As anyone can tell you, tween years are hard, especially on Valentine’s Day. You are too old to exchange boxed paper valentines and too young for serious romantic love. The good news is, the tween years are the perfect age to have a party at home with their friends. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
What to Wear?
Pink and red of course, but parties are always more fun with a theme. Guests can dress to fit any theme you choose – Pajamas, Fantasy Floral, Groovy Gals, Pride and Joy, Swifty Love, Glitz and Glam, Beach Babes, Disney characters, Dress Like Your Crush, Barbie, Hawaiian or I Love (fill in the blank) Night.
Sugar and Snacks
Let’s face it, that’s what they eat. The good news is fruit is naturally sweet and many of them are conveniently pink and red. Healthier sugar and snacks include smoothies, sorbet, red beet hummus for dipping, tomato and mozzarella kabobs, white-chocolate-covered strawberries, shrimp cocktail and ham roll-ups.
Get Cooking
If you have a smaller group, they might enjoy cooking or baking. They can create heart-shaped foods like pizza, raviolis or hand pies filled with berries. If you have a super foodie group, they might enjoy making a more traditional Valentine’s Day meal like beef Wellington or roasted chicken with fingerling potatoes.
Social Media Center
Purchase a frame for Instagram and photo booth props (Etsy is a great source for this) and dedicate a spot for your guests to snap a cute photo of themselves and their friends. Other helpful items for your social media Center include a backdrop, selfie stick, tripod and light ring. Come up with a hashtag like #valentinevibes2025 and a place for the guests to share their photos like Google Photos.
Play Some Games
- Broken Hearts – You will need a deck of cards. Deal one card facedown to each person. The object is to get the highest card. You may choose to keep the card you have or switch it with the person to your left. However, if the person to your left (or you) has a heart card, you may not switch. The dealer may take the top card of the deck if they choose to switch. The person with the lowest card is out and you play again until one is standing.
- Love Birds – You will need multicolored rubber ducks for this game. Place one of each color randomly at the end of a counter or long table. Players slide rubber ducks across the counter trying to touch a duck of the same color. The game can also be played with paper hearts taped to the counter. Players slide their ducks to land on a heart. You can give them a point for every duck they land on for their turn and the player with the most points wins a small prize.
- Heart Hop – You will need red and pink paper hearts taped to the floor in a straight line perpendicular to each other with room for the players in between. One person is the caller, yelling “red” or “pink” to get the players to hop from one side to the other. If a player makes a mistake and jumps to the wrong side, they are out. Play until there is only one player left.
- Candy Heart LCR – This is a fun way to play a popular dice game, LCR. Players will be given three candy hearts to start. Every player will roll three dice and determine if they will send their candy to the left, center or right depending on which letter comes up on the dice. Play until all candy is in the center except the one in front of the last person who is the winner. Give them a small prize.
Craft Corner
- Wax Melts – Wax melts are a much safer option than candle burning in tween bedrooms. Gather white candles from Dollar Tree, essential oils, food coloring and Valentine-themed silicone molds. Melt candles and pour them into a measuring cup. Add your favorite scents and colors and pour them into molds. These only take an hour or so to set. To use, place wax melts in a glass jar on top of a candle warmer and enjoy the fragrance as it melts.
- Polymer Clay Earrings – Purchase different colors of oven-bake polymer clay, small cookie cutters, small rolling pins, jump rings, earring backs or hooks, sand paper and pliers. Use your creativity to mix and roll out the clay. Cut out shapes and poke a hole for the jump ring. Bake in oven per directions on package. When cooled, sand off any rough edges and add jump rings and earring attachments.
Pam Molnar is a writer, mother of three and survivor of the tween years. She enjoys party planning as much as her guests enjoy the party.
Liam McCrickard holds a B.A. in creative and professional writing from Goucher College. He is former assistant editor at Washington Parent. He works as a freelance designer, writer and editor of tabletop role-playing games.
Pam Molnar is mother of three and a college packing pro. It never gets easier to say goodbye, but each year gets easier to pack
