By: Coleen Smith
Submitted: 2011-11-23 16:51:32 | Word Count: 526
Slumber parties are an exciting and thrilling event for the young children participating in them. For the parents, however, the night can be a little overbearing when it comes to the corralling and entertaining of the kids. If your son or daughter is itching to have a slumber party soon, have some childens activities planned ahead of time.
To make the night go more smoothly for you, get some time killers and activities ready to go. There's nothing worse than a houseful of bored children. Don't over schedule the too much since an over regimented slumber party is likely to backfire on you.
[ advertisement ]
Having the children watch a video is a great way to pass the time. You can rent the latest release if you know what they want to watch. Or you could have the party goers choose the flick. While you are renting the tape, have the slumber party guests get their movie watching snacks and drinks ready (with adult supervision, of course).
Go through your stockpile of family board games and let the guests choose a few to play. Simple games and ones with short game plays will be best, especially when the slumber party is being attended by children under ten. Young children don't have a long enough attention span to play Monopoly. A deck of cards is always a safe bet too.
You could also supply the kids with a few art supplies and let them create their own board game. Cardboard, colored pencils, and markers can be transformed into a wonderful custom game in the hands of a bunch of giggling kids. What a creative and productive way to spend a few hours! Once their masterpiece is ready, get a few game pieces and dice from another game to use on the newly designed game.
Let the children pick out an item from one of your cookbooks and help them bake it. Things like cookies, brownies, and cakes are both relatively easy to make and will be a big delicious hit with the kids afterwards. Depending on the age of the kids, you may need to operate the oven and cut anything that requires a knife.
Supply the kids with some extra blankets, quilts, and pillows and let them build a fort in your living room. To make the structure more stable, push your couches and other chairs together and drape some of the blankets over them. Lay several fluffy pillows on the ground to make the fort's interior more comfortable. After it has been constructed, have the children move their sleeping bags into it if they feel like spending the night in it.
When that most wonderful (to parents) time, bedtime, has arrived, have the kids gather in their fort. Hand each person a flashlight and spend a few minutes telling spooky stories. If you feel that the children are too young for stories of this caliber then let each child take turns reading from a favorite book instead. Then, after every one has brushed their teeth and washed their faces, put the slumber party guests to bed and pat yourself on the back for a job well done.
