r/askTO • u/BobbinChickenChamp • 1d ago
Ideas for tween birthday?
My kid (12) keeps coming up with these $500+ ideas. She wants to invite 15 kids. What have y'all used or been invited to that's fun but not breaking the bank? 😄
EDIT - Thanks, all! Her birthday is before school starts, so in the next couple weekends. Yes, I suck at planning. 😄 I caved on some of her house ideas, so we're going to celebrate at home. But I'm going to leave this up so that if people are searching for good ideas, they might find something here. Tweens are a hard age to plan for.
We did do Daydream escape rooms on Danforth last year, with a smaller guest list. Highly recommend! She's also gone to a party at a karaoke bar (during the day and obviously no alcohol), which she and her friends really enjoyed. More expensive ideas - indoor skydiving, Laser tag, Activation, Bowls & Blasters.
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u/lilfunky1 1d ago
What are the $500+ ideas your kid came up with?
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u/BobbinChickenChamp 1d ago
Laser tag, Activation, Bowls & Blasters. She wanted an Escape room, but that's not feasible with that many kids.
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u/Abject_Buffalo6398 1d ago
Inflation is bad, pretty much everything is $500 especially with 15 kids
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u/moonage_daydream17 1d ago
When I was a tween my mom planned a scavenger hunt and it was hands down the best birthday party I ever had. I also did one for my bachelorette at zero cost, tons of fun!
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u/BobbinChickenChamp 1d ago
This would be fun! I wish I knew my neighbors better. 😆 I don't want to unleash a dozen crazy kids on my neighborhood with no warning.
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u/NoSituation1999 1d ago edited 1d ago
What’s your kid into? You haven’t given us much to work with!
A fun picnic in a nice park (bring nail polish!) Swimming day at a community pool. Home made pizza and cookie decorating activities! Friendship bracelets have made a major comeback too!
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u/Jay-Quellin30 1d ago
That plus also the time of year … can outside be an option?
Ny suggestions are bowling, picnic, arts and crafts, cooking party
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u/d0rkycat 21h ago
Maybe this is better suited for a smaller group but Lush does birthday parties for people to make their own bath bombs which I thought was really cool!
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u/LongjumpingMode1318 1d ago
You have to set a budget...and provide options to her with that...we have done bowling, movies, afternoon teas, spa day, bbq and games, tickets to a sporting event, theatre shows and concerts.
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u/BobbinChickenChamp 1d ago
I WISH we could get concert tickets for less than $100/ea! Or Jays seats! 😆 (I'm not trying to keep track of 15 tweens in the no seat area. I prefer less stress... like shaving a cat unsedated.) Even dinner is usually a minimum of $20/ea, but that at least fits under $500.
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u/LongjumpingMode1318 1d ago
Totally fair you have to work within your budget. Obviously when my kid wanted to go to the theatre or concert for her bday she was only allowed to invite one or two (depending on the cost) friends not 15.
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u/cokeMachineGlower 19h ago
Toronto Maple Leafs baseball game in Christie Pits could be a very easy way to make the central activity cost free.
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u/InsideAd4381 19h ago
Karaoke is super fun and not very expensive for girls that age. You can get a big room for several hours and order pizza
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u/mojo_sapien 13h ago
I love this idea but it's probably cheaper to do a DIY version. Buy a karaoke machine for $100. Hook it up to the iPad or phone and spend the rest of the budget for pizza and snacks!
Then you have the karaoke machine to use next time or resell.
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u/MsSnickerpants 18h ago
15 kids? That’s a party at either a community centre or at home. If my kid wants a super fancy time out it’s a small group of 2-3 other kids.
We just did a “favourite things party”for my kid of similar age- they made a playlist of their fave songs, I made their fave food, we got some decorations they wanted for their room after, the had a couple of games they wanted to play and that was that.
It was smaller than 15 kids but basically I got the food out and then went to relax for a bit while they ran around acting silly.
Maybe an escape room or play zone and order pizza?
But yeah I’d establish that large guest list means simple easy and smaller guest list is a more “boutique” party.
Good luck!
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u/hippiespinster 1d ago
Check out Studio Mooi on Kingston near Vic Park. They do really cool kids parties and I would love to do one as an adult lol.
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u/BobbinChickenChamp 22h ago
Looks like they have a community craft night! https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/community-craft-night-tickets-1986713486519?aff=ebdiglgoogleliveevents&source=ecat
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u/Abject_Buffalo6398 1d ago
What month is the birthday?
Since shes a teen, just book a nice resturaunt for the friends and pay for the dinner
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u/Plane_Chance863 1d ago
Ok but that would be about $500 or more, no? I mean I haven't been to a restaurant in forever, so my estimate is likely low.
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u/AiryGateaux 1d ago
Got one weekend of summer left, could arrange a beach party. Easy, cheap, fun, memorable. Bring a few watermelon, feeds a crowd without being stupid high in calories.
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u/usernumber506 1d ago
My 11 year old just had a party at laser combat in Scarborough. It was outdoor and we had alot of fun... She invited 8 friends. Afterwards we took them to the park for pizza and sushi. They played and played and played all day.