Throw a super sleepover party
We've gathered the dreamiest collection of fun and games to help you through the waking hours and make the "slumber party" a night to remember. (Lucy Schaeffer/FamilyFun Magazine/TNS)
Candy jewelry and self-designed pillowcases help make a sleepover an even more memorable experience. (Lucy Schaeffer/FamilyFun Magazine/TNS)
There are endless games to play with a roomfull of balloons. (Lucy Schaeffer/FamilyFun Magazine/TNS)
Give out take-home flashlights early so that your guests can light up the night and play Catch a Firefly and other games. (Lucy Schaeffer/FamilyFun Magazine/TNS)
Your pajama-clad guests will not have gotten the memo about sleeping because, yes, “slumber party” is an oxymoron. That’s why we’ve gathered the dreamiest collection of fun and games, snacks and crafts to help you through the waking hours and make it a night to remember (in a good way).
Game on! Kids can shake their sillies out with a few of these ridiculous romps. Bonus: If you tire them out early, you’ll have a shot at catching a few winks yourself.
CATCH A FIREFLY
You can play this hide-and-seek variation in the dark, indoors or out. Designate a firefly catcher, then give the other players flashlights. The players who hide must flash their lights once every 30 seconds or so (counting silently). The catcher tries to find and tag each firefly. Last one tagged becomes the next hunter.
Flashy Favors: Give out take-home flashlights early so that your guests can light up the night and play Catch a Firefly and other games.
PIGGLY-WIGGLY
To get ’em giggly, try this silly game. Name a Boss Hog, who leaves the room while everybody else hides in their (or someone else’s) sleeping bags. Everyone ready? The boss returns, sits on a sleeping bag (gently!), and says, “Piggly-wiggly.” The bag’s occupant responds, “Oink, oink,” and the boss must guess who’s inside. If he’s right, he stays the boss. Wrong, and the “oinker” takes over.
GLOW BALL
Make your crew’s hoop dreams come true by decorating an indoor foam-basketball set with glow-in-the-dark paint (do this a day or two before the party so that it can dry thoroughly) and letting them play in a darkened room. For a twist on the classic shooting game Horse, use the host’s name instead: if a player misses a shot, she gets a letter, until the whole name is spelled and that player is out.
SHRINKY GROOVE
Bust a move — a nice small move. Select a playlist of fast-paced songs and pick one player (or a parent) to deejay. Have pairs of players stand on a full sheet of newspaper. The DJ plays a tune and demonstrates a move, and the teams must dance, staying on their paper. When the music stops, the dancers stop and fold their paper in half, and the process begins again. If a dancer steps off the paper, that team sits down. The game goes on, and the dance floors continue to shrink, until one team remains.
BALLOON-ACY
What do you get when you release a bunch of balloons into a crowd of kids? Falling-on-the-floor laughter! For extra fun, play Air Pairs. Divide kids into teams of two and have them link arms. Teams race to a finish line, volleying their balloons along the way. If a balloon touches the ground at any point, that team goes back and starts again.
SETTLE-IN CRAFTIVITIES
Let kids chill out and get hands-on with craft projects that’ll wake up their creativity. Here are two that fit the bill.
CANDY CRUSH
For some edible glamour, string necklaces using a mix of jewel-like soft candies (see our notes for some good picks). Give each guest a plastic needle, a length of thin yarn or baker’s twine, and a damp paper towel to wipe the needle before and between piercings. Easiest way to do it: start with the center “bead,” then add the desired beads along one side. Next, switch the needle to the opposite string end and thread the remaining pieces.
Good picks:
Colored Twizzlers: Sliced sections slide on like beads — squeeze the ends to pop them open.
Gummy Raspberries: These need a little extra pressure to pierce.
Swedish Fish: Hook them so that the right side faces out.
Gummy Life Savers: Holes make these super simple to string.
Gummy Bears: Classics for a touch of cute!
Gummy Letters: We found these online (the smaller ones are easier to use).
PARTY PILLOW
Guests will have sweet dreams snoozing on a custom keepsake. First, have the kids create stamps by pressing adhesive craft-foam shapes (handmade or store-bought) onto wood blocks. After applying a thin coat of paint with a foam brush to the stamps, kids can use them to decorate prewashed pillowcases (slip some cardboard inside to prevent bleed-through). To change colors, rinse the stamps under running water. After the paint dries, set it according to package instructions. Kids can autograph each other’s pillowcases with fabric markers.
