Super sleepover suggestions

Find out how to host a fun night for children, while maintaining your sanity and sense of humour, with these top tips for a successful sleepover.

When children get to a certain age the word 'sleepover' starts being mentioned - a lot! Whilst it may seem a daunting task to entertain your child's friends for an entire evening, plus fielding homesickness and making sure everyone (including you!) gets some sleep, if you follow a few basic 'sleepover rules' it should be fun for all concerned.

Rule no. 1: Plan the guest list

If you are organising a sleepover at your own home, it's always best to start with one friend the first time. But even the most veteran of sleepover hosts would do well to keep the numbers down to around four children at the most (including your own). And bear in mind the old adage 'three's a crowd' - keep the numbers even to avoid anyone being left out.

Make sure you know the children you are inviting fairly well, so that you have some idea of their likes and dislikes and can anticipate their needs. It's a good idea to send invites so that parents have your telephone numbers to hand, and so you can specify drop-off and pick-up times. Be realistic about these: drop-off should be around tea-time (any earlier and you and they will have burn-out by 9pm) and pick-up mid-morning. You'll be ready for a bit of peace and quiet by then, and the young guests will most likely be having homesick twinges.

Rule no. 2: Get organised beforehand

Dig out extra blankets, pillows, hairbrushes, toothbrushes, and provide a bag with a collection of teddies and stuffed toys. Lots of children have bedtime teddies, and they may have been embarrassed to bring theirs along, so 'borrowing' one of yours may be comforting.

Decide which of your child's toys are to be put away and which can be shared with the guests. It's a good idea to put away any toys with lots of little pieces - you don't want to spend three days reassembling construction models and finding missing jigsaw pieces.

Rule no. 3: Provide activities

If it's summer, it's a good idea for the children to spend some time outside: plan some garden games, let them jump on the trampoline, or play a game of football. These activities can be adapted for any age range:

Bake and/or decorate fairy cakes: To minimise fuss, either bake the cakes beforehand, or buy plain cakes ready to decorate. Provide lots of icing and decorations and let them be creative!

Movie and popcorn: It goes without saying that you don't provide a movie that is anything over 'U' certificate unless you have seen it all the way through, especially if young children are watching.

Storytelling: Reading from a stack of favourite storybooks will please young children, while older kids love the thrill of a ghost story by torchlight (nothing too scary!).

Board games: Have a good selection of board games to choose from - and join in!

Crafts: For low-stress creativity, avoid paints. Give each child an empty tissue box, provide coloured paper, scissors (supervise cutting!), glue, stickers, feathers and other decorations and the kids can make their own special treasure box.

Make a memory: Lisa (mum of Amelia, 9 and Elliot, 7) suggests taking lots of photos of the evening, printing out the pictures and making a scrapbook memento of the event. You could save the scrapbook assembling as a morning activity.

Rule no. 4: Feed them

Fill the cupboard with plenty of healthy snacks such as dried and fresh fruit, home-made cheese straws, and veggies and dips, as well as allowing them a bit of junk food (check with the parents first!). Don't, however, overload them with sweet stuff, and avoid caffeine at all costs, unless you want four wired 7-year-olds running around at 1am.

Pizza is always a winner, and getting the kids involved in making them is a great activity idea. Just provide pizza bases, sauce, grated cheese and a variety of toppings (pepperoni, mushrooms, peppers and so on) and let the little chefs prepare their perfect pizza.

Rule no. 5: Create a comfy sleeping space

Create the space where everyone will sleep. Make it cosy and fun and make sure the kids feel comfortable with where they will be sleeping. Get everyone in sleeping bags put them in a circle with heads together to make sure no-one feels left out.

The bedtime (or lights out) will have been pre-arranged (between 10pm and 11pm is about right according to the ages of the children), so make sure you stick to it. The children should get into bed around an hour before lights out to allow for giggling and chatting, but do enforce the lights-out time.

Rule no. 6: : Make the morning special

Hopefully everyone will be rested after a good night's sleep, and be prepared for some early wakers! You'll probably have your guests until mid-morning, so it's a good idea to have a few morning activities planned. You can start with a special pancake breakfast - cook a nice big stack and let the children help themselves to toppings.

If you took photos the night before, now is the time to put the pictures into the scrapbooks, along with some decorations. Let their imaginations run wild with stickers, beads, feathers, glitter pens and foam shapes.

Let your little guests leave with a souvenir of their visit: a cake they decorated, something they made during a craft activity, or a photo.

Put your feet up!