My daughter will be turning 15 years old in May. I would like to do something very special with her and 3 of her friends. She has been a straight A student since kindergarten. Any suggestions?
Onesummer from GA
This web site has birthday party ideas:
If you just want to do something for the 4 girls, how about a craft class and lunch? Or a fancy luncheon/dinner/tea party? Is there a theme park or local attraction that they could spend the day at? Maybe a spa day.
I took my daughter and her friends to a place where they make jewelry for her birthday. They had thousands of beads to choose from and could make necklaces, rings, bracelets, etc. they all had a lot of fun and it was something they could take home and keep to remember their time together. They will have plenty of time to be with their friends alone so I think you should go with them. Birthdays are for being together so go with her and make memories together. (01/12/2007)
By Teresa
I did this for my daughter when she graduated from 8th grade. Granted, this is more costly than I would normally think of doing, but she had a lot of fun and it was really worth it. We spent the night at a local hotel with a pool. Took a weeknight so it would be cheaper and a room to hold 6 people. She invited 4 friends and we were allowed to bring a DVD player along which the hotel helped set up. Later we ordered pizza. I'm planning on doing this again this year with another daughter. (01/13/2007)
By Kim
Adding on to my idea about the hotel night, like cazpumpkin says, let the girls have it as their time. I just stayed in the background. I was there as a chaperone, but they made the decisions for what they wanted (within reason). I didn't swim with them, just sat in a chair and read. Actually had a wonderful conversation with an elderly lady walking around alone. In the room I took one bed while they talked and played on the other one and also the living area which had a pullout couch. You can be there, but stay out of conversations unless asked. Just my opinion. (01/13/2007)
By Kim
Spa parties are quiet a hit right now, and I know you can find some frugal recipes and low cost items at the dollar stores. Or I collect murder mystery parties, once I found one that is for teens, really cute game, the adult ones are a lot of fun. The teen one really didn't have a murder in it, but it required about 6-8 people. They carry them at party stores and book stores. (01/13/2007)
By me
If there are any good concerts of bands or singers that she likes coming to town around that time, you could buy 5 tickets to that. If you wanted to give them privacy you could buy 4 tickets together for them and then find 1 cheap ticket in the nosebleeds for you, so you know where they are and they can find you if they need anything, but you won't be right on top of them. Then again, when I was 15 my mom took me and my girlfriends to an NSYNC concert and I had no problem w/ her being there, but me and mom are really close. I say ask her what she wants and tell her to be honest and that you won't get your feelings hurt if she doesn't want you around, but who knows, she might want you to be apart of it. (02/05/2007)
Coed parties are fun for teens. Just let them hang out and have a few planned activities. Don't hover around the party but be there just in case. (09/03/2007)
By Emma
I think the best 15 year old party was one I had, haha, that's just my opinion. Here's what happened:
It was a sleepover and my friends came over at like 1pm, and we played around with makeup and hair and that for about two hours giving each other 80's themed makeup and hair so we looked really over the top, then my parents surprised us with a limo!
Seriously that was amazing and we got in a went to the movies, we got tiaras (I know sounds babyish, but it was so much fun) and we put on the tiaras and keep in mind we looked hilarious with makeup and hair and the limo took us to the movies. Everyone was looking at us, but it was heaps of fun and we went into the movies and then we ran around the shopping center for a while trying on different clothes and stuff, girl stuff.
Then the limo picked us back up and we just drove around for a while with music playing heaps loud and lollies and chips and any other non health food.
When we finally drove home we just crashed and watched movies, listened to music and talked until all hours of the morning it was seriously the best birthday ever. I know the limo is quite expensive these days so maybe this birthday should be kept till sweet 16 where parents feel they can lash out a bit more, just letting your kids do their own thing is probably the best. It was an all girls night, though we played prank calls on some of the boys from our school and that, seriously so much fun! (10/21/2007)
By Lorelai
My 15th birthday party was amazing and so much fun. I love my parents for doing this haha. I (we) took 5 of my best friends and me up to Washington DC, we live in North Carolina. Then we stayed at this fancy hotel for 3 days and went shopping in Georgetown, out to lunch, ice skating, took the metro, and just partied. We all had so much fun and it even snowed while we were there! (it was Jan). It was actually pretty expensive, but since it was a special "occasion" my parents were willing to do it. (11/04/2007)
By kbw0711
Seriously? Hotels? Limos? Spas? I just wanted to get my daughter a nice gift (around $50). Is all this really necessary? (12/06/2007)
By TORRIE
I'm 15, I have a brilliant relationship with my mum, but I would not want her at my party. I would prefer to do one thing with my family on my actual birthday and then see friends at the weekend or something. (01/07/2008)
By Kate
I went to a to a fun dinner at a diner, with 2 friends. Then we went to see a movie. It was so much fun! (04/06/2008)
By Suzanne
I'm turning 15 in 5 days and I think most girls my age would agree that there doesn't really need to be a big party anymore. At least not for friends. I'm gonna be having a family birthday party, but with my friends all we're doing is having like a "birthday weekend" sleepovers, going to Dorney, just fun stuff like that with my closest friends. That's all some people need. (05/14/2008)
By
I am going to be 15 in about a week and I am heading to the beach. I'm taking friends who are really happy and excited to go. (06/20/2008)
By Sydney
I agree, for the most part with realistic mom, but not with the milestone birthdays. Every milestone is set by what is customary in a certain culture. 15 is a big milestone for the Latin culture; bigger than the sweet 16. We need to respect that.
