As a parent, you already know how picky teens can be about things like party gifts. Chances are, your adolescent wants to be a part of the birthday party planning, choose his or her own birthday party favors and help pick out birthday party supplies. It's a big difference from those early days when you could choose party favors from any party supply store and have a happy kid!

There are some advantages to having your child help with their birthday party planning. It makes it very easy to pick out "cool" birthday party favors, after all. In order to make sure it all runs smoothly, you may want to have a few birthday party supplies for your teen to choose from . . . rather than letting them start from scratch.

First, consider the theme. If your birthday girl or boy is interested in music and is looking to have a music themed bash, then you might want to check out some music theme party gifts. Miniature instruments, chocolate bars with an American Idol theme, or notebooks with music notes are all excellent options.

Keep in mind that edible favors are going to be very big with this crowd. Everyone knows that teens tend to eat more, so on top of providing plenty of great snacks and cake at the party, fill their goody bags with personalized candy. Lollipops, chocolate bars and mints are all good choices and can be one or more of the favors that are handed out.

For girls, there are plenty of pretty flower favors available, from picture frames (which can be filled with a photo of all the girls from the party) to notepads and even jewelry. The trick here is to choose a party favor that everyone attending can enjoy. 

If there's a mixed party, then consider getting some edible favors for everyone and then specializing with girly items for the girls in the group and sports or car themed items for the guys. This ensures that everyone will be happy and can also be a lot easier than trying to find picture frames that work for both genders, for example. 

There are plenty of options in party gifts, but it's a good idea to let your teen in on the birthday party planning so they can veto any birthday party favors or birthday party supplies that they feel wouldn't be appropriate. It's tough to know just what is going on in that teen brain, so make sure they help choose the party favors. You'll probably have best luck looking at party supply shops online, where you'll find more variety.