Allow your daughter to choose whom to invite, but limit the guest list so it’s manageable for you. Plan on not getting much sleep yourself. a slumber party is usually a simple seat-of-the-pants party where no plans are made ahead of time. However, you will find it easier to keep them occupied if you have some suggestions and activities ready in case they get bored, just don’t over-plan.
Allow the girls to make their own plans. Limit activities to your own yard for safety reasons, or one room in the house if possible. Don’t allow them to go off on their own without supervision.
Some ideas to have on hand: music, dress up clothing box, craft box, board games for more than two (twister, pictionary, etc.), Treasure or scavenger hunt, Let’s Make a Deal, (Avoid truth or dare games). You can even supply basic colored t-shirts and have them make their own designs with clothing paint, sparkles, buttons and glue. You can also have a lot of buttons and safety pins on hand for them to make their own bracelets. Kids are creative, so get suggestions from them.
If you have planned this far enough ahead of time you may want some favors for the guests, such as lip gloss in cupcake containers, or nail kits and compacts (tweens love to put on makeup and primp) that they can use that night. Perhaps even get some small nail polish samplers (can be found at dollar stores) so they can experiment with different colors.
Food is always important for a slumber party. Mostly snack food, but you may want to limit the sugar for your own sanity. Kids love to make their own food, so here are a few suggestions:
- Pizza they make themselves using their own selection of ingredients. Have available ingredients such as: English muffins for crust, sausage, mushrooms, pepperoni, cheese, tomato sauce, green peppers, onions
- Sloppy Joes & Cheese Fries
- Root Beer Floats
- Seasoned popcorn, pop come popcorn and let them add their own flavorings (cheese, cayenne pepper, chocolate, caramel).
- Cupcake decorating – make plain cupcakes ahead of time and let them decorate their own
- Smores
- Breakfast – waffles with whipped cream an orange juice; bagles and cream cheese; fruit with cream dip.
- Snack foods – chips, dip, pretzels
If there are other siblings in the home, either make arrangements for them to sleep over somewhere else, or invite one friend for them to keep them busy – and not bugging the girls.
Tip: Although you want to let the girls come up with ideas on their own, you are still in control. Don't allow them to do things their own parents won't let them do. Pre-teens are always trying to push the envelope, so in choosing movies take into consideration parental limits to avoid conflicts with parents.
