20 Best Summer Birthday Ideas For Tween Boys and Girls

Put together an ice cream social birthday party.

First, let’s talk about the ice cream.  I know it is so easy to just buy ice cream and move on to the toppings but girl, give your kiddo a huge treat and make your own soft serve ice cream.  It is so delicious and easy.

You can use this ice cream maker and either make it in front of the kids or make a bunch ahead of time and store it in your freezer.

Let the kids beat the heat with a pool party (if you have access to one) or water fun.  

Water fun can be anything from a water balloon fight, running through a sprinkler, water squirters, a slip and slide, and more.

Treat your kiddo to a birthday picnic. 

One idea is to pack your own with your kiddo’s favorite foods.  

We have been using this soft-sided cooler for the past few summers and I love it.  It is big enough to hold food and drinks for our family of 6 with room to spare.

Or, you can pick up takeout from a favorite restaurant and have that as your picnic food.

Either way will have your kiddo talking about this picnic for years.

Have an evening summer birthday party and host an outdoor movie for your tween and friends.

This is a fantastic movie projector that connects to your phone.  Our neighbors have it and we had a great time watching movies on it all last summer.

Take your tween camping for his birthday.  This could be in your backyard or at a campsite.

If you are in the market for a tent, one like this is amazing.  As a family of 6, there is enough room for everyone to sleep (and girl, I have to sleep on an air mattress) along with room for all our bags too.

Invite all your family and friends over to celebrate with a cookout.  Grilled food is so delicious!

Your kiddo will have so much fun hanging out and playing with everyone in such a relaxed setting.

By the way, what is your favorite grilled food?  I can never turn down a burger or brat.

If you are going to have a cookout for your tween then you have to set out yard games.

You can set up tournaments or just let them play mama.

This is a bit more for your tween girl, have a painting party.  There are studios now that host these kinds of parties, and that is great.

However, if you want to save some money you can have it at home.  Set up a table or 2, get enough canvases for all the girls invited to the party, paint brushes, and acrylic paints.  These paint pens are also fantastic.

I am not going to lie, when all is said and done, it is just easier for me to take the girls to a studio.

Take your kiddo and friends to a fireworks show.  I know that it will be a late night but it will be so much fun.

If you don’t want to stay up that late, grab some sparklers and other small fireworks and shoot them off at home.

Kids go bananas over bounce houses.  Instead of spending money on a trampoline park, rent a bounce house.

My son went to a birthday party last summer that had a water bounce house and the kids had to be dragged out just to grab a drink of water and something to eat.  When they were done, all the kids raced back to the bounce house.

If you are hosting a birthday party for your tween in the evening, make it a glow party.

Stock up on glow necklaces and bracelets, fun glasses, foam glow sticks, and rings.

Turn up some tunes and have a dance party.

Your kiddo and friends or family can run around with these laser tag guns either during the day or in the dark.  Girl, it is so much cooler to play laser tag in the dark though.

My kids and their friends are out in our yard all the time playing laser tag and they have the best time.

There are indoor rock climbing walls and I am sure there is one near you.

This gives kids a great workout while having fun and building confidence.

Kids love bowling so head on over to the bowling alley.

We did this last year for my daughter’s 12^th birthday and it was such a hit.  It was a great way to spend a few hours with friends.

Girl, get your camera ready because you want to capture this fight.  Get color powder, put it in bags such as rosin bags, and stand back.

We have done this the past few years for our annual 4^th of July party.  Everyone gets involved and has the best time running around, and at the end, we jump in the lake and it just washes away.

You could have the kids run through the sprinkler to wash off and cool off.

Buy some white T-shirts and turn them into a tie-dye shirt.  You can do more than shirts though, you can try socks, hats, and even pillowcases.

However, tie-dye is a process so make sure you allow ample time if you go with this.  I read that the dye should set up for at least 6-8 hours, but 24 hours would be best.

I have looked on Pinterest for different ways to roll the shirts to get different patterns.  My daughter created a heart tie-dye shirt and it is her favorite.