Party ideas for 10yo DD

[SageBatMist]

I'm looking for some party ideas for a 10 year old girl, can anyone help?

For the last couple of years we've let her take 4 friends to Pizza Hut for a meal, followed by a trip to the cinema. But I'd like her 10th Birthday to be more memorable, but just can't afford to do anything that costs vast amounts of money.

She is full of wild and very expensive ideas, such as taking her whole class (23 girls) to Alton Towers!

And, just to complicate matters, her birthday is a week before Christmas and always falls in the school holdays.

Get a make up person round to the house to do everyone up?
Or nails?

If you have close relatives that live nearby could you organise a Safari Supper. It doesn't have to be as fiddly as it seems (they're ten - probably not expecting a fancy meal ) and have each location as a surprise with a blindfold? Effectively that means she gets three mini parties. It also means that, due to size, you can only invite small numbers, thus dragging the cost down. Relatives don't have to cook if they don't want to, e.g. you could have the cake at someone's house so they don't need to do anything other than put up some balloons.

Home cinema night, with snacks that they help make (if they like that sort of thing?) and 'homemade' pizza. Buy a load of cheap pizza bases and have toppings in little bowls - instant pizza bar. Can do the same with hot chocolate: make up hot chocolate in a Thermos or two and have them on the side with toppings in bowls.

Craft evening? If she likes crafts you could turn one room into her 'workshop', cover the floor with a plastic sheet and let them all get creative.

Ditto cooking evening where they all learn to make something new and exciting they can then eat. Invitation can come wrapped in a cheap apron.

Laboratory, where they do experiments that flash and bang, complete with invitation from Mad Scientist (you/DP/DH) to spend the evening?

If you are able to get a medium room/have more than twelve children, how about an evening of progressive games in groups of three? Every table does a small game (guess the number of marbles in a jar/remember all the items under a cloth/make a list of words beginning with B [letter needs to change every time]/list of films with X actor in, write each book these ten lines came from [again, will need different lists of ten], etc.) and each time the winner goes up one table and the loser goes anticlockwise so everyone should get a chance to play the different games.

Forgot to say - progressive games should definitely have some kind of prize at the end they can work towards

For DDs 10th, having done all the usual stuff to death between her and her friends... we had a good old-fashioned party with silly games at home. They all absolutely loved it ... hold the front page, they're still children!

All it takes is lots of pizza etc and researching a few games to add to the old favourites.

So good we repeated for 11th; for 12th same thing but with a DVD in the middle - her new secondary school friends entered into the Sock Game with gusto. Despite many being taller than me... still kids, whew.

We might have to think of something more sophisticated this year!

What skills / resources do you have at your disposal (as in, your skills or those of people you can "borrow")?

Craft session would be good with a smaller-than-the-whole-class group - sewing, or beading?

A cooking party where they cook their own meal ("come dine with me" style with 1 team per course?)?

Since it is in the holidays - film marathon with "midnight" carpet picnic?

Or, as others have said, go "retro" and do old-fashioned party games in a hall? If you think they would get it you could theme the whole thing as a 1950's / Famous 5-type thing with bunting and tablecloths on trestle tables and lashings of ginger beer - which might let them off the hook of being too "cool" for games (which they're not, really, deep down )?

Wow, what a lot of suggestions! Thank you.

Right, doing anything at home is out, because I find it unbelievably stressfull, but hiring a hall is OK.

I quite like the idea of having a themed party - steath's idea of a 1950s theme sounds great and unusual.

RoseC - with the progressive games, do you need to have someone supervising each table? or can you trust the kids not to cheat argue?

Unfortunately for me, the craft, makeup or make your own pizza kind of parties have been done a lot in DDs cirle of friends in the last couple of years.

oooh, you like my idea

For real expertise and to develop the idea further, talk to ShirleyKnot on her thread here, but I can also recommend this book, which I have, and this one and this one look uncannily appropriate, if expensive - a trip to the library is possibly called for.

Any temporary ice skating rinks nearby - skating followed by hot choc and marshmallows.

Ice skating ! ! ! Brilliant, there's a rink 15 miles up the road. Thank you.

My 9 yr old went bowling for her bday. She had once gone once before (with a 2 friends to make sure she would actually enjoy it). It was a big hit.

we've done bowling, and a friend has done a treasure hunt at a shopping centre for her dd - they have a list of tasks, and things to find/ do. she had two teams of girls racing each other to complete the list, and i think each team had a small amount of money and a camera... (to take pics for some of the tasks)

they went for food after, i think.

christmas would be a great time to do this, the mall would be crazy busy but great atmosphere... one of the tasks could be to go and see santa.

Horse Riding party? Lots of stables do them now...

Sorry OP forgot to check the thread I think you trust them to a certain extent - I've only seen it done with one or two adults to keep order time but we had a really terrible cheat in our (large) family so were very good at self-policing as children because we were all so affronted that he tried it on every single time. IIRC we played it at Brownies and again just had the youth leaders to swoop in on any disputes.

Just seen I didn't mention above - every round is timed (however long you think is suitable). Maybe an important job for a younger sibling with appropriate supervision ?

My DD went to a pony party a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. I suspect it is quite expensive though.
Bowling is OK but (round here) a bit overdone - I think its one of those things thats particularly good if you've got a mix of boys and girls to accommodate.

The 10th birthday parties DD has been to recently are Cupcake making, PJ/Film party, Sleepover party and a Flower Arranging party.

For her 10th birthday (not for several months, lol!) DD has suggested outdoor lazer quest, a Harry Potter drama party or some other activity type thing. Last year she had a climbing party.