How to Host a Sleepover: The Complete Guide to the Ultimate Pyjama Party

Who doesn't love a good sleepover? Sleepovers are great for kids because they get to spend quality time with their friends, eat junk food, watch movies, and stay up all night! Planning the perfect sleepover can take a lot of effort but it can also be a lot of fun, especially if you get your kids involved with the preparations.

In this article, we will explain how to host a sleepover that your children and their friends will never forget, from planning the perfect theme to choosing the right movie snacks. Let's get started!

What is a Sleepover?

Sleepovers, also known as pyjama parties, are parties where everyone wears pyjamas, eats their favourite foods, watches movies and falls asleep together. Sleepovers are usually hosted by the parents of one of the children who can invite all of their friends to come and stay. This is exciting for the kids because staying at their friend's house can feel like a real adventure. If you get all the details of the sleepover planned in advance, you will be able to take a big step back on the actual night which will have the added bonus of making the kids feel like they are unsupervised (even though they're not!)

What to Consider Before Hosting a Sleepover

When you're hosting a sleepover, there are several things that you need to consider beforehand. Here are some of the most important questions to ask yourself:

• How many friends can your child invite?
• How long will the kids be staying? 
• Are you going to pick up the kids and take them home or do you need to arrange this with their parents?
• Do any of the kids have any medicines they need to take before bed?
• Do any of the kids have any special needs that you should know about?
• What do the kids need to bring? Pyjamas? Toothpaste?
• What kind of activities will they do at the sleepover?
• Do they want to play some games before bedtime or watch a movie?
• What kind of food are you going to serve?
• Will you provide breakfast for the kids in the morning?

Make sure that you have answers to all of these questions and that you discuss the sleepover with the parents of all the children planning to attend. Depending on the age of the kids, some parents may have concerns about allowing their children to stay at someone else's house. By planning well in advance, you can ensure that it all goes right on the night.

How to Choose the Theme for Your Sleepover

There are so many different ideas out there when it comes to planning what type of pyjama party you want to host! Here are some fun themes:

A Football Themed Sleepover

If your child is a huge football fan, why not have a sleepover that focuses on all things related to the beautiful game? You can bake football-shaped cookies for snacks and decorate your home with streamers in your child's favourite team's colours.

For activities, all you need to do is set up a mini football pitch in the garden and let the kids play their very own tournament. If you get lucky (or you plan it right) the sleepover will coincide with an important match on TV or you can put on a football-themed movie for the kids like Bend It Like Beckham.

We have a huge range of pyjamas and onesies for all the football-loving kids out there. Our sets feature all of the biggest Premier League teams including Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea, as well as the best teams from Europe like Paris Saint Germain!

Click here to view all our football pyjamas and nightwear!

A Star Wars Sleepover

If your children are obsessed with science fiction and fantasy movies, a Star Wars sleepover is a perfect choice. You can really set the mood by decorating the house so that it looks like Space, or even decorate each room to look like a different location from the films.

For activities, you could set up a lightsaber training course, pin the tail on the Wookie, or let the kids watch every episode of the series back-to-back so they can immerse themselves in George Lucas' wonderful world. There are loads of awesome Star Wars-themed snacks you can make like green icing Yoda cupcakes or chocolate lightsaber lollipops.

We have a huge range of both boys and girls Star Wars pyjamas from both the original series and the new Mandalorian series. May the force be with them!

Click here to view all our Star Wars pyjamas and nightwear!

A Christmas Sleepover

If your kids love the holiday season, why not let them celebrate Santa's impending arrival all night long? The best part about a Christmas sleepover is that you can go all out decorating to transform your entire home into a winter wonderland.

For activities, set up an obstacle course in the garden where the kids need to navigate icy obstacles and slide down slippery slopes. If the weather allows, they can even build a snowman or an igloo, and of course, have a big snowball fight!

For snacks, you can bake gingerbread reindeer and serve them with hot chocolate to help the kids warm up again. Once everyone is in their pyjamas, there are so many fantastic Christmas movies they can watch together like Elf, Home Alone, and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

With Christmas quickly approaching we have a huge range of Christmas-themed pyjamas, onesies, and slippers. Our sets are perfect for staying warm during the winter weather while waiting for Santa to arrive.

A Marvel Sleepover

The Marvel movies have really taken the world by storm, and if your kids are big superhero fans, what better way to get their imaginations going than with a Marvel-themed sleepover. You can decorate your home to look like Avengers headquarters and play team-building games in the garden or set up a course where the kids have to climb through obstacles and swing from webs just like Spiderman.

You can really bring this theme to life by baking superhero cupcakes that are frosted with blue icing for Captain America's shield, red velvet cupcakes topped with green icing for Hulk Hogan, chocolate brownies decorated with red icing for Iron Man's suit, and vanilla sponge cakes covered in bright yellow frosting resembling Thor's mighty hammer Mjolnir!

