9 Year Old Birthday Party

"9" Birthday Shirt

My daughter's ninth birthday was rapidly approaching. I sat down with her to plan out a party. Her first choice was a sleepover party, but I decided we all are not quite ready for that. Sydney suggested make your own pizzas, doing their nails and some crafts. I added decorating cupcakes. We took a trip to JoAnns to get ideas for crafts. She chose a felt sewing kit as an idea and making personalized name bracelets.

We scheduled the party for a Sunday afternoon through dinner time. As the four guests arrived, we started with the cupcake decorating. My daughter and I had prepared buttercream frosting and mixed a few colors. We set up purple for frosting and a few decorating bags. Some girls spent a long time decorating while others stuck to more simple designs. I set the cupcakes aside on a tray for later.

Next we made pizzas. Each girl received a mini pizza shell on a dinner plate. I had many toppings and tomato sauce. The majority just wanted cheese so that was easy.

While we waited for dinner, it was time to make bracelets. Each girl got a wire about twice as long as needed. We had letter beads and many different colored glass beads. A small paper plate kept beads from rolling everywhere.  Once they were done, they headed to the basement to play Just Dance while I attached the clasps.

Then it was time for pizza!  The girls enjoyed their custom pizzas and chatted about what to do next.  We still had nails to do and another project.  Sydney explained the choices.  It was decided that nails were next!

We have a decent collection of polish and nail art accessories.  Some girls felt very comfortable doing their own nails, while others wanted some help.  My daughter and another asked for leopard spots, so I did those.  Another wanted black polka dots, I helped with that too.

After the nails were dry, they played a bit more, then we had the cupcakes.

Finally, we moved onto opening presents and nearby we had the last craft project set up.  These nine and eleven year old girls were quite self sufficient.  We had felt, printed felt, embroidery floss, ribbon, and jewel stickers.  My daughter planned to make little layered squares with her initial on it.  I also made up an example of a tiny tote bag with a ribbon handle.  Most of the girls made the little totes.  It was also nice to see the experienced sewers helping the less experienced.


Our party was three and a half hours long and it was just right.  I wasn't sure if we had too many sit down activities, but for this group, it was the perfect party.  The two little breaks when they went in the basement and had some free time seemed to balance it all out.