Princesses, glitter, and all things pink. If you're looking for girls' bday party ideas, you're going to have a hard time finding something that goes beyond conventional girly-girl themes.

And that's fine if that's what your kid is into. Please glitter away and make sure you have a basket of tiaras on hand. But if your kid doesn't love girly parties, you need a new plan. Luckily, we're here to help. Here are our top 10 girls' birthday party ideas for when you need to buck the conventions—and some for when you just need to upgrade them a bit.

1. Tea Party

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A tea party is one of the more classically feminine girls' bday party ideas, but it doesn't have to be. It all depends on your theme. Here are some potential themes that we love for an at-home tea party:

• Seasonal: If your kid's birthday is in the fall, for instance, go for an autumnal theme complete with cinnamon-flavored black tea (hot cider if they're really young), apple-and-ham tea sandwiches, and pastries such as cider donuts.
• Rock 'n' roll: Encourage kids to come dressed like rockers, then provide them with some rainbow-colored clip-in hair extensions. Whip up some Elvis-approved peanut-butter-and-banana tea sandwiches and serve them and other finger foods on plates shaped like records.
• Slumber party: Consider making it a tea party breakfast after an actual slumber party. Otherwise, have kids dress in their pjs and bring their favorite stuffed animal. Give them tiny french-toast tea sandwiches and pastries such as mini cinnamon rolls.

Go Out

If your daughter is older, treat her and a group of friends to afternoon tea at a fancy tea place. Afternoon teas are typically served around 3 or 4 p.m. and come with pots of tea, scones, clotted cream, tiny cakes, and crustless finger sandwiches. Despite its more casual-sounding name, it's even fancier than high tea, so it's the perfect opportunity for the birthday party to practice their manners and British accents.

Browse our collection of teas (from $3.98).

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2. Bounce Party

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This is easy, just rent a bounce house. A bounce house is one of the more classic bday party ideas for girls for a reason: kids love jumping up and down on bouncy things. Consider enhancing your bounce-house party with a kiddie pool filled with plastic balls. Decorate the yard with bright balloons and set out a spread with classic barbecue eats.

Go Out

Book a party at a trampoline park and kick back with the rest of the adults as the kids jump around for a couple hours. Parties are often private and typically include pizza and soda, as well as party hosts.

Find deals on bounce-house rentals and trampoline parks.

3. Gaming Party

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Transform your house and backyard into a fun game land filled with multiple game stations.

Inside: Convert the basement or family room into a game room by covering the windows, grouping plenty of floor pillows and poufs around the TV, and picking up a couple extra controllers for the family game console (a minimum of four is ideal, and a controller can count as a bday present).

Outside: Pick up several different types of lawn games—such as bags, bocce, and giant beer pong (no beer needed)—and add stations throughout the back and front yard. Encourage a bit of friendly competition by hosting a tournament for the girls. Reward the top team with prizes.

Go Out

Avoid all of the massive cleanup and just take your daughter and her friends to a family fun center. There, they'll zip around in go-karts, hit balls on the mini-golf course and in the batting cages, play video games, and devour pizza and soda in the party room.

Browse our collection of lawn games (from $7.99).

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4. Yoga Party

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First things first, create a zen atmosphere in your home. Light a few candles, put on a zen playlist, and unroll several yoga mats on the floor. (To avoid any yoga-mat hoarding, let each girl take one home with her as a party favor). Have a tasty spread full of healthy foods, from avocado toast to smoothies to a yogurt bar with plenty of toppings.

For the actual yoga part, consider hiring a private instructor, who can teach the kids proper poses. Otherwise, pop in a yoga DVD.

Go Out

Call your local yoga studio and schedule a private studio class for the girls. Have everyone come dressed in leggings and then give them all matching T-shirts that are personalized with their names. Hit up the smoothie bar when you're done.

Browse our collection of yoga gear (from $2.99).

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5. Spa Party

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Like the yoga party, an at-home spa party requires a peaceful atmosphere complete with low lighting and soft music. Provide the girls with their own spa robes and cloth headbands optionally personalized with their names written in puffy paint. Set out a pitcher of cucumber spa water and bowls of nuts and fruit.

