How to Have the Perfect Sleepover

The perfect sleepover is a great way to send the kids back to school. The guests can go to school talking about the wonderful time they had. The sleepover party can become the talk of the school. This popularity gains many brownie points for the parents willing to take on the task.It is not hard to have the perfect sleepover. With some planning and a few guidelines, the night can be enjoyable for everyone -- guests, parents, and siblings.

Instructions

The Guests

1. Invite only a minimum number of guests. You do not need 15 or 20 guests. You can have a great sleepover with only 4 or 5 guests. This gives these people the ability to get to know each other. Also, inviting too many guests may mean the guests will break off into their own groups. You want to be able to include everyone in all the activities.

2. Choose the guests you are familiar with. Parents should know the guests and feel comfortable with them being in the house for the night. Kids who may cause problems, or who have caused problems in the past should be avoided. You do not want children who may want to play pranks on the neighbors at 3 o'clock in the morning

3. Determine any food allergies or other medical conditions of any of the guests. This will enable you to better plan a menu for the sleepover. Some people have medication which must be administered before bedtime. These things should be discussed with the other parents before the child is dropped off for the sleepover.

4. Collect names, addresses, and phone numbers of the parent or guardian of each guest. If there is a problem during the night, you want to be able to reach who ever is in charge. Some children are uncomfortable being away from home. Make arrangements for early pick up if one of the guests becomes upset about being in a strange home for the night.

The Snacks

1. Choose healthy snacks. This means fruits and vegetables. These food items can still be fun when they are presented with different dips. Ranch dressing goes well with carrots and celery. Caramel dip or whipped cream can add fun to any fruit.

2. Limit the intake of fluids. This keeps any night time accidents to a minimum. Offer things like juice or flavored waters instead of soda or other sugary drinks. You can make these drinks enjoyable for the sleepover by adding fruit to ice cubes.

3. Determine if there will be a meal which needs to be served. Some sleepovers may start before other families have eaten supper. If a meal is to be served, make it a simple affair. Buns with lunch meats and the guest's choice of condiments may be all that is needed. Add side dishes like macaroni salad or bowls of flavored popcorn. A fun activity which can be used at the perfect sleepover is having guests make their own pizzas. See the activities section below for more details.

Sleepover Activities

1. Divide the guests into two teams. Have pizza dough spread out on the pizza pans. Supply an assortment of toppings. Blindfold one guest from each team. The teams then have to tell the blindfolded guest how to make the pizza. The fun part is when you inform the guests they will be eating what ever creation they concocted. This also keeps waste to a minimum.

2. Plan an indoor treasure hunt. Determine the prize before hand. Hide clues throughout the house. The guests can find one clue which will lead them to another clue. It is best to have two treasures which compliment each other. For instance, one treasure could be ice cream, while the other could be the toppings for a banana split. Everyone is a winner with this sleepover activity.

3. Move back the furniture in one room and create a stage. Give teams 10 minutes to come up with a skit. Offer suggestions on slips of paper as to what the skit should be about. The skits can include names of popular songs or movies. It can be fun to see what the teams come up with to get the other team to guess the answer.

4. Photograph all the activities of the sleepover. You can send each guest home with a picture of the fun times they shared with their friends. This is always great for many laughs in the days to come.

Tips & Warnings

• Talk to the other parents to determine if there are certain things they do not let their children do. Some parents are more strict than others when it comes to television programming or computer access.

• Keep animals contained for the night of the sleepover. Many times the animals do not understand all the excitement and may react in a negative manner.