Once it is time for bed, there is no better way to end the night than with a Marvel movie marathon! With so much action on screen, don't be surprised if the kids end up staying awake all night long!

Our range of Marvel pyjama sets is perfect for both boys and girls to role play as their favourite superhero. Whether they are Iron Man maniacs or wannabe Black Widows, we have them covered!

Click here to view all our Marvel pyjamas and nightwear!

A Frozen Sleepover

What better way to spend time at night than singing along to your favourite songs from Frozen? For this theme, you can transform your house into a winter wonderland by decorating the walls with snowflakes and building an ice castle in the garden. You can even bake iced cupcakes decorated like Olaf's funny face!

For activities, set up an obstacle course where kids need to climb through icy obstacles or jump over mini glaciers. If the weather is snowy, the kids can make their own Olaf's or different snowmen to join in with their wintery adventures. Once everyone has their pyjamas on and is all snuggled up, there is nothing better than watching Disney's hugely popular Frozen movies back-to-back!

We have a huge range of Frozen pyjamas for both boys and girls to keep them nice and toasty while they sing "Let it goooooooooo!"

Click here to view all our Frozen pyjamas and nightwear!

A Gamer Sleepover

If your kids love computer games, why not host a sleepover where they can play their favourite games and eat all of their favourite snacks? For this theme, you need to turn your home into the ultimate gamer paradise. You could create an epic battleground with Nerf guns or set up a laser tag course in the garden so that they feel like real-life superheroes fighting baddies!

When it comes to a gamer party, there are so many awesome snacks you can prepare. These include pizza slices decorated with different coloured peppers to look like Tetris blocks, Cheetos dipped in blue icing for the iconic Yoshi from Super Mario, and bite-sized chocolate brownies shaped like Xbox controllers.

Once they have eaten all their gaming snacks, it's time to play! You know the kids are going to stay up super late so just check in on them once in a while to make sure everything is okay.

We have a wide range of game-themed pyjamas to make sure that everyone at the party is nice and cosy while they play their favourites games.

Click here to view all our Gamer-themed pyjamas and nightwear!

An Animal Lovers Sleepover

If your children love animals then what better theme for a sleepover? You can decorate your home with comfy cushions covered in paw prints or hang some animal posters over the bed where everyone will be sleeping. For snacks, you can bake animal-shaped cookies or chocolate chip muffins. There are loads of animal-themed activities for the kids to take part in like face painting, animal charades and a dance-off to their favourite animal songs!

When the kids are all tucked up in their sleeping bags and pyjamas, there is nothing better than snuggling up to watch some of their favourite movies about animals. These may include The Lion King, Madagascar, Ice Age, Finding Nemo and so many more!

We have loads of different fun animal-themed pyjamas and onesies which your kids will love!

Click here to see some of our favourites animal pyjamas and nightwear!

An Ocean-Themed Sleepover

The ocean is a fascinating place and if your kids are fans of dolphins, whales and sharks, then hosting an ocean-themed sleepover be the perfect pyjama party idea! You can decorate your home with seashells, starfish and colourful fishnets to create a magical underwater world. For activities, you can set up an under-the-sea obstacle course where kids must avoid jellyfish or jump over mini waves!

When it comes to snacks, there are lots of fun things you can do like making your own ocean cookies with different coloured coral reef icing, cutting chocolate brownies into the shape of sharks and decorating cupcakes with different coloured sprinkles to look like tropical fish.

Once everyone is all tucked in bed and ready for sleep, there are loads of amazing ocean-themed movies the kids can watch like Finding Nemo, Shark Tale and The Little Mermaid.

We have loads of different ocean-themed pyjamas to help your kids imagine they are under the sea.

Click here for some of our favourite sets of ocean pyjamas and nightwear!

A No Boys Allowed! Sleepover

A No Boys Allowed! sleepover is an ideal way for your daughter and her friends to have some fun! To help set the scene, you can create the most beautiful pink bedroom with flowers printed on the bedding and little fairy lights everywhere. There are so many fun activities to take part in like face painting, watching girlie movies or having a beauty pampering session where the girls get to paint each other's nails!

For snacks, the girls can bake some of their favourite cupcakes decorated like little lipstick kisses or chocolate brownies shaped like hearts. Once everyone is tucked up under lots of blankets in their pyjamas it's time for a chick flick like Mean Girls or Legally Blonde.

We have a wide range of girls' pyjamas which are perfect for a No Boys Allowed! sleepover.

Click here to see some of our favourite girls' pyjamas and nightwear!

Final Thoughts

We hope this article has given you some great tips on how to host a sleepover so your next party goes off with a bang! Remember, it is all about choosing a great theme and getting as much prepared in advance as possible. That way, everything will be ready for the kids' arrival so that all you need to worry about is what time they get to sleep!