Sleepover Party -7yr- Pass the Glow Stick

Sleepover Party 7yr old  We just had a party for my 7 year old daughter.  She wanted a sleepover party.  I decided it shouldn't be too big, so I let her invite 5 girls.  I thought she might have a problem with wanting more, but she didn't.  Because we didn't plan too far in advance, I just called each girl's parents and invited them.  I told them to bring a bathing suit also. 

On the day of the party, guests were to arrive around 3:00 pm.  As the girls arrived, we painted T-shirts outside on the picnic table.  It worked well to start once the first girl arrived instead of trying to do them all at once.  I used boys T-shirt undershirts.  I got 2 sizes, 6-8 which would be around the normal size for these girls, and 10-12.  Most girls wanted to make a bigger shirt.  I also got a package of Tulip glitter fabric paint.  It was a package of 5-6 paints which was less expensive than buying individually.  As an afterthought, I bought a stencil that had butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and dragonflies on it and a package of sponge applicators that had a variety of shapes and sizes including some round flat sponge applicators that are good for stenciling.  We just squeezed the paint onto paper plates to dip in for stenciling.  After we finished the shirts, we set them outside to dry. 

I sent the girls in to put on their bathing suits.  Once they were suited up, I had each girl bring me her PJs.  We were having pizza for dinner, so I bought cheese take and bake pizzas from Costco and had purchased toppings separately.  The girls took turns putting toppings they liked on the pizzas.  I basically let them top about 1/4 of the pizza.  We headed out to the Y and swam for awhile.  Each girl showered and put on their PJs I had brought after swimming and we went home to eat.  Since the pizzas were topped, we just had to bake them in the oven.  While they were cooking my older daughter helped the girls make friendship bracelets.  They loved this and it kept everyone calm while waiting for dinner.  The bracelets were made from embroidery floss.  My daughter said their called Twizzles.  You take 3 strands of floss and twist and twist while holding both ends.  Once it's twisted tight, find the center and fold the string in half.  The twisting will cause it to wrap around like a rope.  Tie the 2 ends in a single knot.  Slide the knot through the loop in the other end like a clasp when putting on. 

We ate the pizza and had raw carrots and brocolli with ranch dressing.  I had a pitcher of water with colorful cups.  We used the paper plates that look like animal heads.  We then had cake.  After eating, the girls set up sleeping bags and brushed their teeth.  I gathered everyone and gave them each a glow stick and a glow bracelet.  Next my daughter opened her gifts.  Afterword, we went downstairs to the sleeping area and played "Pass the Glow Stick".  This was basically the game of hot potato except we used the glow stick.  When the music stopped, whoever had the glowstick had to get into their sleeping bag.  The last person got a prize, but I had told all of the girls not to worry that everyone would have a prize before they left the party.  Everyone was in bed for the night.   

The next morning the girls woke up and jumped on the trampoline.  By the time they came in they had all found their drying shirts and put them one.  We had pancakes and orange slices and water to drink.  After breakfast the girls dressed and gathered their things.  We then played picture Bingo.  I had printed bingo cards and a call sheet from a great website http://www.dltk-cards.com/bingo/ With the pictures, it was simple and even my 3 yr old could do it.  We used glass beads/pebble stones for markers (and some pennies when we ran out of stones).  Each time someone won, they pulled a prize from the prize bag.  We made sure everyone got something. 

They enjoyed the Bingo so much we kept playing even after the prizes were gone.  After bingo, the girls played until they were picked up.  They had goody bags we made.  We bought the colorful lunch type bags in the wrapping section from Wal-Mart 5/$1 and attached pictures we made from the same website. http://www.dltk-cards.com/bag/ They give you a template to make your own bag, but to keep things simple, we printed a picture for each bag with "Thanks for coming" printed with the picture, cut it out and attached to the bags. 

Summary  Food Take & Bake pizza from Costco Pizza toppings - pepperoni, canadian bacon, pineapple tidbits Carrots & broccoli w/ranch dressing Bday Cake Pancakes Orange wedges Animal plates from Wal-Mart  Activities Shirt painting/stenciling Friendship bracelets (simple twisted ones) Pass the Glow Stick (Hot potato) Picture Bingo  Goodies Glow stick and bracelet friendship bracelet their painted shirt beaded necklace (party favor area) colored glass stones (Bingo markers - we got ours at Wal-mart, but they also sell at $1 stores) trail mix stickers any prize they had won - (prizes were jacks, wobbly ball, bouncy ball, small plastic chest, and stickers)  All of these were $1 or less except for some of the stickers.  I basically got everything the day of the party at Wal-Mart except the pizza and cake I had ordered from Costco.  We found glow items in the party area, but they had more in the toy section and they were less $ which is why I got the bracelets AND the glow sticks.  All of the other prizes were in the toy section too.  They had a large selection of stickers and a lot of them were fancier than your average sticker (3 dimensional or plastic film instead of paper, etc.)  I think the girls had a great time and I know my daughter enjoyed herself.