My son will be 12 in January. He hasnt had a bday party in years. I cant afford to take him anywhere and have a fancy party, so I need ideas. What are some fun things I can plan at home? There are 2 small parks near my house. We could go there and do something. If I get my pool heater fixed, I could have a pool party and heat it. HELP I need to start planning now. I always put it off, and never do anything.

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A mother holds her children's hand for awhile; their hearts forever.

My son is turning 12 on Thanksgiving and on Sat. he is having a sleepover. He is having a Halo party. The boy will be playing Halo most of the night. As long as they are quiet I don't care if they sleep or not LOL.

Last yr when my son turned 11 we had his party at home. He had a total of 11 kids and we grilled out hotdogs and hamburgers with chips on the side. For activities we had a sack race(oriental trading), ring toss and the whatever else they wanted to do. They played video games, soccer, and took turns on the trampolineThe party lasted 2 hours and everyone seemed to have a good time

Both of mine had sleepover parties at this age. Pizza, junk food, video games, very little sleep.

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

My DS turned 13. For his friends party- he wants to take the guys to see Beowolf in 3D. We will go to a reduced fee matinee, then come back here for pizza.

We don't do sleep overs, and quite a few people I know don't do sleepovers as well. What you could do is let your son choose his favorite thing to eat, and do takeout. Watch a movie, do games... Let him decide what he wants to do.

He doesnt know what he wants to do. He is the one who told me to ask around for ideas. I dont care for sleep overs unless its just one or two kids. He cant think of anything to do, and I wont have a party without a plan in advance.

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A mother holds her children's hand for awhile; their hearts forever.

Do you have some kind of gaming system? My friends 15 yo just had a party and they did dance revolution... Maybe take him to his favorite place to eat, or do takeout... My son's is Panda Express, and we did takeout. Then with 12 year olds, if it's a large group, do something like the "Bigger and Better" game. Pair them up into groups and they start with a penny, and they have to go house to house asking to trade what they have for something bigger and better. We did this once when I was young and ended up with a used mattress... It's fun for kids. Or if it's a small group, you can take them to a place for bowling or something like that, then go back to your house for a movie and snacks after.
Good luck
Becky

beckyandplacido, can you tell me more about the Bigger and Better game? Sounds GREAT!