Indoor birthday party ideas for an 11 year old boy?
My son will be turning 11 in a few weeks, and I desperately need ideas for a birthday party. It will be winter in New England, so outdoor activities are not an option. I live in an older rented house, and my landlords live above me…so I don’t want a dozen kids running around in here causing mayhem, but every activity that he or I can think of involves running around and making lots of noise. We don’t want to repeat what we’ve done in past years, as he’s crossing over into an age where he’s not quite a teen, but too old for babyish stuff. Some of the things we’ve done in past birthday parties that i think are kinda ‘spent’:
- Sleepovers involving just a few of his closest friends, doing indoor camping activities and roasting marshmallows over a sterno can.
- Bowling parties.
- We’ve even delayed his birthday party til the summer so we could do outdoor activities that included water balloons/water gun battles and a Darth Vader pinata that they hit with a light saber.
Of course, money is tight, as I just got laid off from work, so Chuck E Cheese and other such options are way too expensive…and neither he nor I were impressed when we went to the last Chuck E Cheese party. It was overcrowded and hot, the food was horrible, and the prizes were sucky.
I’m willing to host here at home in theory, but doing what???? He loves Legos and Star Wars, and laser tag and guns or cops & robbers type of activities. HELP!!!!
9 Responses
Appel
10 Mar 2010
Lola C
10 Mar 2010
hmmm… a sleepover would be fun, and inexpensive. They could play games, watch movies, eat, and be boys. Also, chuck E cheese has coupons if u go to their website…
ruddy_scot
10 Mar 2010
How about asking him what he’d like to do? Maybe he’d be perfectly happy with a sleepover and he and his friends can do the Legos and watch Star Wars and play laser tag. You could get mini pizza crusts and have a make-your-own pizza party followed by create-your-own ice cream sundae. He doesn’t have to have a theme party, the best parties I went to and had were the ones that just involved having fun doing your favorite things with friends. But, yes, ask him what he’d like to do, tell him his party will have to be at home but you are open to his suggestions.
alaindrea
10 Mar 2010
How many Legos can you acquire?
If you can come up with a bunch of lego blocks, you could create a project for him and all of his friends. Have you ever seen the giant lego sculptures? They could make something like a fort together? Each child could bring a bag of lego bricks….they are sold by the bag at lego outlet stores and online. Then you could do that sleepover for his closest friends, but they would build a lego house to sleep in.
You should be able to make a lego brick cake, too. Just bake a half sheet cake and 6 miniature cupcakes. Put the cupcakes upside-down on top of the cake to make the "prongs" and then frost the whole cake one color. (I just found a recipe for it from Betty Crocker)
Rachel I
10 Mar 2010
If you have a Ymca near you or a place with a pool have eveyrone meet there and buy guest passes. have them come there for swimming then meet back at your house for presents and cake and food.
You could set it up to be like and indoor camping place with tents inside and fake camp fires, sleeping bags, do some home face painting and games like that.
I dont’ know tthose are just some ideas.
Sandy K
10 Mar 2010
I think that lego thing sounds fun. You could do a treasure hunt, or even a sleepover with board games like clue…Or take him and a couple close friends to a movie theyd like to see and dinner. Stage a crime scene, with clues and have them figure out who did it with what and why..
Mavrik
10 Mar 2010
Have you thought of having a DVD party? You could organize popcorn, fizzy drinks, lolly bags, hot dogs all the stuff they have at the movies. If you want to make it exciting, get some cheap nerf styles guns for them to "shoot" at the badies.
wiesnk@sbcglobal
10 Mar 2010
Check with your local movie theaters. A lot of them offer birthday packages and most times you get to rent the whole theater, by your self.
I would also agree with checking into a local YMCA, they’ve always got a TON of things to do.
Do you have a big sporting-good store around you. We have one that has a rock climbing wall that’s taller than a 2 story building. Something else to look into.
Good Luck, I’ll be in your shoes this December
ilusmbabyy
10 Mar 2010
Here are many ideas:
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For a sleepover party you should have pizza. Then turn on a movie. have games handy and let them have sleeping bags in a big open area, much more fun. Let them stay up late, but don’t be too late. Have continuous movies to keep them occupied (during the night) leave them alone! Have snacks handy too for midnight cravings !
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Instead of the same superhero themed party, why not a "make up your own superhero party." The way it works is that each child is invited to the party must come as a superhero that they made up themselves and a costume. Additionally, they must have invented superpowers, a back story, villains they must battle, a sidekick if they are so inclined, and prizes can be handed out accordingly
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Every little boy usually like to play cops and robbers. How about throwing a mystery party? The children can be divided into two teams and each team is given a set of clues and who ever solves the mystery first wins. The mystery party can be set in the 19th century or the 21st century; it all depends on your child.
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Western theme parties for boys are always good. Just decorate a room in your home as a saloon, and the children can drink juice out of shot glasses. The birthday boy can be the sheriff and invited guests can come as miners, farmers, outlaws, and deputies.
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Detective Party— Does your son love to play private eye? Then he needs to celebrate his next birthday with a detective-themed event! The kids are entertained by an exciting “who-done-it” style game. Perfect for the eight to ten crowd.
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Survivor Party— The Survivor birthday party is designed for the younger set. Perfect for the boy between the ages of six and eight. The kids are encouraged to move with the exciting games in this package. You will not have to worry about all of the energy that boys need to burn off with this exciting theme!
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Cost of birthday party activity:
About $10.00 worth of $1.00 items purchased at your local dollar store.
Birthday party planning information:
The $1.00 items are put in a heavy bag. Each game winner inserts his hand (without looking)into the bag to choose a prize. Be sure to play enough games so that everyone wins a prize.
The day before the party, we charge up remote-controlled vehicles. We then create a checkered Start flag and a Finish Line sign with white paper, a black marker and a ruler. We designate a path throughout the house and usually have the Finish Line as a kithen chair (only one vehicle can maneuver through at a time). Then we have the boys race their vehicles to the Finish Line. We do elimination rounds until we are left with one winner. The boys not racing love to watch and cheer on the racers.
Other suggestions or comments:
We also play "Casino" games. We have a small slot machine that we fill with $5 worth of quarters and let the boys take turns pulling the handle until one player wins the jackpot.
Tic-Tac-Toe is an oldie but goodie. We play on a write-n-wipe or chalkboard and winners are eliminated based on two wins out of three game rounds.
Once everyone has won a prize we settle down with popcorn and a favorite movie
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I REALLY HOPE I HELPED!
i have a 11 yr old brother that sounds like he could basically be your sons TWIN
maybe you could just buy some nerf guns and a bunch of bullets
set them loose at a gym or a park or something and just let them shoot eachother with little spongy thingys
my bros friend just had a party like that and he had a blast
hope this helps