No theme parks nearby.

Craft or science activity might be something.

Ceramics studio for painting? Always went down well.

Ceramics studio only do courses, no single sessions/birthdays.
Water park is out as my other DC can't swim.
Climbing might be a possibility.

Do you have a local bead shop? One local to me did jewellery making parties for smaller groups - DD & friends loved it.

Other than that:
Go-karting
Go-Ape/ high ropes
Climbing

Those were all successful parties! Bowling is ok but it can be over quite quickly even with two games and bowling alleys are so noisy and awful! Took DS this week - they spent a lot of time giving themselves stupid names. Then rampaged around the adjoined amusement arcade. Hellish from my perspective 😬

Bowling is the thing for my 12yo dd.

90mins of bowling followed by McDonald’s. Wasn’t cheap but they loved it!

We had a successful party around that age where we went to a local nature reserve and they got into teams and did a scavenger hunt and they we had some food.

Go Ape, bowling, roller skating, climbing wall were also popular

We hired a hot tub in the garden for DD, who was that age during one of the lockdowns where we could socialise outside.

Was December, but they had hot chocolate, mocktails and pizza, and wore woolly hats in the hot tub to stay warm! 😂

Great party enjoyed by all!