Top Survival Items for a Teen Girls' First Semi-Formal Dance

When your teen girl is attending her first semi-formal there are a number of must-have personal items you should give her.

This guide is not about the obvious: a semi-formal dress, new shoes, a purse, and maybe even gloves.

These are items to give a teen girl before she goes to her semi-formal dance, or more likely, before you drop her off a the school. All of these items can and should fit into her purse. If she does not have a small hand-carry or delicate purse, you can purchase one for her as well and fill it with these goodies.

These must-have items will keep her from some potentially embarrassing situations, ease her mind, and allow her to enjoy the evening out.

#1 Top Must-Have Items for a Girls' First Semi-Formal Dance: A Small Sewing Kit

A small sewing kit, that comes with needles already threaded inside of a small soft plastic case. The small sewing kit should also include two or three safety pins in varying sizes, in case she needs to re-do a strap.

#2 Top Must-Have Items for a Girls' First Semi-Formal Dance: Extra Bobby Pins

For teen girls with longer hair, some kind of up-swept hair might be the look of the night. Slide an extra five or 10 hair-colored bobby pins into the above sewing kit. If the teen girl's hair begins to come undone a little bit, she can easily use the bobby pins to help her hair withstand the rest of the dance.

#3 Top Must-Have Items for a Girls' First Semi-Formal Dance: Listerine Breath Strips

A small package of cinnamon Listerine Breath Strips will help the teen girl feel confident about her breath all night. Other items like mints can be bulky and noisy. A pack of gum could encourage her to engage in some un-lady like gum chewing at the dance. A spray bottle of breath freshener may be too bulky for a small purse.

#4 Top Must-Have Items for a Girls' First Semi-Formal Dance: Money

Be sure to slip some change and a $20 bill into the sewing kit. The change is for use of the school's pay phone for the teen girl without a cell phone (gasp!). The $20 is money in case the teen girl (with permission, of course) heads to the local pizza or ice cream joint after the dance with her date and his parents. It would just be nice for her have a little bit of money in case she needs it.

#5 Top Must-Have Items for a Girls' First Semi-Formal Dance: Lip Balm or Lip Gloss

For the girly teen, taking a lipstick or her favorite lip gloss is a no-brainer. For the teen girl that is not into make up, a lip balm or a clear lip gloss will help keep her lips dry in the warm room where the dance is being held. Parents, this does not mean her first semi-formal dance will lead to her first kiss, just that it might.