For my 13 year old twins, we had a scavenger hunt at the mall followed by a carnival near by. Instead of gifts, my girls asked them to bring their admission to the carnival and food cans for a food drive happening as well. I shopped at the thrift store for all the items in their goodie bags from our local discount store such as lip-gloss, candies, key chains (they love to hang it from their backpacks). We got them an outfit for the day along with some necessities for their gift.
For my son's 15th party, we are just going for the amusement park across town. His guests will bring half of the admission instead of a gift. We'll get him a few outfits that he needs and perhaps an iPod from eBay.
My kids are happy to do this because they understand that spending time and making memories are much more important than an item that will be left behind.
(07/28/2008)
By happymommy
I don't spend a lot of money for my son's birthday gifts, but I try to do something that will surprise him and make him feel a little more grown up each year, so that the birthday really feels like a milestone. Up until this point he has not been allowed to listen to music with parental advisory stickers. He is turning 15 next week and I'm going to surprise him by lifting the ban! I've pulled some CDs from my own collection and also shopped for used CDs so that I can present him with a big stack of music, everything from rock to punk, old school rap to current hip hop, new indie music, you name it.
I might be a little old-fashioned, but I think when kids have to wait and yearn for something, like ear piercing, a cell phone, a later curfew, a new privilege, then it's just that much sweeter and more appreciated when they finally get it.
For the parties, we usually do dinner out at his favorite place with the family/grandparents, and then on another day maybe go to a local wave pool with friends (having the other kids contribute their admission instead of bringing gifts is a great idea). None of it breaks the bank. It's the attention and the novelty of their day that they'll remember the most, not how much you spent. (07/31/2008)
I just had my birthday party. It was excellent. My grandma bought me a mini chocolate fountain for my birthday, so I set that up and the guests loved it. About 30 friends came over at 7 and girls could sleep over, guys had to leave at 2 a.m. at the latest.
If you're going to do a party at home, try to make it original, or add a twist to it, so that it doesn't seem kiddish, but it's not huge enough to outshine, or put pressure on making your sweet 16 a blast. I really liked the chocolate fountain because it added something different to my party that wasn't expensive, and it wouldn't outshine my sweet 16.
I had also really really wanted to take myself and about 3 or 4 friends innertubing (its actually incredibly fun, whether you've tried it or not) on my birthday with my parents at a lake close by. Then we could have a little camp out and bonfire afterwards or something, but my family's boat was in for a repair, so it wasn't possible.
(Even just driving around out on the lake with the boat and a few friends, then putting the anchor down so we could swim for about an hour would've been extremely fun) (08/17/2008)
By 15yroldsopinion
I always ponder over what to do for my bday cause its in December, so I can't do anything outdoors except snowboard, which I've already done like seven times. I live in Alaska, too, so there's not like clubs or beaches or lakes or anything. What I'm doing this year though should be really fun and cheap! I know my massage therapist really well and we might ask if we can borrow their building for a night and use the waiting area. I have a tiny flashing disco ball and my friend has a strobe light, so were hooking those up and blasting the music. We'll have some cheap food like chips and Coke, but we all love dancing and clublike situations so it should be fun. That's my idea. You can probably rent someplace kinda cheap, too like a meeting room in a hotel (that may be spendier) or a place where they hold weddings, like a church? or your house if it's big enough, mine isn't. (10/27/2008)
By Holly
Just remember that a spa day for a massage requires the girls to be at least 16 without the parent. I tried to do this, but there is a law forbidding it under that age without the parent present. And no you can't just get a signature. (12/02/2008)
I live in Ohio, so in March its still very cold outside. If you live somewhere that you can go skiing or snowboarding, that would be a good idea. If you just wanna chill out with some friends and still party, have some friends get together at either your house, a town hall, or somewhere where you will have some privacy, and still have fun.
One of my friends even took some girls out skating and then shopping afterward, and back to her house to spend the night. It was really fun.
My advice is to keep it from being too little kiddish or immature. But don't make it too big, your sweet sixteen will be next year. (01/03/2009)
By Briana
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