1905

Mall Party (9-12yr) Team Mall Hunt

April 2001

Stephanie in Deltona, FL         United States

Special Mention

9-12 Year Old Mall Birthday Party  Most tween and preteen girls love to hang out together at the mall, so give them a birthday party they'll love you for!  Invite a small group of close friends, 8 at the most, who get along together. Be considerate of any disabilities the girls may have when calling them.

For invitations, write on a sheet of pretty or patterned stationary: Welcome to (birthday child's name) Mall Madness Bash! The adventure begins at (party date) in (your address) at (party time). Wear your hippest clothes and cutest accessories for hours of shopping and hanging out for fun! Roll up the sheet of stationary into a scroll and fasten it with a colorful ribbon. Send the invitations out 2 weeks in advance preferably, avoid passing out in school to skirt hurt feelings of uninvited schoolmates.  

The big day is here! The girls meet at your house first so they can open presents, sing happy birthday, and eat cake and ice cream. Play some limbo, pin the tail on the donkey, hot potato, tag, and other few and swift traditional party games so the guests can break the ice and prepare for a ball of a day together. Then load up the children and take off for the nearest mall. One for-sure fun activity is the Team Mall Hunt. Before hand, pick an out-of-way store in which you can casually browse until you're found (notify the owner you'll be there for a while).

Make up treasure hunt cards for the girls that lead them from store to store under a neutral chaperone's watchful eye, making them look in and out and everywhere for clues to your whereabouts. Once at the mall, wander off inconspicuously so no one notices you're dawdling. Then rush and blend yourself into the store you chose. The chaperone will tell the guests that they have to find you and will read to them the first clue. Example: Go to Claires. I am waiting for you with your next clue there. I have lines. I am thin. I am a Britney Fan! You'll find me if you've got the "write" stuff!' This clue could lead to a conspicuous Britney Spears notebook in a Claire's store. Or: "Go to Books-a-Million. Your next clue comes from me. I am perfect for mystery lovers. I am NO. 1. You'll single me out if you are quick and 'Keen'". This clue would lead to the first book in the Nancy Drew Series by Carloyn Keene. The kids will love hunting around looking for clues to where you are, and finally finding you!

Then another cool and devious activity is called 'breezing'. Take the gaggle of girls and go into a limited too store. Let them try out the abundant samples of beauty products (lotions, powders, temp. hair color, lip icing). Then go to Bath and Body Works and indulge your guests with the free testers of body salts, soaps, sprays, creams, etc. Then take your charges to Claire's and let them model the funky hats, boas, bandannas, and jewelry for each other that the stores leave to be tried on freely and for free. Lead the little lasses into a shoe store so they can try on and model daring platforms, heels, flip-flops, etc. to pump up their feet! Lastly, Let the guests loose in a bookstore so they can pig out on comics, mystery novels, whatever they like to read for a while without having to buy it. Be careful not to damage things while 'breezing' or you'll end up in the red!

Then of course, hunger attacks! Take the party-goers to the food court and let each of them choose one small dish to eat. Sit, talk, eat up! The day will be nearly over for now. Before you leave the mall, lead the girls to their favorite accessories store and let them pick out 1 thing to take home as a favor…a bottle of nail polish, a hairbrush, a belt. The last thing you may do is to take the galpals over to the movie theater (there's usually one right next to the mall) and treat them to a new film. By the time that's over, everyone should be tired and ready to retire. Drive them home, drop them off, and congratulate yourself on getting through the day!

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