Teen Birthday Party Food

Food Ideas for a Teen Birthday Party

little sausages baked in bread

Pigs in blankets

While a birthday cake is a given treat to have at any birthday party, what about the rest of the food? Coming up with a menu of food that’s appetizing while still being easy on the wallet and time is actually a pretty easy feat when it comes to a teenager’s birthday party specifically.

There tends to be a universal food language when it comes to kids between the ages of 13 to 19, and while hunger choices might not be the healthiest, for a birthday party, this taste is ideal! For your teenage guests, stick with foods that translate well sitting out for the duration of the party (3-4 hours) and that are grab and go type foods. Some really great meat options are chicken nuggets, slider hamburgers, pigs in a blanket, mini-corndogs, and ham roll-ups. While chicken wings might sound like a great idea as well, keep in mind that any food with bones will end up being more of a hassle for clean-up and possibly safety for any party with main guest age being under 19. Other really effortless food ideas for your teens include hot pockets, pizza rolls, cheese sticks, and of course—nachos! All you need to do is cover the Tortilla chips with delicious cheese! You could also be more creative and add ingredients such as spring onions, chopped up tomato on top. If you have children with allergy, it may be ideal to keepTortilla chips and dips in a separate bowl and letting your teens dip with separately bowled chips, pretzels, or crackers. Be sure to have the right beverages for the guests to wash all this yummy grub down with plenty of water, lemonade, and soda. For colder times of year, hot chocolate and cider is always a hit as well.

 tortilla chips

tortilla chips and dips

Even with a fantastic birthday cake, we can’t forget a few extra sweets! A couple of pans of sugar cookies, brownies, or just a few simple bowls of candied treats like Jelly Beans, Gummy Bears, M&M’s or Skittles makes for great grab and go handfuls to satisfy every guest’s sweet tooth.

Adult Birthday Party Food

Food Ideas for Adult Birthday Party

As we get older, we become more focused on putting healthier food into our bodies. With this in mind, it doesn’t mean you have to only serve salad at your adult birthday party, but it does mean that incorporating healthy fairs into your spread is a must.

cracker with Cheese, olives and pepperoni

cracker with Cheese, olives and pepperoni

The ultimate adult birthday party food (besides the birthday cake, of course) is one or more yummy dips! Whether it’s salty or sweet, dips are all the rage for adult birthday parties, as they are filling, easy to eat, and the combinations for flavors and what you can accompany with the dips is endless. Cheese based dips with Velveeta, sour cream based dips with spices such as ranch and chipotle, and mayonnaise based dips with veggies like spinach and artichokes are all highly loved choices. Chips, pretzels, and crackers offer a satisfying crunchy sidekick to go with these dips, or carrots, celeries, and cucumbers also pair well (and give you your necessary healthy munchies!). Food skewers are also a versatile option for food, and again, a great way to incorporate veggies or fruits into your dishes.

Beverages are a significant part of any party and you absolutely cannot do without water. Hydrating your guests on the constant is a necessity, and while soda is certainly on the menu, try to incorporate as many H20 based drinks as you can into your line-up. Lemonades and teas are perfect examples of flavorful and super hydrating elixirs.

Moving away from dips, other fantastic food choices for an adult birthday party are chicken wings, unmessy/easy to eat filo cups with any kind of fillings you desire (think macaroni and cheese, or mashed potatoes), turkey or beef burger sliders, quesadilla wedges, and pepperoni pinwheels. Hummus, Tostitos, and jalapeno poppers are also party favorites. It is a good idea to have small bowls of mixed nuts, chips, popcorn, or candy that your guests can munch on throughout the party.

And don’t forget sweet treats like no bake cheesecake, jello, or pudding cups serve to satisfy your guests as they are waiting to cut the birthday cake!

vege sticks

vege sticks

herb cheese with sesame cracker with thin sliced apple

herb cheese with sesame cracker with thin sliced apple

cracker with cottage cheese, courgette and tomato

cracker with cottage cheese, courgette and tomato

chicken wings

chicken wings

Teenager Birthday Party Favors

Teenager Birthday Party Favor Ideas

While planning a birthday party event can be stressful, there is a break for fun and creativity when it comes to choosing favors for your guests! For a teenager’s birthday party, you have vibrant and colorful options that you can work with.74349-500

First, you’ll need to decide if you would like your favors to be disposal, keepsakes, or a little bit of both. Mason jar favors are all the rage right now and there are tons of ways to turn these into party favors for your teenage guests. Mason jars can be painted, decorated with buttons or glitter or ribbons, and filled with candy or small favor items. Mason jars are a perfect palate for whatever theme you’re working with, and they are inexpensive. They even come in any size you need for your favors!

If you go for a bagged or boxed set of favors, fill them up with individually wrapped candy, gel pens, chapstick, sunglasses, or playing cards. Any of these can be personalized as well with the name of your birthday teen guest of honor, or the guests themselves. Also make sure to throw in noisemakers in your favor goody bags that the teens can use during the birthday party. Whistles, kazoos, party poppers, and blowouts are classic and lively noisemakers that no teen birthday party should do without!

