Preteens are always ready to get together for music, pizza, and fun. That's why this party is perfect for older kids. Everyone brings a few of their favorite CDs to play, then all you need to do is order the food and let the birthday kid and her guests take it from there.
INVITATION
CD Cards Trace a CD onto a piece of silver poster board. Cut out the tracing and use colored markers to print "It's a Music Party!" on the front and all the party info on the back.
PARTY GAMES
Name That Tune Choose one kid to be the disc jockey and divide everyone else into two teams. Place a bell in front of each team. The disc jockey plays a few bars of a familiar song on a CD and then stops it. The team that knows the name of the tune rings the bell and says the answer. If it is correct, that team gets a point. The first team to score 10 points wins.They're Playing Our Song! Invite the kids to take turns lip-synching the words to their favorite songs. Then have the group vote on who's the most convincing musical artist!
Song Charades One at a time, each music fan uses actions (no words) to depict a popular song title. Whoever guesses correctly first gets to act out the next title.
Dance Craze To get the party in full swing, ask everyone to write a word, such as river, scorpion, or sunflower, on a slip of paper. Collect all of the slips in a big bowl. Now let the kids take turns picking slips and making up dances to match the words they chose.
SNACKS AND FAVORS
Stock a cooler with assorted sodas so the guests can help themselves and set out bowls of peanuts and pretzels to munch on before the pizza arrives. For favors, pick up harmonicas, kazoos, or other fun musical instruments from a dollar store. And this boom-box cake is sure to send your party to the top of the charts!
MUSIC PARTY POINTERS
•Turn a room in your home into a disco. Decorate it with colorful balloons and streamers and big musical notes cut out from black construction paper and taped to the wall. For a really special effect, hang up a Disco Ball Pinata.• Before the guests arrive, come up with some discreet signal you can use to let your child know when it's time to turn down the volume.
