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Thanks to my not so wonderful MIL (long story and I am too upset to discuss it right now without seeming like a cry baby!)- my DH will be out of state and I will be left alone with 7- 10 year old girls and 1 wild 3 year old for my dd's birthday party- which is a slumber party . Does anyone have any tips on how I can make this as stress free for myself? My DH promised our dd that he would make pancakes in the morning for the girls and go get them pizza from Pizza Hut- now I am left to do everything on my own ! Help!
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Rent some movies, have some crafts and some pampering stuff. Let the girls go crazy. At 10, they should be able to keep themselves busy.
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I'm sure it depends on the group but by age 10 for us at least, they pretty much entertain themselves. My 12 year old just had a sleepover last weekend. They watched movies, played computer games, played board games, ran around outside, watched tv etc They're very low maintenance.
Ask your DD what she'd like to do for activities and go from there maybe? Rent a movie or two as 'options'...buy lots of snacks, maybe they can make their own sundaes or something?
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Okay...well I've done tons of slumber bday parties with more than 7 girls, so I'll let you know what I do. First....with food I always do easy and what I know kids will eat. I always do pizza and fruit or carrot sticks and cake or cupcakes or whatever for dinner. Then I give them baskets of chips and popcorn and maybe cookies a few hours later for them to munch on during the night. I usually do easy for breakfast too. I usually have a combo of pastries for them to pick from...bagels, donuts, etc and strawberries and other fruit and juice and milk or hot chocolate.
We have a finished basement which makes it much easier. Before our basement was finished we had them in our family room which was fine, except we could hear them and it kept us awake. Usually they'll watch a movie and maybe play some board games, listen to music and talk, talk, talk. They usually are able to entertain themselves pretty well if you have a few movies and games. Crafts are good too. It won't be that hard. Just think how much fun your dd will have.
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Do you have a friend who could come and help you out for a bit? If not maybe you have someone who could take your youngest overnight for you? If neither of them work, don't stress. Keep things simple. Pizza, chips, etc. Rent a movie. Maybe let them paint each others finger/toe nails. I am sure the older girls will do a lot to entertain themselves. You can make the pancakes ahead of time and freeze them, then just put them in the microwave to reheat them.
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I did a party of 10 / 10-year-old girls by myself in March. I made cupcakes and got several different types of sprinkles and icing and they decorated their own cupcakes. At 11:00 PM we put on a movie, by the time it was over most of the girls were asleep.
My daughter has a keyboard with microphone. She got out her favorite CD’s and the girls spent over an hour singing along on the microphone. We then played freeze dance. THEY LOVED IT! At that age they love to perform. I also got out my digital camera and they posed and preened. I made a slide show of the pictures and burned it to a dvd. My daughter sent one out to every girl along with her Thank you cards.
I had cinnamon rolls and donuts with milk and juice for breakfast. After breakfast everyone went outside to play until parents starting arriving.
Maybe you can do pancakes before hand then pop them in the microwave or oven to heat up.
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One thing you could do for a craft is have them all decorate a pillow case with fabric markers, i have done this and the kids loved it or have them decorate a cheap pair of flip flops with ribbon and balloons tied around the top.. I know kids at this age love to dance so put on some music and let them go at it. another fun game to play just before yu tuck them in with a movie is have a girl leave the room and have the rest hide in each others sleeping bags and the girl comes back she has to figure out whos in the sleeping bag by touching them while their in it.... another thing is you could have the friens hide your daughters presents either inside or out and play hot patatoe till your daughter finds the gifts....
the best thing ive have learned is take the lead from them the less planned the party the funnier it ends up being.
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Thanks everyone! The official count is now 11 girls (not including my own 2)- I had them RSVP by next monday so there is about 6 girls left accounted for! Yikes- see my thing with the stress is mainly due to my youngest- she is only 3 going on 12- she will be the one to give me the biggest issues!