by Sarah Hawn

Created on: June 01, 2009   Last Updated: June 05, 2009

What exactly is a " tween"? It is a young adolescent that is between the ages of 12 and teen years. It is the in between stage between elementary school and middle school. But what exactly can parents do to make their tween's parties fun and safe at the same time?

There are ways you can make it fun and give off the impression that you are still the cool parent that knows how to throw a good party. When picking out music, simply use good judgement when it comes to lyrics and what you think is appropriate for a tween to listen to. Tween's may also like to do karaoke so you may consider renting one of those machines as a source of entertainment. Also, treat the guests like they are maturing teens not still in elementary school. They want to feel accepted as their age and want to know what it is liked to be treated as a young maturing adolescents that are just learning about social skills.

When it comes to etiquette and safety at a party you can do many things to prevent accidents and make sure that the guests act in a good manner. For instance, you could remove any type of breakable items from your living room or area that you plan to entertain in. You should also be careful when it comes to candles and matches. Have the guests stand back a little ways while you light the candles on the cake in order to prevent any mishaps. Showing etiquette such as asking for a drink or food is a good way to show a tween sociable skills and how to respect older people. You should also provide enough plates and napkins and cups in order to serve various foods and drinks in. If it is not a problem, ask the guests to please throw away their plates or cups after finishing or put it in a safe place where someone will not accidentally spill it.

If you are hosting a dance, invite both boys and girls and teach the boys how to ask the girls to dance. If a boy is shy just explain to him how to ask the girl to dance. For instance you could say something like. " if you like that girl, whom you think is pretty, just try and go up to her and touch her on the shoulder and ask her if she would like to dahce with you.".

This may make kids nervous, but they will eventually appreciate it when it comes to asking out girls in the near future. There are also other types of parties such as swimming parties, beach parties and you could even take them to the movies to celebrate their birthdays. If you are having a swim party, just simply state your rules about running around the pool when it is wet, so that the kids will be aware that they could fall and get hurt. At beach style parties, simply just supervise where they are and make sure they don't take off too long of a distance. At the movies they just need to learn how to keep quiet during the movie or keep their voices low so that the other's in the audience won't feel disturbed.

Young people who are referred to ask tweens needs to have some boundaries set and need to have positive role models to teach them about how acting in society in a good way can benefit them They will grow up to be more respected, and liked members of their generation and surrounding society.

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