Planning a Birthday party for a child is fun and rewarding for a parent, but doing the same for your teenager can be a delicate business. After all, you are an adult. What do you know about what’s cool?

The best teenage parties are planned with a collaborative spirit. Of course, you hold the purse strings, and you’re the one responsible for the safety of other people’s children, but your child should be the source of ideas. These tips will help you team up to throw your teenager the party of a lifetime.

Home Entertainment

If you’ve decided to hold the party at home, it’s wise to plan entertainment in advance so the event has a focus. Your teenager might shudder at the uncoolness of the suggestion that there should be formal entertainment. Teenagers often just want to hang out. But the truth is that unstructured parties tend to fizzle, regardless of age group, and after a couple of hours of hanging out, your teenager might be relieved to have some activities in store after all.

You could hire a photo booth and let them take fun snaps of the occasion, or set up a retro disco ball for a mini dance party. Outdoor games are always a hit when the weather’s good, and if you’re feeling adventurous, a few tubs of chalk paint and white clothing are all you need for a colour fight party.

Head Out

While having a party at home is the cheapest option, it may not always be the most exciting location for a teenager’s party. With their newfound independence, many teenagers enjoy an opportunity to head out in the world. Also, some teenagers can be quite self-conscious, and may not want to invite their friends home.

If you’re hosting a daytime party, consider a picnic in the park or an afternoon at the beach. A bowling alley or skating rink are great locations for an evening event.

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

Settle The Guest List

The guest list is a sensitive issue when it comes to planning a teenager’s birthday. A budget can only stretch so far, and your venue or home can only accommodate so many people. Your teenager probably won’t be able to invite the whole class, and they may not want to. High school is so much more socially complicated than primary school, and your child will have strong ideas about who should and should not be invited. On the whole, it’s best to let them decide.

That said, there’s nothing wrong with pushing back a little and asking why so-and-so has not made the cut if they are someone they used to be friends with. These conversations can be helpful for teenagers, who can get caught up in peer pressure, and sometimes let valuable friendships go rather than rock the boat. Sometimes all that’s needed is an impartial listener to make them realise that they have excluded someone unfairly.

Another important tip in the guest list department is to discourage your child from talking about the party at school until they have decided for sure who they want to invite. They may come under pressure from all quarters to invite people, so it’s best to keep news of the party under wraps until they’ve had time to make up their mind.

Call In Backup

How do you know if your teenager’s party is a success? Because you hardly see them—they’re having so much fun with their friends. But what about you? The party should be enjoyable for you, too. Just as you’re concerned that your child is having a good time, they’ll be thinking of you as well. If you’re the only adult at the party, your child might be unable to relax because you have nobody to hang out with. Yes, really!

Check with your child if it’s okay to ask one or two of the guests’ parents to attend, or a couple of friends of your own. The more relaxed you are, the more fun your child will have. If you’re hosting a large party, having other adults at the party to help out can also spread the responsibility for supervision, letting you share the burden of looking out for everyone’s safety. 

Whether your teenager is thirteen or eighteen, hosting a party for them can be loads of fun if you get it right. These tips will help you avoid the most common missteps and throw your child an amazing party.