How to Make "Tween" Happy on Their Birthday?

Children between the ages of 10-12 are known as "Tweens." This is a hard time for us parents to make our children happy on their birthdays. My daughter just turned 11 and at first I wasn't sure what I could possible do to make her happy on her birthday. This article will display birthday ideas on what you can do to make your Tween's birthday a blast! Not only are these birthday ideas fun but they are affordable as well.

Should your Tween be surprised on their birthday? Your Tween's Birthday can of course have surprises but you shouldn't need to stress about the whole party being a surprise. Having your child plan out their birthday celebration can be very exciting for them. Involve your child in planning the birthday event. Ask them different birthday ideas they have or want on their special day. Do however put limitations on the birthday plans or you will be in way over your heels with party costs and stress.

Birthday Idea questions to ask your Tween on their birthday!

• What kind of cake do they want for their birthday? Store bought, homemade and which cake flavors do they want? Some Tweens may no longer like the taste of cake anymore and may just have fun baking it. My daughter and I baked and decorated her cake just for the fun of it. Plus we needed to have something for the 11 birthday candles.
• What friends do they want over if any for their birthday? Not all children get to have 50 friends over for their special day but maybe they can have one or two.
• How long do you want to celebrate your Birthday party? Be careful on this question, some children will say "forever." You must give them options such as a couple hours or it may become a sleepover birthday party.
• What games do you want to play on your birthday party? Some parents may enjoy playing the games with the children or having them play the games with each other. Either way, playing games will make your tween happy on their birthday. One game that I organized for my Tween daughter on her birthday was a Money Scavenger Hunt. This was fun and exciting for the both of us. Another game that was played on her birthday was monopoly. All though I was the loser, I still had fun playing this game on her special day.
• What flavor of Icecream do they want for their birthday? Each Child prefers their favorite ice-cream on their birthday. My daughter chose fudge swirl and ended up eating way too much. This was okay though because it was her birthday and she doesn't like cake.
• What meal or snacks does your child want for his/her birthday? My mom use to ask each one of her nine children what they wanted for their birthday dinner. My reply was always pizza for my birthday dinner.

I planned a money scavenger hunt for my tween's birthday. Below I will tell you how I planned it out to make her happy on her day.

Items needed for Money Scavenger Hunt!

• Birthday Money- I made change with $15.00. Ten ones and one five dollar bill. (This amount is your choice, what ever you feel is appropriate.)
• Envelopes or Note-cards- Usually you can buy a package at the dollar store and there is a total of 8 blank note-cards and envelopes.
• Pen to write clues or messages- I wrote a nice birthday greeting in all 8 notecards and put money in the cards.
• Balloons- For decoration and for part of the birthday scavenger hunt.

I took all the note-cards and hide them around the house. I blew up balloons and took two green balloons for the scavenger hunt clues. One green balloon wasn't aired up, I put it in the envelope with one of the notecards. I wrote: "Clue: Green Balloon." I then took the $5 dollar bill, folded it and placed it in the other green balloon. I aired the green balloon up and put it with the rest of the aired up balloons.....Then the Birthday Scavenger hunt began. I didn't show my daughter what she was looking for, I just told her it had her name written on them. It took her hours to find the money in the Green balloon. This was a fun birthday game!