Hobbies And Interests
Treasure Hunts
With just a small amount of preparation, a treasure hunt can be a great way to spark girls&' imaginations. Tailor the treasure hunt to something the group is interested in, whether it be a hunt for books by famous authors at the library, things from the natural world, or small trinkets of a certain theme that you hid at the party site. Girls like competition, but they&'re also social beings, so place them in teams to complete the hunt.
Friendship Necklaces
Creating "friendship bracelets with a twist" allows girls to feel empowered by their friends and get creative at the same time. Get a stock of different beads--large ones, small ones, metallic, colored, and glass ones--and enough string to make one necklace for each girl. Then have each girl choose one bead for each person in the group. Ask the girls to think of a reason--something nice, of course--why they chose that bead for that person. Then go around in a circle, focusing on each girl one at a time, and have the others give her the bead and tell her why they chose it for her. When all the beads are distributed, the girls can place the beads on the string in whatever order they choose.
Impressions
Ongoing studies show that negative interactions, as well as unrealistic media images have a big impact on the way young people see themselves. In response to that, the "Impressions" activity gives girls a chance to reinforce each others&' self esteem. Get large pieces of paper and have a friend draw an outline of each girl. Without the girl present, have her friends fill in the the outline with eyes, a mouth, nose, clothing and everything else. Next to the various body parts, have the girls write their positive impressions of their friend. For example, girls could write "thoughtful" next to the drawing&'s head, and "creative" next to the hands. Instruct the girls that this game is meant to uplift and support each other, and no negative impressions are allowed.
Fashion Show
Put together a "boutique" of clothing--scarves, hats, shoes, boas, jewelry and purses, and have the girls stage a fashion show. Size-appropriate clothing is great, but girls can often have even more fun by wearing adult stuff. When they&'re dressed, girls can spend some time doing each other&'s hair and makeup. Stage the fashion show to music and have an announcer describe the fashions as they come down the runway.
Nail Polish Hot Potato
Nail polish hot potato can be a fun and cool game that will give each girl a manicure in the process, though it could get long if you have a large group! Have the girls sit in a circle, and hand one of them a bottle of nail polish. Have the girls pass the bottle while you play a song. When you stop the music, the girl left with the bottle must paint one nail of the girl sitting directly across from her. Whoever gets all her nails painted first wins!