The Best Sleepover Games for Kids
Whether this is your first time hosting a sleepover for your child or you’re a slumber party veteran, at Pottery Barn Kids we know how important it is to have slumber party games and activities planned. The kids will likely want a change in activity, or maybe the group isn’t ready to snuggle up in their sleeping bags or bunk bed forts just yet. In any case, it’s time to play some sleepover party games! Here are a few of the best sleepover games for kids. These are all super-adaptable, so it’s easy for the kids (and you) to incorporate new ideas as they play.
Treasure Hunt
Parents or an older sibling can hide small gifts at various points around the house for the kids to find. In terms of treasure, feel free to get creative with small trinkets, school supplies like pencils or notebooks, or sleepover treat bags. Don’t be afraid to use your entire home here. You can hide things around the living room, in the kitchen, or even outdoors. If you’re feeling creative, you can make clue cards with instructions or hints on where the kids can find each piece of treasure. For example, if you have five kids at the house, hide two items for each child somewhere in and around your home for a total of 10 hidden treasures. Each child receives clue cards for his or her treasure. This can be one card that leads them directly to their treasure or several cards for a multi-step process. Or, add all the treasures to a toy box and let the group go on a search together with one set of clues.
Decorating Pillow Cases
This is a fun and creative activity that you can adapt to kids of any age. You can go one of two routes here: fabric markers or iron-on designs. The way that gets the kids the most involved is using fabric markers. This lets them draw and create whatever they like. All you need are the fabric markers themselves and some plain, light-colored pillow cases to get started. If you have time to wash and dry the pillow cases before bedtime, everyone will have fun using them that night!
T-Shirt Fun
Similar to the pillow cases, have the kids make T-shirts to remember the special sleepover. They might want to have their shirts match, or they might want to go wild with their artistic creations. With T-shirts, kids can be a bit more creative than with the pillowcases because their faces won’t be touching their shirts. Feel free to add sequins or other different materials. Start with plain T-shirts in whatever color you like; you may find that a lighter color works best as a blank canvas and offers the kids more room to play with other colors on top of it. Use markers, iron-on patches, decals or sequins to decorate the shirts. If you want to make it a really creative activity, you and your child can head out to the local craft shop together to pick up supplies. If your groups has some extra time on your hands, why not head to the craft store together? The kids will love choosing all the materials and accessories they want for decorating.
Toilet Paper Roll Crafts
This is a great activity for the younger set, and one of the best things about it is that you probably have most of the items already around the house. All you’ll need here are some toilet paper rolls, various construction or other papers, scissors, glue and anything else you might have around that you’d like to stick on. Two ideas that are especially fun are toilet paper roll bracelets and toilet paper roll painting. To make toilet paper roll bracelets, cut across the rolls according to what width of bracelet each child would like to make. Now you can either decorate them as is, or cut them open and re-tape or glue them back closed when you’ve finished decorating.
For toilet paper roll painting, the kids can use each round end of the roll as a paintbrush that they dip into the paint and use to create whatever design they like. They might want to use both ends of the roll and squish it into the outline of different shapes. You can also blend and mix colors this way too. Choose a paint that’s suitable for whatever paper or canvas you’re working with.