Remember being a kid? I know, I know, it was a long time ago (or is that just me?). One of my favorite childhood memories are sleepovers with my friends. I grew up in a small town and have had the same best friend since the 2nd grade and I couldn’t tell you the number of times her and I stayed the night at each other’s houses.

It truly was the greatest time in my childhood. Every single weekend and oftentimes even on school nights we would be packed up ready for a sleepover at her house or at mine. Do you have those same memories?

Well no more reminiscing about these days gone by, it’s time for the here and now and all of the fun that I love for my children to have! While there are many things about life today that differ from life back then, I know that I want my kids to have those same kinds of memories.

I am a little bit more picky when it comes to sleepovers than my mom was (again...life is different), but I do want my kids to have those memories. I let them have sleepovers with long time friends whose parents I know and trust. My kiddos get so excited when it’s time to head out to a sleepover!

Preparing for the Perfect Sleepover

I may go overboard a little bit when it comes to my children’s sleepovers, as I tend to overplan theirs, but let me tell you, there is just nothing better than hearing those late night giggles and all night fun. When we are hosting the sleepovers I plan out meals and movies and whatever my kiddos want to do, but when they are heading to a sleepover at their friends house, my only job is packing their overnight bags for them.

When I prepare their overnight bags, we have a system:

We take these awesome plush overnight bags and fill them up with the following items:

• throw blanket
• extra pjs
• clothes for the next day
• Hairbrush
• travel toothbrush

Having everything packed and ready to go can save a lot of time and knowing that you packed their stuff up for them saves a ton of time and makes the getting ready process so much easier.

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Check out the list of plus bags that we have here:

meow sleepwalkers bag - kitty lovers are going to want to have this bag with them on their fun sleepover!

dragon magical bag - umm, hello! it's a dragon! everyone loves dragons, don't they?

fairy princess magical bag - for all of my princess loving little friends!

scout overnighter bag - scout is so great, isn't he?

wizard magical bag - yay for wizards! who is your favorite wizard?

If you are planning to have a sleepover at your house, are some ideas for activities for the kids:

ice cream sundae party - Kids love ice cream, right? Who am I kidding, everyone loves ice cream. That’s why an ice cream sundae party makes for an amazing sleepover activity! Besides, any reason is a good reason to celebrate with ice cream! These adorable ice cream sundae cups make for a great addition to an ice cream sundae party!

making cookies - Who doesn’t love baking cookies, or eating cookies fresh out of the oven. YUMMMY! It’s a party in itself! We rarely plan cookie making for sleepovers, but it’s one of those activities that often just happens at sleepovers. I always make sure to have the ingredients on hand just in case.

arts and crafts - Arts and crafts and kids just go hand in hand. Although I am not exactly a super crafty person, I really love keeping arts and crafts projects on hand for the kids to do while they are over. We have some really great kits here to keep the kids busy.

Whether your kids are hosting a sleepover, or heading to one at their friends house, with these fun additions, they will have a blast!