Sleepover parties are, by and large, rare in Singapore. Perhaps it is due to the Asia culture, but sleepovers parties or slumber parties are very seldom seen. First and foremost for sleepover parties – plan out a full plan of the party so you know when the kids should be doing what. The age group of the kids invited for the sleepover party should not be too young such that they might be crying for their parents in the night. That would certainly be undesirable to the party.

Invitations

Since this is a sleepover party, you need to be extremely clear in your invitation cards. Besides stating the time the party starts and ends, you need to give address, whom to contact in cases of emergencies and in this case also, RSVP and ensure contacts of the children who are going to sleepover are noted down accordingly. This is in case of emergencies so you know whom to call and contact (on both sides). It would be easier if you include in your invitation a detachable portion with all of these information requested so that the parents can fill them up before hand and pass to you when the kids are dropped off at the location of the party. This not only makes it easier for the parents, it also makes it easier for you to keep track of the contacts and keep them together in a safe place.

In your invitation, you should also state clearly what the kids need to bring for the party. Should there be a need for sleeping bag, state clearly in the invitation card. Also, state toiletries and such as a reminder so that they remember to pack and bring their own items.

Party Programmes

While this is a sleepover party (or slumber party) you can still have a theme to the sleepover. You could have the regular fairytale, pirates, soccer, magic.. basically whatever theme that you would like. See some of my previous blog entries with respect to some ideas on those themed parties. The programmes of the party should more or less follow those themed parties with something more after that. What you will need is some after dinner entertainment.

After dinner of course, some amount of time should be allotted to cleaning and washing up. Once that is done, you can actually have a relaxed programme of movies. A movie marathon is one of the easiest way to keep the children entertained after dinner. Of course, you can have other things besides that. One suggestion for an all girls party would be to have some make-up/ make-over fun. For the night, provide a cosmetic set where the girls can have fun trying out various make-up. Alternatively, for boys and girls alike, simply turn on the Playstation (if you have one!) and let everyone have fun taking turns playing the games! This is a guarantee entertainment that most will like!

For a mixed party group, you can also provide board games that includes large number of people, or even games like Twister and such where the kids can take turns to have a lot of fun. If the kids are old enough or mature enough, a ghost story telling session is guaranteed to be a huge load of fun! However, do note that some kids will get scared after that, so you would have to gauge if this entertainment form is appropriate!

Lights out!!

Designate a timing for the all-important slumber (that’s why its called a slumber party, isn’t it?) when the lights go out. Do set some simple safety rules so that if the kids still play after lights out, there will not be accidents (as far as possible) happening. Also, ensure that everyone knows the way to the toilet and to the main door as will as the safest and fastest way out of the house in case of emergencies. If possible, leave the toilets light on so it does provide some dim lighting in the night so not everything is dark.

Enjoy the night of the slumber party and have fun with the kids!