Hire a few spa professionals to come to your home and give the girls mani-pedis, facials complete with fun masks, and makeup. If you prefer to keep everything DIY, ask a couple of the girls' moms to man a station and help out with the pampering.

Go Out

Spa parties are among the trendiest girls' bday party ideas, so much so that kids' spas catering to tweens and younger girls have sprouted up all over the country. The best ones treat girls to basic spa treatments, provide them with robes and cucumber eye masks, and ply them with cups of pink lemonade and cupcakes.

Browse our collection of spa goods (from $5.99).

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6. Mermaid Party

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In addition to decorating with fishing nets, sea-foam and blue balloons, and sandwiches shaped like star fish, there are two main ways you can incorporate a mermaid theme into a birthday party at your house:

• If you have a pool: Buy a couple of swimmable mermaid tails and let kids take turns pretending to be a mermaid while splashing around.
• If you are pool-less: Set up a mermaid beauty station, where girls can apply shimmery makeup and have their hair braided into a fishtail. (Our fishtail video can teach you how to easily braid the girls' hair.) Don't forget to grab some long, colorful wigs for the girls to take pictures in.

Whether you have a pool or not, buy a collection of cozy mermaid-tail blankets for kids to take home as party favors.

Go Out

Two words: mermaid school. Places such as AquaMermaid Chicago exist in real life, and they can teach a birthday girl and her friends how to be a mermaid.

Browse our collection of swimmable mermaid tails and mermaid tail blankets (from $13.99).

7. Cowgirl Party

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This type of party relies heavily on decorations. So grab some hay bales, gingham tablecloths, and wildflower-filled mason jars. Then set up a photo-booth area filled with cowgirl-themed props, such as a Wanted poster and a lasso. Make sure you have enough hats and bandannas for each guest.

Consider renting a pony or two for the day. While not cheap, you can typically rent them for an hour or two for a couple hundred bucks.

Go Out

Head to a local stable for some group horseback riding lessons. If your daughter loves horses, she'll be ecstatic to actually get to ride them for her birthday party. She'll also be pumped to learn basic horse care, from grooming to tacking, activities that help create a stronger bond between rider and horse.

Find deals on horseback-riding lessons.

8. Movie Party

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An at-home movie screening is a super low-key birthday party idea for girls, especially when everyone comes dressed in their pjs. Play your daughter's favorite movies and load up on the classic snacks: pizza, popcorn, candy, and soda. Create a cozy home-theater space complete with blackout shades and comfy floor pillows.

Go Out

For an equally low-key birthday, take a group of girls to the movie theater. See if the theater does anything special for birthday parties. Some have special options for kids' parties that include a screening in a private theater, pizza and popcorn, and even extra activities to keep kids from getting antsy.

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9. Detective Party

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Encourage kids' curiosity by throwing a detective-themed birthday complete with a scavenger hunt in the neighborhood to find a prize. Other potential games to include:

• Secret-message decoding: Create a code and secret message and see if the kids can figure it out.
• Candy taste test: give kids blindfolds and ask them to determine which candy bar they're eating.
• Basement obstacle course: Fill it with things like laser beams (pieces of string) that kids have to crawl under.

Go Out

Head to an escape room and challenge the party-goers to solve a series of puzzles and clues before the time runs out. Room-escape facilities put a lot of effort into making their game rooms realistic-looking, which adds to the excitement. Room-escape games are especially perfect for kids who love playing video games.

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10. Art Party

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Is your daughter a budding Mary Cassatt or Frida Kahlo? Host an art party, and set up different art stations in the house. Try canvases and washable paint, coloring books and pencils, and blank white T-shirts and puffy paint. Outside, you can set up a squirt-gun paint station complete with white canvases and cheap squirt guns filled with water-thinned paint. Consider hiring a face-painter to come in for a couple hours.

Go Out

Host a pottery-painting party at Color Me Mine or a similar paint-your-own-pottery place. Kids love it because they get to pick their own figurine or dish to paint, which they're encouraged to decorate however they want. Most painting parties come with an instructor to help kids out.

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