Slumber Birthday Party Ideas

Instead of a daytime party, host a slumber birthday party and have the guests spend the night!

Sleepover party ideas that I have here work great with children of various ages and genders. Have fun!

Resources:

Decorations

To welcome your slumber party guests, hang balloons and streamers on the mailbox and front door. Hang a sign that says "(your child's name) __th Slumber Birthday Party is Here!!!" near the front door.

You can remove furniture and breakables from the "sleeping area." Spread sleeping bags all over the sleepover party floor. Cut out paper stars, planets, and moons from construction paper. Paint them with glow-in-the-dark paints or pens. Hang the cutouts from the party room ceiling to create an "outdoors-under-the-stars" feel.

Play lullaby songs in the background to set the mood. Light the room with flashlights instead of regular lights. (You can also hang Christmas lights.) Hang robes and pajamas around the party room. Put signs on the doors that are "off limits" (e.g., parents' or siblings' bedrooms).

Cover the party table with a sleepover theme tablecloth. Add excitement to the table with colorful balloons, streamers, and confetti. Hang balloons in bunches near the table, or from backs of the chairs.

Guest Arrival and Introductory Activities

*Truth or Dare: Have your slumber birthday party guests confess to a secret in an answer to a question. Those who don't confess have to face the consequences, such as "sing opera," "dance the twist," or "count backwards from 100."

*Personalized Pillowcases: Lay pillowcases flat. Place cardboard or folded newspaper inside the pillowcases to prevent paint "bleed-through."

Have each sleepover party guest write her name in pencil on the pillowcase. Add a design if desired. Trace the name and design with fabric markers. Let children exchange pillowcases with other guests. Have them sign their names on the pillowcases and add drawings or designs.

*Blindfolded Drawing: Blindfold the slumber birthday party guests, and get them to draw various pictures.

*Glow-in-the-Dark Art: Get the kids to draw or paint on white paper with glow-in-the dark pens or paints. When they're finished, turn the lights off and watch the pictures appear!

Favors

Send the kids home with personalized toothbrushes, little teddy bears, or mini flashlights. Your other slumber birthday party favors can include such items as decorated socks, pillows, and nightcaps.

Slumber Birthday Party Games

*Robe Game: Pair up the kids and have one player in each pair put on a robe. Have the pairs hold hands. The person wearing the robe must try to remove it and get it onto the second person, without letting go of his or her hands.

*Blanket Ball: You may want to play this slumber birthday party game outside. If not, remove the breakables!

Spread out a blanket and have all the guests stand around the edge of the blanket and hold a piece of it. Toss a ball into the center, and have the players keep the ball bouncing by moving the blanket up and down.

*Slipper Scramble: Have everyone put a slipper into a pile in the middle of the room. When you say, "Go!" players must scramble to find their slipper and put it on. Try the game again in the dark!

As a variation, place the slippers in a paper bag and pass it around the room. Players must identify their own slippers by touch.

*Blindfold Race: It's best to play this sleepover party game outside.

Split the kids into two teams. Blindfold one kid on each team. The teams must yell out directions to their blindfolded teammates as they attempt to walk an obstacle course made of soft items like pillows and blankets. Once the blindfolded racer reaches the end, he or she races back, and gives another teammate the blindfold. The first team to finish wins.

*Blind Touch: Collect a number of items that are interesting to touch, such as a fuzzy slipper, a toothbrush, a sponge, a handful of fake slime, and so on. Turn out the lights and pass around the items in the dark. Let the kids feel the items and guess what they are.

*Pillow Fight: Have the slumber birthday party guests bring their own pillows to the party. Then divide the kids into two teams and have a pillow fight.

Place the teams on the opposite sides of the room. Next, they toss pillows at one another trying to hit someone on the other team. Anyone who is hit is out of the game. The last team standing wins!

*Midnight Magic: Show the kids how to do simple magic tricks. Then let them come up one at a time and perform the tricks. Darkness gives the magic tricks more power!

*Blindfolded Taste Test: Test slumber birthday party guests for their tasting abilities. Blindfold one of the guests. Bring out a bowl full of items to eat. Make sure to cover the bowl with a napkin so the other kids can't see all of the food items.

