What to do for a Sixteenth Birthday?

May 27, 2008 8:06 AM

I'm looking for gift ideas for my daughter's sixteenth birthday. She's not into the traditional Sweet 16 routine but still, I feel like the gift has to be more significant than a regular old B-day gift. About her: musical hippie type (has good guitar and equipment already), California girl relocated to Moscow Idaho two years ago; mellow, sweet girl. ANY ideas greatly appreciated.
posted by knolan to society & culture (26 comments total)

I think we need a bit more to go on... All we know so far is she likes music. If she also likes singing and party games, I'd say the PlayStation with Singstar. So much fun!
posted by neblina_matinal at 8:20 AM on May 27, 2008

She isn't into video games per se but Sing Star or Guitar Hero would probably be right up her alley. I'd have to buy the system AND the game but I don't mind that. I guess what I'm really looking for though is something that will be more significant than the usual birthday gift since it is birthday number 16 - and society has labeled that as THE birthday where one becomes a woman (or some nonsense like that! Damn society!)

Last year her present was tickets to her first big concert: Red Hot CHili Peppers (her favorite band) So it was a cool present - but also significant in that it was her first big rock concert. I should have save that for this year.
posted by knolan at 8:29 AM on May 27, 2008

She has some recording equipment? The Zoom H2 isn't such a girly gift, I don't think, but could be cool for her if she's working on her music a lot.

Just a thought, I don't know many 16 year old girls, and the ones that I do are pretty musical.

Maybe a fiddle? The musical 16 year old girls I know all play fiddle, and they absolutely are fanatic about it. It's pretty cool to see. And I'd bet there is a lot of good fiddle music in Idaho for her to learn.
posted by sully75 at 8:31 AM on May 27, 2008 [1 favorite]

Knowing nothing more than that she's hippie-ish and musical, I second the idea of an instrument. Fiddle, uke, or something weirder and more exotic like a lute.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:32 AM on May 27, 2008

I got a local indie all-girls rock band to play in my yard for my daughter's 13th. Cost me $200.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:34 AM on May 27, 2008

What about doing something with her? Like a trip -- back to Cali where you came from, or to some big city. Maybe let her bring a friend along -- when I turned 16, my parents took me and a friend to Toronto to see Phantom of the Opera. We got to wander around the city (within reason) and it was great. Take her to another concert maybe -- something totally different than a rock band like last year. Maybe a symphony or something? And then also some smaller but significant item to mark the year. Jewelry or an instrument or a puppy!
posted by dpx.mfx at 8:36 AM on May 27, 2008

Seconding the idea of a brief trip. Travel made me feel more grown-up than any object when I was 16.
posted by mynameisluka at 8:38 AM on May 27, 2008

BTW on the odd chance the fiddle idea sounded good (having no idea what kind of music she likes, I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not), I have it on strong authority (experienced violin maker friend of mine) that the Eastman 305 is the best balance of price/useability for a new instrument, and that they tend to be very consistent. They are in the $1100 range. Good luck, nice of you to make it a special birthday for her.
posted by sully75 at 8:42 AM on May 27, 2008

A snazzy bike, if she doesn't already have one? The freedom to travel around is a nice thing, and it's environmentally-friendly :) Or, what about a nice digital camera and a book on photography that's written in a style she'd like?
posted by rivenwanderer at 8:44 AM on May 27, 2008

Back on the second instrument idea. What about accordion? My son's a, ahem, jazz/rock musician; his band and bunches of others now seem to have accordions. It's not your father's polka anymore.
posted by nax at 8:47 AM on May 27, 2008

Is there something of yours/your family's that she has admired? Not necessarily "family jewelry" but something she would think of as significant (or a "family teapot" or "family decorative plate" or whatever?). You could pass that along to her with a letter about what a sweet person she has grown into.

As an aside, don't feel like you should have "saved" her first concert - she probably had an awesome time and would not have traded that!
posted by KAS at 8:55 AM on May 27, 2008

Actually, I just had what I think is a good idea. Depending on how much you want to spend, take her and a friend out for a day or weekend of fun and let your daughter choose something to buy/make/find to remind her of her birthday in her own way.
posted by KAS at 8:58 AM on May 27, 2008

A gift certificate for an alternative book store?
posted by Carol Anne at 9:01 AM on May 27, 2008

Learning a second instrument is a lot of work. Some musicians like the challenge, but some prefer to put all that energy into their main instrument. And even for the people who want a second instrument, which instrument is a pretty personal choice. I'd be thrilled with an accordion, for instance, but a nice fiddle would be completely wasted on me. I have friends who'd have exactly the opposite preference.

Anyway, I wouldn't go buying her a fiddle or accordion unless you already know she's interested.

