3827

Sleepover Extravaganza -13yr- Fashion Mag Hunt

April 2002

Molly in Connecticut

Special Mention

SLEEPOVER EXTRAVAGANZA. This party is for ages 11-13.  

INVITATIONS: For each the sleepover invitations, you will need a black piece of paper and a metallic gel pen. On the piece of black paper write with the gel pen, all the party information such as date, time, location, phone number, etc.  

DECORATIONS: Choose a room for the party with few breakables, not that much furniture, a big space, and located near bathrooms and parent's room. Some good ideas are the playroom, the guest bedroom, or the sunroom. Clear out all the big or breakable items in the room. Hang glow and the dark stars from the ceiling, and replace all the lamp lights with blacklights. Hang colored Christmas lights around the walls. Blow up about 30 balloons, about 4 of each rainbow color and let them float around the room. Make sure you leave enough space for all the sleeping bags. Also, put signs on the doors of the rooms that are off limits (the parent's bedroom unless there is an emergency, the sibling's bedrooms, garage, etc). Decorate another room (used for dancing, see below). Take all breakable or big items out of this room and cover the walls with stick-on glow in the dark stars. Hang Christmas lights around the walls here, also. Put a stereo in one corner. Lava lamps and strobe lights are a good idea as well, if you already own them. 

ACTIVITIES: While you are waiting for all the guests to arrive, let the girls put away their overnight things and sleeping bags down. Show them around the house and remind them the off limit rooms. When everyone is there, start with an activity that will allow guests to get to know one another. Sit in a circle with a beach ball and start with the party girl. Let her pass it to someone and they have to name the person and one of their hobbies. Keep doing this for about 5 minutes. It really helps. Then, bring them to a table where they will decorate flip-flops (for summer), or gloves (if it is winter). Lay out several bowls of fabric glue, glitter, buttons, beads, and cute decorative items. When they are done decorating, set them in a place, away from siblings and pets, to dry.

Now, it is time to play "fashion magazine hunt". Before the party, make a list of several items usually found in a fashion magazine (red dress, wedding gown, tiffanies jewelry, shirt with ruffles, GapKids advertisement, etc). Then, tell them to pair up with a partner and give each group a list and 2-3 fashion magazines. Allow them 15 minutes to find everything. Give prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.

After the fashion hunt, take the kids into the dancing room. Let them choose which CD's to put on, and let them sing and dance for an hour. To add more fun, have a relative act as a DJ, and give him/her the job of changing CD's, and leading dances such as the chicken dance, the macaroon, etc. Also, for these dances, hand out props and costumes from around the house.

When the kids are all danced out, they will most likely be tired. So, now is the perfect time to serve them dinner (see food ideas below). After dinner, sit them down in the party room in front of the TV with an age appropriate movie. Make sure to check with the guest's parents about which rating's are OK. In the morning, lay out breakfast as a buffet so as they wake up, they don't have to wait for others. After breakfast, pop the piñata (see piñata ideas below). Then let all the party animals go home! 

PIÑATA IDEAS: Put small candies, lip glosses, and other mini toys and trinkets inside the piñata. Give everyone a chance to hit the piñata, and then when it opens, set everyone free to get candy. To avoid hurt feelings, allow the kids to rush towards the candy (it’s a tradition!), but then divide the prizes evenly. 

FOOD: During the party, leave out vegetables and dip, chips and salsa, and candies, for munching. For dinner, serve basic pizza, because it is easy and cheap. For dessert, I made a cake in shape of a 12 (my daughter was turning 12) and decorated it with sprinkles, gummy bears, sour belts, and taffy! Then, I made root beer floats to serve with the cake. For breakfast, we made a breakfast buffet. We had yogurt, waffles, nuts, syrups, fruit, and whipped cream to put on your waffle. Make sure all the food is filling! 

TIPS: Invite 5-8 good friends, so that it doesn't get so busy. Make certain rooms off limits to keep privacy throughout the house. Do not open presents at the party, it gets you stuck when you get two of the same thing or when guest's think their present isn't good enough. ALWAYS write thank you notes, not just for the presents, but for coming to the party.

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