If you're a parent seeking creative and memorable ideas for your child's next sleepover party, you've come to the right place!
Our eldest son turned 8 years old, and what does every 8 year old boy want for this party... a sleepover! Now, I know a lot of parents out there dread the idea of a sleepover, but I have to say that this one was a HUGE success, so I thought I'd share what we did so that it gives anyone in the same boat some ideas of how to make things easy for the parents, but awesome for the kids!
We'll take you through the journey of hosting a Glow in the Dark sleepover, complete with exciting activities, delicious snacks, and, of course, the comfort and convenience of Bundle Beds...
The Set Up...
Inspired by the twinkling lights of a holiday night, we decided to turn our sleepover into a glow-in-the-dark extravaganza. We kept things simple, putting down the black out blinds in the spare room, unrolling 5 Bundle Beds, and hanging up foil PARTY & BIRTHDAY string balloons with glow sticks hanging from them. We had a TV set up ready for the movie night, so they could all stay in the "party room", and had made a sofa out of our spare bed for them to sit on. Personalised party bags adorned each Bundle Bed, which added to the excitement on arrival.
The Party Bags...
We used some really fun party bags that fitted the theme and worked as a fun decoration on each of the Bundle Beds. I love a party bag thats filled with things that you can use at the party and take home afterwards, so we had:
- *A colour changing reusable cup
- *A mini USB rechargeable torch
- *A sleep mask
- *A glow stick
- *A pack of Freddie's Farm snacks
- *A chocolate coin
The Food...
No sleepover is complete without delicious treats to fuel the fun, and our Glow in the Dark extravaganza was no exception.
For dinner, everyone had DIY pizzas. These were SO easy to make, and were a HUGE hit. I made flatbreads using 2 cups of greek yoghurt, 2 cups of flour, a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of baking powder. You just mix it all together until it forms a dough and then split it into 8 and roll them out on a floured board. Then the kids added their own tomato base, cheese and toppings - a good way of doing things if there are any fussy eaters. I served a big sharing platter of cucumber, tomatoes and red pepper in the middle of the table when they had their pizzas, which were all eaten too.
I made a rocky road cake for the birthday cake, so they had a slither of that for pudding and then we played the chocolate tasting game after that, so no need for additional dessert.
They had homemade popcorn as the snack for the movie, and they could eat their Freddie's Farm snacks if they wanted sweets, which are great as they are all natural and don't give them a big sugar spike and crash.
For breakfast, I warmed up a load of pain au chocolats and had a big sharing platter of berries in the centre. It was super easy and went down really well.
The Plan...
Everyone arrived at 4pm on Saturday afternoon, and put their bags in the party bedroom. We then sent all the boys out for a run around for about an hour, so that they came in much calmer for the rest of the evening - as you can imagine, excitement levels were high on arrival!
Whilst the kids were playing, we hid glow in the dark stars and smiley faces around the house for a treasure hunt, closing the blinds and curtains, so it was dark throughout. They then used their little mini-torches, which were part of their party bag, to get themselves around the house and find the "treasure". I can confirm that 8 year old boys LOVE a glow in the dark treasure hunt!
Next up, it was time to make pizzas. (I've written more on this above in the food section.) Whilst they were cooking, the kids made their own Glow in the dark lanterns. This was super simple, but they loved it. It's just a case of taking a small plastic bottle (we collected them as and when we used them in the run up to the party rather than buying new ones), filling it with, activating a glow stick and dropping it in. You then need to seal the bottle really tightly (you can use duct tape around the lid for extra security!) and voila, you have your lantern!
It was then time for the meal... followed by a blindfold chocolate tasting competition. For this, we cut up 6 different chocolate bars, and labelled them 1-6. We made a note of which one was which, and then gave the kids a list of the chocolate bars in no particular order. They then used the sleep masks that we had put in their party bags as blindfolds, and we handed a piece of each chocolate to them, asking them to put a 1-6 by whichever chocolate bar they thought it was on the list. It was great fun, and worked really well as a pudding too!
It was then time for glow in the dark bowling. We used the lanterns that they had made for the glow in the dark skittles and used 2 glow in the dark balls to throw at them. We did this in a corridor, so it acted like a bowling alley, and each child took it in turns to get as many knocked down as possible. They had two gos, and the winner was the one who knocked the most down over the two rounds.
At 7.30pm it was time to get into PJs and watch a movie! I let them choose the movie, and it was luckily an easy decision, but I think next time I'll just find a movie to put on to avoid any arguments! I made popcorn for them all and put them into paper bags for them to eat from. They had their colour changing cups with water for drinks, which kept things simple and mess free!
At 9pm it was time to get teeth brushed and get into bed. We let them chat for about 30mins, and then suggested that it was time to sleep. They were all absolutely exhausted by this time, and actually everyone was asleep within ten minutes - result!
The following morning, they were up at 6.30am. They watched a bit of TV and then had breakfast (details in the food section). It was then time to get dressed and we sent them outside for a run around and to get the wiggles out. They had present opening time and played with some of the toys that Arthur has been given, and then the cries of hunger were satisfied with another slice of the rocky road birthday cake and a hot chocolate.
We arranged pick up for 10am and that felt like the perfect time. All in all, a really fun party that was very pain free for us parents, and lots of fun for the kids!
The Best Bits...
The colour changing cups were absolutely brilliant as the kids completely loved them. They only asked to drink water, so there were no sugary drinks making them go mad, and each child had a different colour so they knew which cup was theirs and they only drank out of one cup for the whole time, which meant washing up was kept to minimum! They also got to take them home and they are reusable, so better than throw away cups for the environment.
And the other stars of our sleepover show was undoubtedly Bundle Beds. With their effortless setup and added comfort, they really did make made hosting a breeze. In just minutes, we had five beds ready for our guests, allowing us to focus on other party preparations. The vibrant colours of the Bundle Beds also added to the excitement of our glow-in-the-dark theme, earning praise from both kids and parents alike.
How we kept things Eco-Friendly...
Now I'm aware that glow sticks aren't the most eco friendly product, so we were aware of keeping them to a minimum, using only a few for decorations and then reused the glow lanterns as glow in the dark skittles.
For the party bags, we avoided any single use plastic (aside from the glow sticks) and really thought about what we put into them.
So...
As you plan your own sleepover adventures, remember that things don't need to be over complicated, and it's just about added a few little details. Kids just love being together, and they'll find their own fun for most of the time. And with Bundle Beds by your side, you can rest easy knowing that children will sleep soundly throughout the night!
What are your favourite sleepover tips and tricks? Please let me know in an email or on Instagram – and do send over any of your super sleepovers!
Have you seen our top tips for the best sleepover ever? Or if you fancy heading outdoors then take a look at our Den Building Tips. And for some extra activity ideas, take a look at our Fun Activities for Kids blog.