• Try new and creative ideas for celebrating your tween's birthday.birthday cake image by palms from Fotolia.com
  
  Your son or daughter is approaching his or her teen years and wants to celebrate an upcoming birthday in a new and fun way. Another slumber party or surprise party or dinner and a movie isn't going to cut it, so try something a little more creative to make this birthday a fun and unique experience.
  
  

Get Out There

• Kids might enjoy an archery lesson.boy archer three image by Paul Moore from Fotolia.com
  
  Take the birthday boy or girl whitewater rafting, canoeing, tubing or kayaking. Go sailing or weather ballooning. Organize a blackberry-, strawberry-, peach- or apple-picking day trip and picnic. Arrange a rock climbing or horseback riding or archery lesson, or, during the winter, a snowboarding or skiing lesson. Or, just throw a large-scale, themed outdoor bash on picnic or camp grounds. For example, decorate for a Hawaiian luau birthday party with plastic palm trees, pineapples and tiki décor. Play island music, give the kids leis to wear, and have activities like coconut decorating, limbo, hula hooping, water balloon toss and volleyball. Serve pork, seafood, rice, fruity drinks and a pineapple upside-down birthday cake.
  
  

Weekend Getaway

• Take the birthday boy or girl on a road trip.country road image by Wendy Hampe from Fotolia.com
  
  A road trip is always fun. To make it even more so, invite one or two of the birthday boy or girl's friends and don't tell the kids where you're taking them; simply instruct them to pack a bag because you're leaving Friday afternoon and returning Sunday. Go to a historic village, a small town hosting a festival or carnival, a ski lodge, a cabin in the woods or an area with attractions such as national parks, theme parks and museums. Or, if you stay in a rural area, head into the city for a weekend visit. Kids get bored on long car rides, so find locations you can reach within two hours or less of driving.
  
  

Get Cultured

• A puppetry show is a fun idea.dolls from a puppet theater image by terex from Fotolia.com
  
  Consider activities you wouldn't normally think of. Check websites and neighborhood newspapers to see what's taking place in your city's parks and downtown district, and you'll find all kinds of events. Take the kids to see a figure skating show or a reenactment of a Civil War battle or an Old West gunfight or a play in an outdoor amphitheater. Schedule a jazz or ballroom or salsa dance lesson. See a film feature in an old movie house or a puppetry show or interactive dinner theater.