10-Year-Old Birthday Party Ideas: 15 Ways to Celebrate Double Digits

Hitting the double digits is a big deal. Celebrate the birthday boy or birthday girl in style with these 10-year-old birthday party ideas. Whether you’re looking for birthday party themes or ways to spend the day celebrating, you’ll find what you seek on this list to celebrate your little one getting bigger. 

Scroll down for our favorite 10-year-old birthday party ideas. From birthday party themes to activities tweens are sure to love, there’s something for every party style on this list. Plus, we’ve included matching invitations so you can pick out the perfect design to send to your guests.

10-Year-Old Birthday Party Ideas They’ll Love

From creative themes to activities that will keep 10-year-old boys and girls entertained, this list is packed with ideas for having a fun 10th birthday celebration. Here are 15 of the top 10-year-old birthday party ideas to try.

1. Go on a Scavenger Hunt

Design: Becky Nimoy Stationery

What’s more fun than a treasure hunt? A themed treasure hunt — and you can use an invitation like this map to intrigue your guests. 

If your 10-year-old wants a jungle-themed party, plan a scavenger hunt where the kids go searching for wild animals like elephants and rhinoceros. You can have the kids dress up like they’re going on a safari with hats, paper maps, and compasses.

If your party is a space-themed party, the young explorers can look for stars, planets, and moons. For a sports-themed party, they can do a treasure hunt for equipment to play the game. 

This is a fun activity for birthday parties that takes some advanced planning. Print out scavenger hunt lists for each kid at the party and spend some time before the event hiding each item.

2. Host a Sleepover

Celebrate your 10-year-old’s birthday with a slumber party. Deck the living room out with comfy pillows, blankets, and chairs. Set out yummy snacks and have the kids play games or share stories for a special day they’ll remember for years to come. 

3. Plan a Game Night

Design: Signature Greenvelope

Kids love friendly competition and playing together. Have an epic birthday celebration by hosting a fun game night. An invitation with an old-school video game motif like this one will get your guests excited about the party. The kids can play video games or board games, and you can hand out prizes to the winners. Be sure to serve plenty of snacks to keep them performing at their best.

4. Play Laser Tag

Everyone knows that 10-year-olds are full of energy. Let them burn some off by playing laser tag with their best friends. This is a fun way to celebrate a birthday, especially if the weather is likely to not cooperate. Since this is indoors, you won’t have to worry about if it rains or snows on the day of the big event. 

5. Splish-Splash at a Pool Party

Design: Jessie Steury

If it’s hot during your kid’s birthday, cool off with a pool party. Send out invitations featuring sea creatures or mermaids, and order some inflatables — sharks, flamingos, and llamas are always a big hit. Pack foods like sandwiches, veggie sticks, and salty bites for the little guests to munch on. If you don’t have a pool, you can head to the beach, lakeshore, river, or water park to celebrate.

6. Celebrate with a Nerf Wars Party

A Nerf wars party is one of the coolest ways to celebrate your kid hitting the double digits. Give each guest a Nerf gun and set up an obstacle course for a DIY approach. You can also hire a party planning company that specializes in Nerf parties to bring all the equipment to you. 

7. Sing Karaoke

Design: Diasty Hardhikaputri

Do you have a mini Ariana Grande or Frank Sinatra on your hands? They’re sure to have lots of fun with a karaoke birthday party. Invite their friends with an invitation customized with their favorite song. Then you can download a karaoke app or just create a playlist on Spotify and have the kids sing along to their favorite tunes. 

8. Cozy Up with a Movie Night

One of our favorite 10th birthday party ideas is a movie night. Set up a cozy space in your living room or your child’s bedroom for the guests to watch movies. You can put on their favorite movie trilogy or queue up a sitcom they love. Hand out bags of popcorn and classic movie theater candy like Swedish Fish and Goobers.

9. Visit a Trampoline Park

Design: Loree Mayer Design

Bouncy houses are for the younger kids, but you can take it up a notch with a birthday visit to a trampoline park. Kids can learn basic gymnastic skills and bounce around with their besties. Be sure to bring food or ask the venue to provide snacks to keep the hungry monsters at bay. Keep your invitations true to your theme, like with this fun and colorful one.

10. Play Paintball

If you have an active child, go paintball to celebrate their birthday. It’s sure to be more action-packed than sitting around eating cake. For this activity, look up a paintball provider in your area. They typically offer several different paintball courses so you can find one that fits your child’s skill level. In some areas, you can also host a DIY paintball event by playing in the woods — just be sure to check about any regulations. 

11. Visit an Ice Rink or Roller Rink

Design: Signature Greenvelope

Your kid’s party guests will be talking about the most epic 10th birthday celebration for years to come when you host a skating shindig. Send out a cute retro invitation like this one to set the mood. You can go ice skating to take advantage of winter weather or head to a roller rink for inline skating.

12. Throw a Dance Party

Your little one is getting so big! Celebrate with a huge dance party with all of their friends. You can head to a local dance center and take a hip-hop, jazz, or ballet class. Alternatively, host the dance party in your living room, and create a playlist with your child’s favorite tunes. Serve party food like pizza and finger foods to keep up the dancers’ energy.

13. Go Camping

Design: Lori Danelle

If your child loves the great outdoors, go camping for their tenth birthday party. You can make it a rugged adventure by going backpacking, or keep things simple and head to a local campground to car camp. For an extra special adventure, make reservations at a national park or national forest. An outdoorsy invitation like this one works for every kind of camping situation. Don’t forget to pack the s’mores, hot dogs, and birthday cake! Send guests home with party favors like a monogrammed camping mug or a cozy sweatshirt.

14. Get a Themed Birthday Cake

However you decide to celebrate a 10-year-old boy or 10-year-old girl, you have to have some birthday cake! Match the birthday cake to the theme you’ve chosen for the big day.

One idea is to plan an ice cream social-themed party and set out a DIY ice cream bar. The kids can scoop their favorite flavors and add toppings like caramel, chocolate sauce, and sprinkles. 

Another option is to order a custom cake featuring items from your theme. You could get a cake with rocket ships and planets if you’ve chosen a space theme. For a unicorn-themed birthday, a cake with bright colors, unicorns, and magical horns works well. 

For a kid’s birthday party, you can also order cupcakes. Add fun toppers to match the party theme, and be sure to add a decade’s worth of candles for the birthday boy or girl to blow out during the bash.

15. Host a Tea Party

Design: Paper Raven Co.

Plan a tea-themed birthday party to celebrate your kid turning 10 years old. Invite everyone on your guest list with an invitation featuring a sweet treat. You can host an enchanting afternoon tea party in your own backyard or head to a local eatery that serves afternoon tea. If you’re decorating for the event, plan on buying floral arrangements for the tables, and prepare or purchase snacks like finger sandwiches, pastries, and fresh fruit.

Throw a Memorable 10th Birthday Party

With these fun 10-year-old birthday party ideas and invitation inspiration, you’re sure to host the best birthday party. Mix and match ideas or pick one to make it the central theme of the big celebration. 

For more party planning tips, continue browsing our Stationers blog, where you’ll find party themes, tips for hosting kid’s parties, and more. Choose the perfect design from our large selection of birthday party invitations. From colorful and silly to minimal and sweet, there’s a perfect party invitation for every 10-year-old.