Need some inspiration for excellent party ideas for 8-12 year olds (tweens)? This age can be tricky, your child may just want a small group of close friends or may still want everyone in the class!  So we have 10 More Excellent Party Ideas for 8-12 year olds Sure to Delight no matter how many guests they wish to have.

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#1. Pamper Party

This age group may be too young to go to beauty salon but that does’t meant they don’t like to be pampered! To host your own pamper party rope in older children or friends and

• Set up a nail bar
• Set up a hair stylist
• Make or buy some gentle face mask products
• Have a lounging area with magazines and refreshing drinks and cucumber slices for their eyes
• Have a foot soak area. simply add warm water to a basin with a gentle bubble bath product or dig out that foot spa you got for Christmas that was only used once!
• Set up a yoga or stretching zones. Simply lay some exercise mats down and have a dvd with some yoga exercises or show off your own yoga skills!

And if you can’t face running your own pamper party, see if you can find a company to come in and run that for you.

#2. Mystery Party

A Mystery Party is where guests come along and solve a mystery. It could be a who dunnit mystery or a search for a stolen object. Probably best to steer clear of a murder mystery party for this age group! Instead focus on something your child loves, either a sport or object and base it around that.

Mystery Party Scenario: For instance if your child plays basketball, you could base it around ‘the stolen basketball’ The scenario could be It’s just before the biggest game of their lives and there has been a break in at the clubhouse and the teams’ lucky basketball has been stolen. Guests have to follow a series of clues to discover where the ball is or who the thief is!

The party will take a bit of planning, writing clues that guests can solve and picking guests to play each character. When you issue invitations, give each guest a ‘part’ to play on the day. For the above scenario you could have a basketball team, team manager, rival team, fans, thief, detective etc. If possible, each guest should arrive already in costume. You can send out a list of traits for each character too so they can practice any special walks or ways of talking.

Decorations could be question mark cutouts and food should relate to the mystery. Party bags could be filled with a torch, magnifying glass or small objects relating to the mystery.

#3. Backwards/Topsy Turvy Party

From the party invitations to the food and games, everything about your backwards or topsy turvy party should be the wrong way around. You could issue thank you cards as invitations so Thank You for coming to my party on July 17th at 2pm at my home, or write the invitations in backwards writing (easily achieved by flipping the text after typing). Add a note to say hold up to a mirror to see correctly!

Get guests to come dressed with clothes turned inside out or gloves on their feet and socks on their hands, shoes on different feet or not matching etc. The front door should say exit and when they arrive say goodbye I hope you enjoyed the party. Have a sticker with each child’s named spelled backwards and the children have to call each other by their backwards name.

To decorate, create backwards Happy Birthday banners, turn pictures, books etc. upside down. Have cake first and party food afterwards. Have an upside down cake, serve food in cups and give children plastic knives to eat their food with or spoons to drink with.

Try and have unusual activities for the time of year. So if the party is in the summer see if you could hire a snow machine or have halloween or Christmas decorations hanging up for a May party.

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#4. Shopping Trip with Friends

If your child just wants a few friends to celebrate their birthday with you could take them on a shopping trip and out for their lunch. To add to the excitement you could travel with your group to another town on the train or bus and give each child a small allowance for the trip.

Take them out for a treat lunch and if they are old enough, you could let them sit at a table on their own.

#5. Themed Party

From the latest Movie themed party to a pirate or princess theme, throwing a themed party is a great idea for this age group. Pick a theme with your child and go all out with the invitations, party food, decorations and games to follow that theme.

Get guests to arrive in clothing related to your theme or have dress up clothes that they wear.

#6. Board Games Party

If your child loves to play board games, how about hosting a party with an afternoon of all their favourite games on offer? You could even get guests to bring their favourite board games and try and play a game of each one that arrives!

You could have several different tournaments going around the table with one group playing Ker Plunk while the other group play Game of Life etc. For warmer months, see if you can hire or purchase some large outdoor games like snakes and ladders, chess, giant jenga etc. Or get creative and make up your own from cardboard and paint.

For party food, you could create character cupcakes, or use food colouring to re-create a playing board. And children should come dressed at a piece from their favourite board game.

#7. Outdoor Activity Party

For your outdoor activity party, turn your garden in a giant obstacle course or head to the local park and play games like rounders, 40/40, capture the flag etc.

Alternatively there are many venues that cater for outdoor adventure parties. My daughter just had her 10th birthday at a local venue set in a forest, which offers laser tag.

And there are outdoor adventure centres offering supervised zip-wire adventures, bubble football, karting, obstacle courses river walking, kayaking etc. Many offer food options or you could pack a picnic to enjoy outdoors.

With this kind of party, ensure that all the children are an appropriate age for the activities you choose.

#8. Camping Party

For a fun camping party, get guests to arrive in the afternoon and help pitch their tent. You could either hold this party at home, if you have a large enough garden, or search for a local campsite or park with it is possible have an outdoor barbecue or campfire.

If guests are too young to stay overnight, have them stay until it is dark and sit around telling ghost stories and eating s’mores and bbq food.

#9. Beach Party

If you are lucky enough to live near the ocean, how about inviting friends over for a beach party? You could arrange beach games, have a picnic made with all their favourite treats or get ice-cream and fish and chips from a local vendor or cafe for al the guests to enjoy.

For this type of party, you will need a couple of adults for supervision and to help organise games. And it is probably a good idea to ensure all the children attending can swim. Bring along sunscreen and plenty of towels, rugs and deck chairs. You could create a square space by putting up wind-blockers.

If you live too far from the beach or have some children that are not confident swimmers, you could always recreate the beach party at home. Buy some play sand and set up a paddling pool for the ocean, place out deck chairs, rugs and umbrellas. And play typical beach games like volleyball and beach football too.

#10. Indoor Activity Party

If your child’s birthday falls at a time of year when the weather is unpredictable you could host an indoor activity party either at home or at a local venue. From a disco theme to a movie party or an indoor treasure hunt to an indoor obstacle course, we have loads of ideas for indoor games to keep all your guests amused for hours.

You could also turn your indoor activity into a crafting or cookery session where guests get to be creative and take their masterpieces home with them afterwards.

Have you tried any of our party ideas for 8-12 year olds? Please let us know in the comments box below.