Take one food item out and let the blindfolded child taste that food. Keep feeding the child different food items until the child guesses correctly. Then move on to the next child.

*Sleeping Bag Relay: Clear a large area for this race. Set up chairs about 20 feet from the starting line and about 5 feet apart.

Divide your slumber birthday party guests into two teams. The first player from each team steps into a sleeping bag and zips it up. On command "Go!", the first players from each team jump to the chairs, around them, and back to their teams. The players then get out of their sleeping bags and give them to the next racers in line.

The team to successfully send all its members to the chair and back first is the winner.

*Goofy Goo: Before the sleepover party, peel the grapes and potato, cook the noodles and oatmeal, and make the gelatin according to package directions. Place the items in separate bowls out of sight of the children.

Blindfold the guests one at a time and invite them to guess what is in each bowl by smelling and feeling the contents. List their responses. Remind them not to share their guesses with others.

After everyone has had a turn, read the list of guesses for each item before revealing what they are. Give points for correct guesses. The child with the most points wins.

*What Did You Say?: Before the slumber birthday party, help the birthday child write three or four stories containing two sentences each. (e.g., "The pudgy pig loved pickles. He ate pickle sandwiches every day.")

Have the kids sit in a circle. Have the birthday child whisper one of the stories to the next person in the circle. That kid whispers it to the next, and so on.

The game continues until a helper writes down the story the last person whispers to her. The birthday child reads the original story out loud and then the whispered version. Repeat the game, letting everyone start their own story.

*Doughnut Delight: Tie pieces of string through the hole of doughnuts. Suspend the doughnuts from a clothesline or other high spot. Place a sheet on the floor under the doughnuts to catch crumbs.

Line the party guests up in front of doughnuts with their hands behind their backs. Players race to eat doughnuts without using their hands. The first person to finish his or her doughnut wins the race.

*Board Games: You can play kids' favorite board games to unwind.

*Scary Time: Tell ghost stories or watch a scary movie.

Slumber Party Cake:

*Sleepover Cake: Bake 13x9x2" cake. Next, turn the cake upside down and frost it lightly. Cut 5 Twinkies in half lengthwise, and spread them (cut-side down) in the center of the cake. Frost the upper part of the cake with pink frosting.

Flatten 5 marshmallows, and place them just above the Twinkies for pillows. Take vanilla (or chocolate wafers) and create "faces" out of them: make smiles and curly hair with gel icing, create eyes by putting mini jawbreakers. Next, place the faces on the pillows. Make a "blanket" by frosting white over the Twinkies and the bottom part of the cake. Decorate the blankets by adding gel icing flowers.

Here is more detailed information for baking a Sleepover cake from one of our readers.

Slumber Birthday Party Food Ideas:

*Party Kabobs: You'll need miniature hotdogs, frozen chicken nuggets, pizza bites, cheese bites, refrigerated breadstick dough, and other frozen snacks.

Thaw frozen food in the refrigerator overnight. Cut breadstick dough into bite-size pieces. Put snacks and dough in bowls, and invite children to alternate snacks and dough onto wooden skewers.

Place the kabobs on an ungreased baking sheet. Then bake at 425�F for about 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

*Ants on a Log: Spread one side of pretzel rods with peanut butter. Top the rods with chocolate-covered raisins.

*Cereal Buffet: Here is a great idea for a late-night snack or early-morning breakfast. Set out bowls of different cereals in a long row, each with its own serving spoon.

Supply lots of milk at the end of the table. Let the kids move down the buffet line with their own bowls and scoop out whatever cereals they want.

*S'mores: Heat marshmallows over a fire or gas flame. Then press them between two graham crackers with a piece of chocolate bar inside.

*Snack Bags: Prepare individual snack bags for your slumber birthday party guests. Have some popcorn, raisins, granola, nuts, candy pieces, butterscotch chips, pretzels, miniature marshmallows, Cheerios, etc. Scoop all the ingredients into re-sealable plastic bags.

*Sleepover Pancakes: Make pancakes, and serve them with whipped cream and cherry.

*Omelets
*Muffins
*Yogurt

Slumber Birthday Party Drink Ideas:

*Milk Shakes
*Orange Juice
*Caffeine-Free Tea