17 Sleepover Ideas for Kids (Fun Sleepover Activities)

Sleepover ideas for kids hosting their first or tenth sleepover. Such fun sleepover activities to keep everyone having fun (and making memories).

I can remember my kid’s first sleepover, and the mixture of excitement and nerves leading up to it.

What was he mostly nervous about? What he and his friend would do when they got bored – he wanted to be a good host.

<so cute>.

Coming up with great sleepover ideas for kids kind of became something fun for me to do, and it’s why I wrote this post.

Sleepover Ideas for Kids

Choose from the list below and prep an activity or two before the big night.

Your kid and their friends are about to have the time of their lives!

It seriously makes me smile just thinking about it.

And before you dive in? Check out this cute basket of Dollar Tree socks and Dollar Tree flat flashlights – you can give them to guests as they arrive.

1. Fill an Extreme Tasting Table with Snacks

Kids and preteens are a bit fascinated with testing their limits…and I thought a safe and fun way for them to do so is to gather a bunch of “extreme-tasting” snacks from Dollar Tree and set up a taste-testing station for your sleepover guests.

This led to absolute fascination by my 8-year-old son and his group of friends, by the way. I can’t even explain the excited sparkles in their eyes while figuring out what they wanted to try, what they dared someone else to try, and what they weren’t going to touch.

You can also go with a game, by adding in extreme tasting snacks to each compartment in a tacklebox (food-grade), post-it notes with numbers on the outside of each, and a pair of dice. People take turns rolling and finding out what they have to taste.

Hint: You don’t have to go spicy for this, especially if your child doesn’t like spiciness. You can go for snacks that look weird.  

2. Parachute Army Men Off of Things

Ooohhh is this a good one – full credit to my sister, who was watching our little brother (much younger than us) years ago, and purchased a bunch of army men with parachutes from Dollar Tree.

It meant endless fun for him.

Imagine getting two, three, or more kids together and having them attempt to parachute army men off of all kinds of things. So much fun! Cheap fun, at that.

3. Do Chopsticks Snacking

Snacking is about 10X more fun when there are chopsticks involved.

Especially with a group of giggling kids who only partly (or not at all) know how to use them.

Simple, but FUN.

4. Fill Up an Inflatable Pool and Just “Chill”

My 9-year-old and his friends had an absolute blast the other day when the neighbor's 10-year-old filled up an inflatable pool.

She had a few pool toys.

But honestly? They just loved sitting with each other and talking nonsense.

Like kids do.

5. Paint a Soap Crayon Mural

You know those bath crayons that are made of soap?

You can get a bunch from the Dollar Tree, plus some micro cloths (near their automotive section), and let the kids create a mural on the bathtub wall (in their clothes and shoes).

Mess, contained!

Hint: don’t want to do this in the bathtub/shower? Let them have a window or a set of patio glass sliding doors.

6. Designate a Black Light Room

Designate one room as the Black Light room. Pull the blinds down on any windows. Replace the lamp light bulbs with black light bulbs.

Include things reactive to a black light:

• Plates/Silverware for snacks
• Temporary tattoos
• Body paint
• Etc.

You can also get a black light bar.

7. Set Up an M&M Art Tray

Don’t just leave a big bag of M&Ms for them, leave them inspired to create their own piece of M&M art (before gobbling them down, I’m sure).

I made this rainbow.

I’ve also made a pumpkin, and even a turkey (kind of like a Monet – it doesn’t work unless you look from far away at it).

8. Set Out Blankets and Pillows for Fort Making

One of the best gifts my son has ever received was from his stepmom (who had raised a boy, too): a giant velvety blanket to make forts with.

Pass on some fun by setting up an area for kids to make forts in.

You could provide several blankets and pillows. We have this giant family bean bag chair that makes a great area for kids to do this in.

9. Marshmallow Target Practice

Set up something for a target in an area of the house or back porch where you won’t mind a gazillion marshmallows.

Get these marshmallow slingshots and a bag of small marshmallows from Dollar Tree.

So much fun!!

10. Set Out a Tech Decks Station

Have you ever heard of Tech Decks? They’re these finger-sized skateboards.

Kids love them!

They can build their own mini-skate park with simple household items, like an empty roll of toilet paper or a rubber door stopper.

11. Set Up a Timed Sleepover Snacks Cart

The snacking with this age group can be unreal.

Which can get tiring for parents!

That’s why it’s a great idea to set up a sleepover snacks cart.

Even better? Set up a timed sleepover snacks cart. Fill each tier with a few snacks the kids can choose from, but here’s the catch: they can’t touch the next tier until an hour later (set an alarm to go off each hour).

This can help stop some overeating, while giving the kids some autonomy (and you a break).

12. Set Up a Pudding Snack Station

Kids demand the snacks, amiright?

That’s why I created a whole article on easy sleepover snacks.

One I’d like to highlight is the pudding snack station. It’s easy to prep ahead of time, and kids absolutely love being able to choose their toppings and customize things.

Winner, winner, pudding dinner (or snack, or dessert, or just-because).

13. Do a Round of Cosmic Kids Yoga

Ask kids to bring a yoga mat, or provide a few (a carpeted area can work, too).

Pick one of these Cosmic Kids Yoga videos for them to do together:

• Super Mario Kids Yoga
• Halloween Kids Yoga
• Encanto Kids Yoga

14. Kick Around a Giant Soccer Ball

I found a gigantic soccer ball on clearance at our grocery store, and it’s provided some of the most fun for our family AND for my child and his friends.

The giggles just keep rolling.

15. Watch a Cooking Competition

Need a little TV downtime, but looking for something a bit more interactive?

Streaming services all have at least one cooking competition, and I find that my child absolutely loves watching it with someone.

The commentary is hilarious (boy, do kids love sharing their opinions!). The guesses for who is going to win are interesting.

And the kids get excited about making their own creations, and come away with ideas for what they’d like to one day.

16. Go Through the Would You Rather: Ewwww Edition Book

Kids and preteens love daring themselves to go to extremes sometimes.

This book plays into that in a fun and safe way.

17. Do Pudding Portraits

Get all your supplies from Dollar Tree: a canvas for each person, a cup of snack pudding for each person, a paint brush for each person, and a canvas holder.

And let the kids create pudding portraits of each other (or a pet!). These are really silly and a lot of fun.

Wow – friends are about to become even better friends, and kids who didn't know each other as well at the beginning of the night will come out of this sleepover being besties! I just love all of these sleepover ideas for kids and I hope you do, too.