Creating a Fun Summer Sleepover

Summer sleepovers create wonderful memories. Here are some tips to creating an exciting and rewarding summer sleepover experience for your child or teen without a lot of work.

The first way to making a rewarding sleepover:

Swimsuit party! A great way to have tons of fun inexpensively is to have a Swimsuit bash. Get out the sprinklers and a small pool from Wal-mart and have a blast. Even teens would love a swimsuit party if the invitation is worded correctly. An invitation for kids might read: Come to a Swimming Party, bring your swimsuits, towel and sleepover gear, we'll stay up late and have a blast! For teens an invitation might word, Come to the Party that will be a Blast (or whatever current tween terminology your teen would rather add)! This party includes swimsuits, squirt guns and sprinklers. Bring your squirt gun and see who as the biggest! There will be prizes for the biggest squirt gun, the person who gets the wettest, the person who gets the dirtiest and more! Come & Expect to have Fun! Come & Expect to Get Wet!

Teens love parties and by creating a home that is party friendly, you can keep a careful eye on them. It is great to connect with your teens and get to know their friends. Plus many teens can use a home away from home during this tumultuous time in their life.

Dress-Up Party! It doesn't matter how old you are, everyone likes to pretend. Have your kids or teens come in a character and have prizes for different costumes. It would be a great party if everyone comes away with a prize. A girl might like a dress-up party with make-up. A teenage girl would love a spa party with facials, pedicures and make-up (you can invite Mary Kay), and boys might like to dress up like pirates. Teenagers (either boys or girls) would enjoy a costume party or a Murder Mystery Party.

Ice Cream Party! Everyone loves Ice Cream. This is a great sleepover for all ages. A sleepover for younger children might request that everyone in attendance bring their favorite Ice Cream topping to share. The invitation reads, "Create your Own Banana Split Bash! Bring a sleeping bag, pillow and topping to share! Don't forget an extra bottle of whipped cream for the after dessert whipped cream war!" Teenagers would love a new twist to this sleepover. With teens, the invitation might read, "Come to the Ice Cream Bash! Bring Your Favorite Ice Cream Topping! Bring your swimsuit to join in the ice cream slip n slide. For Dinner, we will have ice cream, banana splits and root beer floats. For Dessert, pizza! Then stay up for a past bedtime whipped cream fight!"

Firework Party! Create a party with fireworks (if legal in your state) and enjoy a great overnight. Check out this Article, "Firework Safety" for more information on how to have fireworks at your overnight.

Board Game Party (aka Board Game Bash)! Invite everyone in attendence to bring their favorite card or board game. Have an all-nighter staying up late playing board games. This would also make a great adult overnight! Some great card and board games for groups include: Guesstures, Scattegories, Liar's Dice, Squint, Carnium and Trans America. Ask kids, or teens to bring their favorite board game and have a few favorites on hand. A great party game is Apples to Apples. The rules can be changed a little to create interest to the game. Instead of one adjective, use up to two or three depending on the judge's specifications. Another great sleepover party game is Balderdash. If you have a creative group, Balderdash is a blast! Bonanza is another great party game for a large group. With all these great games, everyone may be up two successive nights, after all no one will want to sleep!

I hope these tips encourage you to have a fun summer & have fun playing!