Whether it’s for a birthday celebration or just a little treat for the weekend, a pyjama party can be a great bit of fun for your kids and their friends. The event, however, takes careful planning, so you can keep the kids busy during the evening and sleeping soundly once the lights go out and bedtime comes around.
We know how tricky it can be thinking of ideas to keep your kids and their friends entertained at a pyjama party, so we’ve compiled some handy tips for you to use to have a successful party. Read on to find out more.
Choose the right food
Food is one of the biggest parts of any party, nevermind a pyjama party with younger guests. You may have a mix of both picky eaters and kids who don’t mind what’s put in front of them, so it might be worth choosing small finger foods rather than a sit down meal if there are several children you’re looking after. Why not check out our sofa snacks article, written by guest blogger Sally Bee, for some tasty food ideas you could serve to your guests, or alternatively treat them with some takeaway pizzas.
Keep the kids busy
A pyjama party isn’t complete without some fun activities to entertain the kids before bedtime. Arts and crafts are a really good idea, like making jewellery or using paints and felt tips to make some colourful pieces of art. Dust off some board games or have a video game competition if you have a console at the ready and a few controllers. If the weather isn’t too great then there may be little opportunity for the kids to go outside, so it’s best to have a back up at hand so the kids can enjoy some activities indoors.
Movies are a pyjama party staple because they’re a group activity that allows everyone to snuggle and get cosy in their own little spot on the sofa. Depending on the age range, you should choose a genre to suit your guests. Younger kids might appreciate an animated film like Disney or Dreamworks. Older ones might appreciate comedies, romcoms or action films, but you might want to check that their age matches or exceeds the rating on the movie you choose. It’s a good idea to avoid any scary films – you’ll want the kids to sleep at some point during the night.
Set your room up for the movie by grabbing as many throws, cushions and blankets as you can and spread them across the sofa. Corner sofas like the Emperor, Delta or Rosie ranges are perfect for these types of movie nights in, because they offer plenty of room for several people to spread out with snacks and drinks. Be sure to give the room some ambience; if you have a dimmer switch on your lights then you can turn it down to ‘low’. If not, try using fairy lights hung across the room or a small lamp to help give the room a dim glow as you watch the film.
It’s time for lights out
When bedtime eventually comes around, you’ll want to avoid any dramas or children staying up long into the night. This can be unavoidable if some of the kids get a little homesick but, if you want to keep them in bed and sleeping soundly, it’s worth keeping activities throughout the evening as calm and relaxing as possible. If you plan to have a pamper night, you could draw the evening to a close with some relaxing face masks and nail painting.
If you want to end the night with little fuss, why not get them in the pyjamas earlier on and tell some stories. It doesn’t have to be just you reading from the book or telling a story from memory. Make it interactive and give the kids a role, perhaps ask one of them to read a story to the group or tell a tale they know off by heart. You’d be surprised how quickly a story will have them nodding off.
Maximise the sleeping space
Finding enough space for the sleepers might be a bit tricky if you don’t have spare bedrooms. Dig out the camp beds, sleeping mats or blow up beds and dust off the sleeping bags in preparation – if you have spare blankets or quilts they will definitely come in handy here. You could instead opt for a sofa bed, like the Florence, Demure or Majestic. All of these ranges are super comfy, and are perfect both for watching the movie before bedtime and transforming into a cosy double bed for some of the guests to sleep on.
There will inevitably be some wake ups during the night, and not necessarily just from the kids. Looking after other people’s children can be a daunting task and might give you a restless night’s sleep, but don’t worry – no matter what you have planned, the kids are sure to have a brilliant time.
Explore our ranges
Our corner sofas and sofa beds are just two of the several configurations we offer with many of our ranges. You can explore them all at sofology.co.uk and find one that you’ll love to come home to (and host pyjama parties on) for years to come.
