Were you allowed to go to sleepovers as a kid? I lived in a small town growing up. You know the kind. Where everyone knows everyone and everyone is neighbors with everyone else. Honestly, some people hate those towns, but in reality it was great. Every girl in my class (of 17) were my friends and most of us were allowed to have slumber parties together and often. I can honestly say that sleepovers were a common occurrence literally every weekend. It was a great way to grow up. Who am I kidding though? My best friend and I continued our sleepover tradition well into our twenties...there is just something about that friendship ritual that we didn’t want to lose.

Okay, okay, I guess that is enough reminiscing about my childhood sleepover days. I am the parent now and that means that I get to put these fun sleepovers together for my kiddos! I enjoy every minute of these sleepovers too. That late night giggling coming from my daughter’s room is well worth the prep work I have to do in advance and any messes I am left with in the morning. I have found though that with a little bit of preparation and organization, there is little to no prep work involved with my kiddos sleepovers (whether they are having them at home or heading off to a friend’s house). That is why I just love these plush overnight bags! First of all, they are just adorable. I mean, seriously, I don’t know a single child who wouldn’t want to carry around a plush dragon bag! Okay, that may not be 100% true...my niece loves all things princess and only princess things, but that’s okay..we’ve got that covered too! I fill up these bags with some extra jammies, socks and clothes for the next day, as well as toothbrushes and all of those other must-haves for sleepovers. To have everything packed and ready to go makes sleepovers easier to prepare for, plus when the kids have sleepovers at home, they use their stuff out of these bags just like their friends.

Here are the different fun plush bags we have:

meow sleepwalkers bag

dragon magical bag

fairy princess magical bag

scout overnighter bag

wizard magical bag

Oh, and for all of my coupon loving friends, if you decide to order one for your kiddos, be sure to use promo code 10PLUSH so you can save 10% on your order!

Now, that we have the packing portion of the sleepover taken care of. What do you do for activities when you are the host of a sleepover? Because fun for us often involves sitting around the table with family and friends we like to have some cooking and baking activities as part of most the sleepovers that happen here, but not all.

Here are some of the things we have been known to do at our famous-among-friends sleepovers:

Pizza Night - I don’t know about your family, but mine loves pizza night. They actually love making their own, homemade pizza more than they like having takeout or delivery pizza. Everyone gets to choose their own toppings and add as much, or as little of those toppings as they choose. This is why several years ago, my daughter chose to have make-a-pizza night for her slumber party activity. The girls loved it and it’s been a favorite activity ever since.

Ice Cream Sundae Party - Truth be told, I don’t need any excuse to enjoy a good ice cream sundae party. Ice cream is my weakness, I love it that much! So, it’s always easy for my kids to talk me into letting them have an ice cream sundae party with their sleepovers. I like to use these adorable ice cream sundae cups.

Playing dress up - Who here hasn’t played an awesome game of dress up at some point in life? Seriously, it’s a right of passage that kids from all over enjoy. Whether they dress up as a chef, a doctor, a train conductor or anything else, boy oh boy is there a lot of giggling that comes along with the kids playing dress up.

Making cookies - Here’s an activity that happens at almost every single slumber party my kids have, making cookies! We especially love to do this when we are having ice cream sundae parties. I mean, cookies and ice cream just go so well together, don’t you think? We have lots of fun cookie-making kits available to make this activity a little more fun!

Arts and crafts - Okay, let’s just cut to the chase. I am not an overly crafty person. I enjoy arts and I love seeing the stuff that my kids create, but I have to have a kit ready to go in order to put a crafting plan in place. Luckily, we have lots of those available! These have really come in handy on those days when arts and crafts were what my kids chose to do at their slumber parties.

What fun sleepover and slumber party activities do you plan for your kids?