With only a couple weekends left until the kids go back to school, it’s time to start making plans for their last big hurrah. Throw the Ultimate Sleepover for your family and you will make priceless memories that will last the rest of their lives, and yours.

Who to Invite

This is a great opportunity to bond with your kids. If they are young, they will love the idea of hanging out and doing fun stuff with their parents. If they are older they may not like the idea as much, so allow them to invite a friend or two. Sometimes more people = more fun!

Where to Sleep

The best part about a sleepover is not sleeping in your own bed, which leaves room for creativity. You can keep it simple and camp out in the living room by using the floor and the couch, or even some blow-up mattresses (parents may especially like this option!). Remember making forts when you were young? Your kids may love to sleep in one.

If you want to get really daring, sleep outside! You can pitch tents, sleep in your camper that is parked in the driveway/backyard, or even arrange some lawn chairs and sleep on those. Depending on how the night goes, you may wind up in the living room anyways.

What to do (other than sleep)

There are a million games or activities you can come up with to do with your children. Just think of something you did when you were little that was a huge treat, or just plain fun. If you need some ideas, here is a list we have come up with. Some of these are for older kids and require parental supervision:

• Make your own sundaes
• Tie-dye shirts. You can buy shirts at a craft store or just a package of men’s undershirts and search for directions online.
• Remember your field day races from school: eggs on spoons, egg toss, sack race, tug o’ war, three-legged race, etc. Come up with your own family field day.
• Play some team sports: volleyball, badminton, soccer, football, baseball, etc.
• Make fried dough
• Pizza party – everyone can choose their own toppings. Be sure to make it big enough so everyone can try each other’s creation.
• Have a dance party. What better way for your kids to learn to dance than to do it in your living room where there are a limited number of people to judge their moves, or yours! Don’t forget a stick for a limbo contest.
• Dress up. Let the kids go through your closet and try on some old dresses, suits, and shoes. Makeup and hair can be a bonus!
• Paint – this can be messy, so it’s a great outdoor activity. Buy some cheap frames to hang their artwork in the house; it looks nicer than hanging it on the fridge and they’ll love that you value their work.
• Hang up a sheet outside… the opportunities are endless! You can make hand puppets if you light it from behind. You can use it as a backdrop for a variety show, karaoke, or lip-synching. Rent a projector and play a movie on it. If you’re really technically savvy you can make a slideshow of pictures of your kids, which is a great surprise for them and a wonderful keepsake.
• Make a fire – don’t forget the marshmallows, hot dogs, and s’mores. For a really different idea, put potatoes next to the fire for baking and make a topping bar with sour cream, broccoli, bacon bits, butter, cheese, chives, etc. You may be surprised at the toppings your kids choose! Want to spice up the boring flames? Get a copper pipe and drill holes into it, then insert a piece of garden hose equal to the length of the pipe and throw it into the fire. The reaction produces multi-colored flames that are sure to wow the kids. The fire can be used in the morning to make bacon and eggs.
• Watch a movie together and make popcorn to go with it.
• Live on a lake or have a pool? Go for a late-night swim under the stars.
• Get a box or two of sparklers and show the kids how to write things in the air with them. If you’re good with a camera you can use a long shutter speed to catch the moment.
• Make luminaries. Give your kids some paper lunch bags and let them cut out some designs on them. Put a few inches of sand or some rocks in the bottom and when night falls, put a candle in the bottom and place them around the yard for light.

Mom Says: I have great memories of dance parties with my family. It didn’t make me a better dancer, but we had a lot of fun! You don’t need to pack everything into one night – split it up and do an activity here and there to keep the fun and bonding going.

Dad Says: We all spend a lot of time looking for places to go with our kids and sometimes forget the adventures we can create in our own house or yard. Include your kids in the planning of the Ultimate Sleepover to make sure you have activities they are interested in.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 20th, 2009 at 12:53 am and is filed under Uncategorized. If you use RSS, you can subscribe to the RSS feed , or if you would rather receive an e-mail, please subscribe to the e-mail in the lower right hand corner of this page. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.