A better present might be a trip to a really good guitar shop (this could be combined with some of the travel ideas above if the options in your city aren't great) and some money to spend on what she wants: gear or sheet music or a second instrument or whatever.
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:13 AM on May 27, 2008

I got a camera for my 16th birthday. It was a lot of money for my parents, and it lasted for several years, through lots of use and abuse. (Although, most pre-kindergarteners today probably have their own cameras.)
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 9:16 AM on May 27, 2008

nthing travel! a friend of mine let her daughters choose where they wanted to go on their 15th birthday. one chose ireland, one chose japan. i thought it was the coolest thing in the world and was very jealous. obviously you don't have to take your daughter to france, but even a nice little road trip would be fun AND give the two of you some bonding time.
posted by kerning at 9:22 AM on May 27, 2008

It's jewelry dude. She'll want something to remember this time when she's old enough to look back.

You could also give her a custom bound book of poetry with "To X, on her 16th birthday" embossed on the cover with the title. Here's the book: 7 Tradition, 7 Modern Poets. Now, you need to find a bindary. There's always Save-A-Book.
posted by ewkpates at 9:24 AM on May 27, 2008

Show her she can be strong and beautiful by giving her an expensive, tasteful piece of jewelry (it'll be useful) or some such, and also taking -- both of you -- a martial-arts or self-defense class together. You'll be able to talk to her on the way to & from each night of the class.
posted by amtho at 9:27 AM on May 27, 2008

Maybe combine the trip and the concert? I was given a trip to NYC for my 16th birthday, and tickets to a couple of cool off-Broadway shows, because that was more my thing than rock concerts when I was that age. Substitute destination and show as appropriate.
posted by somanyamys at 9:45 AM on May 27, 2008

Trip sounds good.

Maybe a gift certificate to a favorite music supply store? If she's a guitarist, she has to get her strings and picks from somewhere.
posted by spinifex23 at 10:18 AM on May 27, 2008

Another vote for trip! Go to your nearest big city (Seattle? Portland?) for a weekend; give her a budget to shop for something, go to a cool restaurant or go to a show. A super fun experience when you're 16!
posted by Kololo at 11:21 AM on May 27, 2008

Take her to Chicago to see Wicked before it closes in January 2009.
posted by Joleta at 1:41 PM on May 27, 2008

When I turned 16, the one thing I wanted more than anything was a car. Why has no one mentioned that?
posted by booknerd at 2:53 PM on May 27, 2008

Custom made jewellery.

Pick a lovely stone, her birthstone perhaps or something unique and unusual like a hunk of boulder opal and ask a jeweller to set it in a style that reflects all the beauty in your daughter. A bit of a hippy girl might like this hand-made work.

For me at sixteen it was all about symbolism, innocent sensuality and the future. Jewellery gave me a totem/token for all my dreams. Jewellery lasts, can be passed on, and is small enough to take almost everywhere in life.
posted by Kerasia at 4:34 PM on May 27, 2008

I think a grown-up trip sounds like a great idea to mark the rite of passage to "adulthood". A big-city trip is a significant experience at that age, especially when you get to make choices about where to go and how to spend time and money while there.

Having said that, my parents bought me a pretty pair of antique garnet earrings for my 16th. At the time, I wasn't all that into the girlie stuff, but it was the first "real" jewelry I owned, I wore them for special occasions, and years later they still have a lot of significance and are a sweet reminder of the turning point from girlhood to womanhood.
posted by amusebuche at 7:45 AM on May 28, 2008

BIRTHDAY DECISION MADE ! ! !

WOW! So many good ideas! Here’s what I decided:

1. USEFUL AND COOL THING - Zoom H2 - bought this right away. She’s always saying “Wanna hear this new song I wrote”. definitely ready for a recording advice.

2. FUN THING - Travel - Thought about going to Seattle to see Avenue Q (southwest has great deals right now) but she has been invited camping in Joseph OR with her best friend from Jan 7 - 17 (one day before her birthday) so I am making a road trip gift certificate to the place of her choice within a certain amount of miles.

3. MEMORABLE THING - Jewelry - not sure what yet but something significant that she can keep for a long time and maybe even pass down some day.

HONORABLE MENTIONS :

Accordion / Second instrument. She had one once because we are big Sharon Shannon fans but it didn’t work out for her. Same with fiddle - tried that in first grade. She plays sax in the school jazz band so sax & guitar keep her pretty busy.

Bicycle - still thinking about this. She does need one.

Car - She doesn’t have her license and isn’t overly interested in getting one. How lucky am I!?

Puppy - Got one in January. See him here

Thanks so much for you help everyone!
posted by knolan at 11:33 AM on May 29, 2008