Not every soon-to-be sixteen-year-old wants a traditional sweet sixteen party. Some want an adventure, and as a parent you want to see that they get what they want. Why don't you throw a geocaching party?
Geocaching is an outdoor game, pronounced geo-cashing (like cashing a check). Think: hi-tech scavenger hunt. By using an inexpensive GPS (Global Positioning Systems) receiver, your teens enter a interactive game of hide the cache (container). It's an easy way to combine the two things modern teens love: technology and adventure!
You can purchase GPS units for as little as $100 each, or you can rent them from an online source like gps4rent.com. You'll want enough of these GPS units to divided up between teams of four (I suggest four because the teens may have to drive to locations found on geocaching sites.) One site you might like is geocaching.com. You enter your zip code at this site, and it gives you cache in your area.
You can make your own caches, which may not be as hi-tech as those on the online communities, but you will be able to tailor it to beginners and the interests of your child's friends. Fill a weatherproof box full of fun trinkets and insert a Geocoin, which has its own tracking i.d., allowing your group to track that specific cache.
You can hide your cache just about anywhere. Remember, much of the traveling will be done on foot, so place it in area easily reached by beginners. Place it in a park, at a school or somewhere your child frequents, such as a local baseball park. Get creative! Birthday parties are the perfect opportunity to try something new!
I suggest having a two-day party. For instance, on Friday night invite all the teens over so they can learn how to use a GPS unit. If you're not sure how to teach them, you can find people and tutorials about GPS units through online communities, like the Web sites above. You can either host a sleep over or have the kids come back early Saturday morning for the high-tech hide-and-seek geocaching party.
You can order catered food and drinks on both days or you may choose to do simple snacks. Keep it simple, and consider what a group of hungry teens would like. It can be as easy as ordering pizza, or having a full spread of your child's favorites.
These creative birthday birthday parties work well for either gender, and are a great idea for a teen who isn't into over-the-top sweet sixteen parties. Send your teen off on a gecocaching birthday party and make it a birthday to remember!
The party theme post is proudly sponsored by theme party providers
Photos courtesty of Flickr Creative Commons.
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