How to Plan the Purr-fect Sleepover for Your Kids

Sleepovers are a BIG part of every kid’s childhood, so when it’s your turn to host a slumber party, you need to make sure you have everything you need to make the night unforgettable. The perfect sleepover consists of great friends, good food, fun activities, and, of course, the perfect kid's pajamas! We want to share a few good recipes and activities for your kids to try, but don’t forget to check out our selection of pajamas to really get the paw-ty started!

BONUS TIP: Have you thought about letting your child pick a theme for the slumber party? Having a theme can make it easier to choose snacks and activities since a theme gives you an idea to work with and around. A few potential themes could include Animals, Hollywood Glam, or even Camping!

GOOD FOOD: Snacks to Make Every Sleepover a Success

A few foods are famously featured at most sleepovers, like pizza, popcorn, candy, and cookies. If you want to get extra creative (and a little healthier), you can also try:

- Veggie & Fruit Platters: Available at most grocery stores (but also easy to make yourself), these trays feature conveniently sized grapes, sliced strawberries, diced pineapple, baby carrots, celery sticks, or pieces of broccoli with dipping sauce. Even kids who don’t usually eat healthy snacks won’t be able to resist this spread!
- Mini Pizzas: You can make these from scratch and let your kids and their friends make their own mini pizzas! This will save you from buying lots of pizza and prevent any fights from breaking out over who gets the last slice. As a bonus, you can pick out ingredients that are healthier alternatives to those found in frozen and takeout pizzas!
- DIY Smoothies: Another snack that can double as a fun activity for the kids is to let each of them make their own smoothie! Smoothies are a healthy alternative to store-bought ice cream, and your kids will feel grown-up getting to use the blender and decide what ingredients to use (depending on how old they are). Add an extra dash of fun by letting them drink their smoothies with long, curly, crazy straws!
- Themed Snacks: Remember those themes we mentioned? There are lots of fun, unique ways to tailor your kids’ snacks to suit the sleepover’s theme. For example, if your daughter and her friends are having a Princess themed sleepover, you can serve tea and cucumber sandwiches to help them feel super sophisticated. If your son and his friends are camping, you can roast hotdogs for dinner and then marshmallows for s’mores! Get as creative as possible.

FUN ACTIVITIES: Keeping Everyone Entertained All Evening
Kids are easily bored, which is why one of the most important things you can do to ensure that your sleepover is a success is to have lots of activities planned! The activities you choose are going to depend on your kids’ ages, of course, so keep that in mind and tweak our ideas as necessary to suit your situation.

- DIY Snacks: Let your kids get involved in food/snack preparation! Doing so will pass a good amount of time and help them feel very grown-up, especially if they aren’t usually involved with food prep in the home. You can also let them serve each other food like they’re in a restaurant just for fun!
- Play Board/Card Games: Some of our favorite childhood memories involve playing board games and card games with our families and friends. Break out the collection you’ve stored in your closet and let the kids choose which game to play! Keep in mind that not every game is meant for all ages, so be selective about which ones to offer as options. If your kids are a little older, they may enjoy a more complicated game like Scrabble or Monopoly, but if they’re younger, something with simpler rules, like Checkers, will probably be more enjoyable for everyone involved.
- Karaoke/Dance Party: Bust out all of your kids’ favorite songs! Let them show off their moves and sing their favorite tunes all night long. You don’t need a karaoke machine or even a microphone to make this work. There are plenty of “karaoke versions” of songs online that kids can sing along to if they’re old enough, but you can also just blast the regular versions of songs and let everyone dance and sing along. Even the shyest kids will surprise you with their talents!
- Themed Activities: If you’re having a Spa Night, you can’t let the night pass you by without letting the kids put on face masks, wear cucumbers on their eyes, or paint their nails. If your theme is Hollywood Glam, let the kids play dress-up and walk the red carpet for a photoshoot! Pretend campers can tell ghost stories around a fireplace, and princes/princesses can have tea parties and dance at the ball. Though there are a lot of activities that work for sleepovers in general, having a theme can really tie it all together when it comes to planning fun activities for your kids and their friends.