If you decide to keep your noisemakers separate from your party favor bags, then wait until the end of the party to give the favor packages to the guests. This way, there’s no chance of your teenagers losing their gifts before they leave the event.

My Favorite Teen Party Favors

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Adult Birthday Party Favors

Adult Birthday Party Favor Ideas

As the host of an adult birthday party, coming up with party favors for your guests can be the most fun part of the entire planning process. Unlike younger-aged birthday parties, adult favors are something that you want to make a keepsake, and less disposable.

When choosing the favors for your party guests, keep your theme in mind. You’re going to want to incorporate this into your favors and you are also going to want to use it as the primary flair for your presentation of the favors—i.e., the gift bags, boxes, or containers you choose.4966-500

There are tons of options as far as adult birthday party favors go! Glassware is a really popular option for party favors as it serves as a great keepsake that your guests will continue to use. Barware like shot glasses, flutes, wine glasses, and steins personalized with your party theme are universally loved favors. Stadium cups are a fun gift as well, and as a bigger plus, they are durable and unbreakable.  Accessories for the home or kitchen specifically are highly favorable gifts for your adult party guests. Wine stoppers, coasters, candle holders, koozies, and keychains can be personalized any way you choose for your guests and are extremely usable long after the party is over.

Candy is also a wonderful filler for your party favor gift bags. Candy bars, coffee, and cheese plate packages tend to fit whatever theme your adult birthday party holds, and they are a great little surprise alongside the gift favors! When you spend so much time and effort on a great birthday party for your adult guests, you want them to leave with something they can put in their homes and always remember how amazing the event truly was.

My Favorite Adult Party Favors

 

Teenager Birthday Party Activity & Game Ideas

Games & Activities

Planning a teenager’s birthday party can be a bit of a difficult task for any adult. The ages between thirteen and nineteen can be a challenging period—especially when it comes to the age-old teenager moodiness! Never fear, this kind of challenge can totally be won and your teenager will love you all the more for it. It can be a fun experience figuring out the balance it requires to create a memorable birthday party for your teenager without coming across as the “overbearing” adult. Let’s first look at some basic activities that will work for teenagers of all ages and genders.

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Icebreaker Games

If you’re having a simple, low-key birthday party for your teenager at home, icebreaker games are a great way to not only get the party started, but to keep the party going smoothly and quite effortlessly until it’s over. Some really fun ideas for icebreaker games include the Beach Ball Game, Have You Ever Musical Chairs, or Song Lyrics Match-Up. The Beach Ball icebreaker game consists of a large beach ball with short questions written in permanent marker all over it. Party guests get into a circle and throw the beach ball from one person to another. When someone catches the beach ball, they must answer the question that their right thumb is touching. For the Have you Ever Musical Chairs icebreaker game, place chairs in a circle with enough chairs for everyone minus one. One person must stand in the middle of the chair circle and as a “Have you ever…?” question. If anyone answers yes to the question, they must get up and quickly scramble to another person’s chair. Obviously one person will be left without a chair, and that person becomes the next questioner. Finally, for the Song Lyrics Match-Up icebreaker game, find song lyrics to popular songs that your teenagers will definitely know and write down several lyrics from these songs. Cut the lines in half and place them in a bowl for the guests to randomly pick, and they must go find their match-up song lyric! Great icebreaker games for a happy-go-lucky and “entertains itself” successful birthday party.

Games for Boys or Girls

If you have a specific theme or gender that you’re focusing on for your teen birthday party, go with the season. For summertime parties, outdoor games like cornhole and scavenger hunts work wonderfully for boys, while activities like Make Your Own Music Video and Twister make fun ideas for girls. In the colder months, staying indoors is more appealing, so great activities for girls Canvas Painting and Fingernail Designing Kits. Boys would enjoy video game tournaments and two-minute activity stations with games like Battleship for the ultimate challenge. Themes also work wonders for both genders while indoors, like a pajama slumber party for girls complete with their favorite chick clicks and a likewise a stay over party for boys, complete with their own brand of action movies and video games.

If you want to get out of the house with your teenager for their birthday party, then the best spot would be a place like Dave and Busters, in which the guests get to eat and play arcade games in a social environment. This takes clean up and cooking off of you and provides hours of activities for all ages and both genders of teens. Other out-and-about ideas for your teenager’s birthday party include a casual restaurant, bowling alley, skating rink, the mall, or the local aquatic center. All of these options offer an affordable solution in an extremely sociable environment, allowing for a wide array of activities at your fingertips that your teens are sure to enjoy. At any of these outside venues, there is still possibility to incorporate your icebreaker games and whatever theme you might choose for your teenager’s birthday party—whether it be pirates, cars, boy bands, or a Sweet Sixteen extravaganza!

Regardless of what activities or setting you choose, you can give yourself a giant pat on the back for giving your teen an awesome birthday party that they will remember forever.

Birthday Party Ideas for Kids