Throwing an interesting and fun slumber party requires little preparation, but a lot of know how once it has started. To make this party a success, you need to be flexible, laid-back, and able to stay up past midnight without turning into a pumpkin. Try these tips and you’ll be on your way to a fabulous slumber party!

Note: These party ideas are intended for children ages 8-13

The Invitation:
-Make your own invitations by creating a rectangle card (you can cut a 4”x12” piece of cardstock and fold at the 6” line), and covering the top with a pre-quilted fabric. Put all the invitation details inside.
-To fake your own invitations, take a simple square invitation in any pattern you’d like and attach pajama embellishments (from the scrapbooking section of the craft store) to the edge.
-On the invitation, be sure to ask each child to bring the following: Sleeping bags, robes/pajamas/slippers, pillows, and anything else they might need for activities you’ll be doing.

Dress:
-Unless you’ll be going out, simply ask the kids to show up in their pajamas.

Decoration:
-For this kind of party there’s not much you’ll really need. F
-Flashlights for spooky stories
-Colorful bowls and fun glasses for the snacks you will be serving that night

The Food:
-Go for a low-fuss party staple like pizza to start things off. If this is a birthday party, serve the cake at this time.
-After dinner, make sure there are plenty of snacks on hand. Pretzels/Chips, dips, sodas and juices, popcorn, and if you’re brave- candy
-The next morning, start the kids off right with a hearty breakfast of pancakes, sausage and fruit to get them off the junk food wagon.

The Activities:
-Take everyone to the local roller rink for roller-skating after dinner, but before snacks. This would possibly tire them out early so they’ll settle in once back at your home.
-Pillow fights! Go one step further than the classic however, and do piggyback fighting. It’ll be more of a challenge. Be sure to do this on soft flooring.
-Have everyone bring their silliest clothing and do a slumber party fashion show. You can create a runway my unrolling streamers to block off a width of your floor and have the girls do their silliest, most outlandish walks down the runway. Place a couple of lamps low to the ground to imitate runway lighting. Tape the show to watch at the end of the night.
-Once things have started to wind down have all the girls gather in front of the tv for movies and snacks. If you’ve rented a scary movie, stop it midway and tell scary stories, finish with a silly one to lighten the mood.

Miscellaneous tips:
-Have the kids come over a little later than your normal dinner time so you won’t have a lot of empty/awkward space to fill. It’s going to be a long night!

Good luck!