An old favourite, sleepovers are brilliant fun, for girls or boys. Children are usually
brave enough from around seven years old. A little forward planning goes a long
way... prepare yourself for a late night!

We held our first sleepover party last year for our daughter’s
7th birthday. It was great fun and we are happy to share the
excellent advice we were given beforehand by a more experienced mum (with thanks to Emily Kerr for her wise words).
l Arrange and label all the beds before the guests arrive
We split 8 girls into two rooms, Princesses and Fairies, and numbered each bed. Each child then picks a bed out of a hat on arrival (you may need to do some creative planning if you think one child needs to be in a particular place). This removes an opportunity for arguing later on.
l Have plenty of activities up your sleeve
When you are hosting a party that runs for 18 hours (rather than the 2 hours you are probably used to) it is important not to run out of entertainment or plans. Some activities may take much more or less time than you anticipate.
l Avoid too much sugar at tea time
Remember, you are not sending the children home until the next day!
l Wear them out
Try to let the children have a good run around before supper – good to tire them out and burn off some excess energy.
l Midnight feasts
They are bound to want one – don’t let this be too late or too high in sugar… If necessary, you could always change all the clocks.
l Getting to sleep
Don’t use up energy going up and down the stairs repeatedly to tell the children to be quiet and go to sleep. This just results in lots of
giggling. When you decide it really is time to go to sleep, go and sit in the room with the children, and gently tell them you will stay until they are all asleep. I think this took about 7 minutes the first time I tried it, but woke up on the floor half an hour later, so not quite sure.
l Visit www.honeyheart.co.uk (Tel 01949 859091) for a sleepover party kit – they are beautiful and just perfect for girls. For older girls, they also do a wonderful pampering kit.

Arrive 4.30pm for a drink and a fairy cake.

Play party games until 5.30pm. A quiet, art-based activity is good before dinner at 6.30pm.

Birthday cake for pudding ... then upstairs and into pyjamas.

Down again for a DVD with bowls of popcorn.

Upstairs to bed with some extra trips back
downstairs to rummage for a midnight feast.

Croissants for breakfast,
followed by a quiet activity until going home time.
Good, strong coffee for mum and dad.