So I got to work. I figured out a rough schedule of events, keeping in mind that if circumstances dictated, the plans could shift or change. I made lists for the decorations, food, crafts and take-home bags. I shopped, and shopped until I could find just about everything. It slowly hit me that this sleepover party idea was actually way more work than your standard 2 hour pool party! I'd like this post to be helpful to other moms so I'll organize the rest based on topic. Overall the party went really well, none cried, no one was excluded and the girls even slept for a few hours. It was exhausting but worth it.
Invitations: Don't make a huge deal about it. I contacted two moms through Facebook and the other two girls my daughter wanted to invite were sent invitations to school.There is alot of debate about inviting friends through school but if I don't know the family already how exactly should I contact them otherwise? So, I feel pretty justified sending the invites through school. Only one girl declined, she had her grandparents visiting that weekend. That brought the grand total to 3 girls (+ my daughter). I wanted to keep my first sleepover small to minimize any girl drama or sleep time issues.
Food: I realized that even though the party was starting at 6:30, some girls might not have eaten supper.So I had a cheese pizza and a cheese and pepperoni pizza waiting for the girls as they arrived. Aside from that I ordered the birthday cake, bought movie snacks (popcorn, chips and candy-smarties and sour chewy candy), and breakfast food which consisted of cereal, pancakes, strawberries, cinnamon rolls and pop tarts.
I had more than enough food for everything, and if I do this again I would reduce the options for breakfast.
Decorations and Craft: My daughter wanted a Monster High theme, so I made sure she had a Monster High themed birthday cake. On top of that I bought three different streamers, a Happy Birthday banner, some balloons,a pink tablecloth, napkins, plates and cutlery, a few hanging pink stars and I made some paper flowers out of tissue paper I had lying around. I decorated the kitchen-eating area where we would have the craft, pizza and cake (and breakfast the next morning) and the den where they would watch their movie and sleep.
For the craft I bought some white canvas tote bags and ironed on each girls name to the top of their bag. The girls were given fabric crayons and fabric markers, along with a bunch of glittery stickers and rhinestones to decorate their bags however they wished. Each girl was also given a pair of silly foam glasses to decorate, a bookmark, a feather boa and a paper crown.That kept the girls busy for a good hour. It sounds like alot of stuff but I wanted to make sure the girls would be busy (the former teacher in me coming out!).
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| Kitchen/dining area |
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| Crafts |
Movie: So after the craft we opened presents, then had cake. Once that was over I asked the girls to get changed into their nighttime outfits and get their beds set up. That gave me time to clean up the craft/present/cake mess in the kitchen and get the movie snacks ready for them. Once I got downstairs to the den I found the girls had managed to get changed but were having some issues figuring out how to setup their sleeping bags/blankets for bed. I jumped in and made sure everyone had a blanket and a pillow, then we managed to settle on a movie. The movie kept most of the girls interested, but after an hour it started to fizzle out and the girls started to play with the different toys in the room. So the movie wasn't the central activity as it was when I was a kid, okay, times are changing and kid's attentions spans are not what they used to be. So, it was time to go to bed (it was 10:00 anyhow). I told the girls they could talk but they had to stay in their sleeping bags/area. They settled down and after about 4 "warnings" of, "time to quiet down and go to sleep" they were pretty much okay by 11:30pm.
Breakfast: The girls were up before dawn the next morning, at about 6:30am. I grabbed my robe and started cooking for the next hour. The girls loved the pancakes and strawberries. Only one wanted cereal so I was glad I hadn't gone out and bought a variety pack of mini cereals. After breakfast the girls got changed, brushed their teeth and started playing with barbies. The girls didn't really care to get packed up so I just went to each girl's bag and threw in what I knew belonged to each girl and asked when I wasn't sure who's leggings were who's. I made sure the beloved stuffies were sent home with their rightful owners and asked the parents to pick them up between 8:30-9am. I had read on another mother's blog that she had gone ahead and planned another craft the next morning which really only dragged out the party to the lunch hour, making for a cranky birthday child and mom later in the day. I decided to take her advice and have the girls picked up early. All of the parents showed up promptly and we only had one stray jacket left behind.
Like I said, all in all in was a really busy birthday party, and while yes, it is cheaper than renting a place, the time and energy to plan and host a birthday sleepover should really be considered prior to agreeing to one. Also, behavior guidelines for your own child (as the hostess/host of the party) should be defined before guests arrive. My daughter was a great host to her friends but also wanted to be the "cool" kid and did have a couple of back-talk issues my husband and I later addressed with her. The friends were great, hyper but alot of fun and I would have any of them back again for a sleepover. Personally though, I think I might encourage more one on one friend sleepovers in the future-I think those may be a bit easier (and cheaper) to manage!
