Birthday ideas for 10y old

What are your daughter’s interests? When is the birthday and how many guests are you thinking of having? What are your Covid risk tolerance level? What is your budget? These are some questions that could help fine tune birthday ideas. 

We recently had a 10th bday party and have gone to a few of them now. We did a pool party by renting a pool through Swimply. We spent $$ on the pool but did not spend much on food, drinks, decorations. (Chips, veggies, watermelon,  dip, cookies, cupcakes, water and juice plus beer and wine for adults). We had 5 kids in attendance and 1 adult guest for each child. Many birthday parties in the summer months were all pool/beach parties (at Alameda beach, Keller beach, grandparents’ house, San Ramon city pool, Hilton or some hotel in Walnut Creek — they rented a cabana, a Swimply rented pool). 

The following are other ideas we shared with friends that could work in colder weather. 

— karaoke (jaguar in Berkeley has a mobile karaoke service so you could do it in your backyard or you could DYI at home)

— bowling (Albany bowl?)

— sleepover with 3 best friends. My kid went to one sleepover. It was fun! We all tested before the party.

— adventure park in Berkeley 

— pacific pinball museum 

— mini golf (Castro valley)

— plank (bowling and arcade)

— spa (mani pedi, henna) at a salon or at home

— outdoor park or backyard party with an entertainment  (magician, bouncy, or something else?) backyard party can be in cold months as well. We had a holiday party in our backyard. We covered outdoor furniture with faux fur and blankets, had an outdoor heater, fire pit, and keurig for hot drinks. We also had a couple of thermos of hot cider and spare blankets. People roasted sausages and hot dogs over fire and we had a big pot of chili in a crock pot. Cup cakes and s’mores for dessert. We handed out hand warmers to guests as well. 

— six flags or great America 

— horseback riding 

— Oakland zoo

— outdoor movie (backyard or drive in in Concord)

— escape room in emeryville (it is appropriate for 10 year olds and is very well rated) 

— scavenger hunt and carnival themed party (can be done cheaply but will need work planning )

— ice skating 

— mobile arcade (there are companies where you can rent classic arcade games, air hockey tables, etc.)

— Chabot Science museum

— Rent a pontoon boat at San Pablo reservoir and have a picnic there

Have fun!

It will depend on her interests, but here are some general ideas kids that age might find fun, as the mother of an 11yo: Escape room, paint-your-own-pottery outing, some kind of sporty class like indoor rock climbing, a trip to Cat Town to cuddle the kittens, a scavenger hunt around your neighborhood, mini-golf, bowling...think about what kinds of things she's into (art, animals, sports, gaming, whatever) and there's probably something around here that ties into it. Tbh, though, all my kid wanted was a sleepover, since they'd never had one because of Covid timing. :)

Hi! My daughter just turned ten and we hosted a bubble party at a park. Had to reserve picnic tables in advance… we had smallish plastic storage bins with bubble soap and provided a whole big variety of tiny, small, medium and large bubble wands, including stick/rope things for making giant bubbles. It was a HUGE HIT, the kids had so much fun and the whole park was filled with bubbles. They each went home with a variety of wands/bubble makers, a packet of powder to mix a gallon of soap for giant bubbles, and a small container of regular bubble soap. It was its own entertainment and they had a blast. 

When my son turned 11 during COVID we did a birthday party for him at Traverse Fitness in Richmond. It's a huge "Ninja Warrior" training gym with obstacles for kids through adults. The parties are private to your group, include some coaching on obstacles and then free time, and their is lots of airflow in the space so it feels very safe, but it is indoors so you don't have to worry about winter weather. We brought individual snacks and cupcakes and it was a big hit!  https://www.traversefit.com/

one thing we did was a reptile petting zoo party.  We actually did it twice - once with a group called Lick Your Eyeballs (https://www.lickyoureyeballs.com/reptile-parties) and then through East Bay Vivarium (https://eastbayvivarium.com/pages/traveling-reptile-show).  Both were great... for our reptile-obsessed 9 year old girl.