I did it, I survived 24 hours with 12 tween girls and lived to tell about it, LOL!
It was actually a lot of fun.
Wanna know how to throw an epic 24 hour 12th Birthday Party?
Here are my tips for planning any party, but particularly a party for 12 tweens…
- Have an event agenda – We had a general idea of what was going to happen throughout the day. This gives you structure and there’s no flying by the seat of your pants, trying to figure out what to do next on the day of. It also helps you stay on schedule and fit in all the things you want to do throughout the day.
SATURDAY
11am – guests arrive
11-12: Make bath bombs
12-1: Lunch
1-5: Pool Fun
5-6: Shower
6-7: Dinner
7-8: Scavenger Hunt
8-11: Dessert, Movies
11-??: Slumber Party
SUNDAY
9-10: Breakfast
10-11: Hang out
11am: pick-up
2. Have lots of food – I can’t emphasize this enough. Tweens can eat! Mine were all gymnasts and let me tell you, they have appetites! We literally had pulled pork sandwiches, pasta salad and fruit for lunch and within an hour, they were hungry again and devoured 40 mini corn dogs, chips, and goldfish like I hadn’t fed them at all. With the help of my daughter and nieces, we made fruit kabobs with pineapple, strawberry and grapes the night before. Putting it on a skewer made it so easy to eat…maybe too easy! I also added sticks to the corn dogs at the pool which also made it easier to eat and soggy fingers weren’t man-handling the food. Who doesn’t love food on a stick right?!
At dinner, I ordered a 26″ pizza called the Uncle Sam, and also served raviolis and more fruit. After we returned from the scavenger hunt, we went through 3 bags of kettle corn and had soda floats for dessert. I’m Asian, I can’t have a party without a lot of food. It just doesn’t sit well with me.
3. Have lots of activities – Have you ever been to a party where there’s no agenda, nothing? You just sit around and stare at each other. Oh no, not under my watch! Alexa wanted to make bath bombs so she did the research in advance and ordered all the ingredients and even did a trial run to make sure they worked. These were also the party favors. Don’t they look nice?
At the pool, we utilized our extensive collection of pool floats. Sadly, our giant slide died this year. I found a small hole on the seam of the ladder side that morning and I attempted to repair it but that just caused an even bigger hole. It didn’t stop the girls from enjoying it as you’ll see in the video, but the ladder wasn’t working anymore since it was leaking air. Luckily all our guests are very athletic girls and it didn’t stop them from jumping right up to the top of the slide. We’ll have to invest in another one next year. We’ve had this one for 4 years and enjoyed it for 3 seasons so I can’t really complain. It’s a beast to store though…
For tips on how to care for your pool floaties so they last, check out this post here.
I also created a photo backdrop with fun, colorful beach towels that I hung up using zip ties and clips. Alexa also made her own instagram frame which made for some great pics. You just need an extra large foam poster board, some paint and a large sharpie. Such great memories!
Isn’t this the cutest display? I used more beach towels as tablecloths. We decorated bundt cakes with graham cracker sand, a cocktail umbrella and gummy flip flops. We did something similar for her 6th birthday so it made a comeback 6 years later. It’s good though right?
After dinner, we drove up the road to the local shopping center and did a photo scavenger hunt. I had the girls pick numbers randomly and they were broken up into 4 teams of 3 people. I gave them an hour to accomplish as much as they could from this list.
Somebody from each team was responsible for taking photos and I also requested vlog style videos of their adventures but they were on a time crunch to get through the list. You’ve gotta watch the video for the results…it’s pretty funny! My favorite has got to be the pic of them wearing the craziest outfits. Get ready to LOL!!!
When we got back to the house, we went through everyone’s pictures and videos from the scavenger hunt and had a good laugh, then they watched the movie, She’s the Man and ate some more! We had thought about having an ice cream bar, but decided on soda floats instead. The most popular were coke and rootbeer, no surprise there!
The rest of the night they just hung out and I didn’t have to remind anyone to wash up. They are all very responsible girls and were anxious to beat the traffic to the bathroom. Shower time was interesting. I have 2 showers and 2.5 baths. It worked out. I must say, I’ve never washed so many towels in my life. I washed all the pool towels and swimsuits so they wouldn’t be funky when they went home. I know, I just can’t help myself…
Things got pretty quiet by about 2am and the next morning I woke up to make breakfast…can you believe I cooked 3 rounds of sausages…sheesh!!! Good thing I’m prepared! Pick up was at 11am and of course, I spent the rest of the day cleaning and getting the house back in order. I’m very happy with how the party turned out and I’m pretty sure everyone had a lot of fun.
How do I top this next year? Got any ideas? Please share them with me…I’d love to hear your suggestions.
Enjoy this video of Alexa’s epic, 24 hour, Instagram worthy 12th Birthday Party!!
