• Eight-year-old girls may enjoy a cheerleading-themed birthday party.cheer learder image by Photoeyes from <a href='http://www.fotolia.com'>Fotolia.com</a>
  
  A girl's 8th birthday party should include lots of games and activities for the birthday girl to enjoy with her best friends. The birthday girl is old enough to help decide what kind of party to have for her 8th birthday and to pick out the activities she wants to have at the party. Each of these themed parties provides a framework for coming up with clever invitations, decorations, games and cake designs.
  
  

Cheerleading Party

• Young girls will enjoy getting a taste of junior high or high school life at a cheerleading party. Give each girl a pair of pompoms when they arrive, and tie ribbons in their hair. One party activity is for girls to work together to make up a birthday cheer routine. Having a real cheerleader from a high school or junior high squad come dressed in uniform to teach the party girls a cheer would be another way to do the activity. Serve snacks that would be available at a concession stand, such as popcorn, pizza and hot dogs. For the cake, cut a sheet cake into the shape of a megaphone and decorate it with a large number 8 in the style that would be found on a football jersey.
  
  

Pool Party

• For families that have a backyard swimming pool or can access one through a friend, relative or community center, a pool party gives girls a chance to splash around in the sun to celebrate a summer birthday. Write the invitation information on a deflated beach ball, and ask guests to bring their balls with them to the party. As a game in a backyard pool, divide girls into two teams and give each team an inflated inner tube holding a bucket in its center. Dump a large bag of ice cubes into the pool, and see which team can collect the most cubes. Hop out of the pool, and warm up in the sun while eating a round cake decorated with colored frosting to look like a beach ball.
  
  

Slumber Party

• By the time they are 7 or 8 years old, most girls are comfortable spending the night away from home at a slumber party. Make clever invitations by folding a fabric square in half and sewing or stapling the edges to make it look like a tiny pillowcase that holds the invitation card. As a craft, provide a plain white pillowcase for each girl and have the girls decorate their pillowcases with fabric markers or fabric paints. After it gets dark, have the girls lay out their sleeping bags and snack on popcorn as they watch a kid-friendly movie.