40+ Games for a Slumber Party

I consider myself lucky growing up in the ‘90s and early 2000’s and getting to enjoy slumber parties. Whether it was a teen birthday slumber party with a dozen of us girls staying up late to eat junk food, play goofy games and rent Blockbuster movies or the sleepovers I’d have with my girl friends in our teens talking about boys and watching scary movies, I have such nostalgia for them.

I think it’s partly due to how “unplugged” we were minus some time spent playing Sims on the computer (in the computer room, of course, haha) that I have such positive memories for them.

And I think slumber parties can still be fun today for kids, teenagers and even us grown-ups, without all the tech so we can have fun, relax and just connect with our friends.

So today, I’m sharing a roundup of games and tips for slumber parties. I’ll sort them from ones that kids might find more entertaining to teens and then the all-ages one that us adults can partake in. Thought almost all of them are friendly for all ages.

If you’re considering a bachelorette weekend and need some ideas for entertainment for girls night in – this list should be helpful for that too!

40+ Games For a Slumber Party

Play The Floor is Lava

This is a fun game for the younger crowd – pretend the floor is lava and try to get from one side of the room to the other (or from one part of the house to the other) without touching the ground. You can climb on furniture, use pillows and chairs to avoid the floor, etc.

Have Pillow Fights

This is a classic sleepover activity, but it’s important to set ground rules like no hitting each other in the face. And make sure there is plenty of space so nothing gets broken or knocked over.

Make Slime

When thinking of sleepover games and activities, I knew I had to include slime! My niece was so obsessed with this recently, and while she’s grown out of it, I think it’s still such a fun activity for the younger kids. You can find slime recipes on TikTok or even use a slime kit from Amazon.

Hide and Seek

Another classic sleepover game is hide and seek. To keep everyone safe, set rules on whether any spaces are out-of-bounds (such as outside or outside of the yard). Take turns on who is the seeker and the last person standing wins!

Flashlight Tag

Tag is a great game to play outdoors in the backyard or at a park. The person who is chaser the others gets a flashlight to “tag” them with.

Light as a feather, stiff as a board

This game is one I remember playing as a little girl. It’s so silly, but in the moment feels very serious and a little spooky. You’ll want at least five people to pull this off. Here’s how to play:

Lay the person you’re going to lift flat on the ground, with their arms crossed over their chest. They can lay across a blanket for extra cushion.
Those who are the lifters should kneel beside the liftee. You’ll want on person at each shoulder and one person at each knee. If you have a sixth person participating they can kneel at the person’s head.
Each person lifting should make a fist, excluding their pointer finger which is the finger they will be using to lift. And then place those fingers below the person’s shoulders, knees, or upper shoulders.
The “leader” of the group will start the process of softly chanting “light as a feather, stiff as a board” as everyone else chimes in and the group attempts to lift the “liftee.”
If you’re lucky and the team lifts perfectly in unison with the weight distributed well enough, you may be able to lift the person lightly off the ground. That’s it! Have fun.

Draw and Paint

There’s nothing as simple as drawing and painting, but it’s always a hit and so relaxing. This is honestly fun for any age! Pick up some drawing pencils along with thick paper and watercolor paint for an easy activity.

Magic 8 Ball

Pick up a classic Magic 8 Ball for easy entertainment. This is a great game to have for sleepovers to help break the ice as everyone is familiar with the magic 8 ball and anyone can participate.

MASH

You’ll need to distribute pieces of paper and pencils to the group to play M.A.S.H. It’s such a classic, simple game, but a fun way for younger kids to play around to “predict” what their future might be.

MASH stands for “Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House” and the game can determine what your future career is, number of kids, spouse, where you live and more. It’s a silly prediction game that can be played again and again.

20 Questions

I love games like these that, again, require no materials to play. 20 Questions is fun to play with a group at a slumber party, or even on a road trip when two people are trying to stay entertained.

To play, choose a player to be the answerer. They need to think of a person, place, or thing.
The other plays, known as the questioners, take turns asking yes or no questions to guess the answer.
The answerer can only answer with a yes or no. Each player should get to ask at least one question. If the questioner guesses the correct answer within 20 questions, they are the winner and get to be the answerer for the next round.
If no one guesses, then the answerer gets to go again.
Play until everyone has had a turn or just play a few rounds before moving onto another game.

Charades

Charades is another classic game that I haven’t played in years, but have such good memories of it. To play, you’ll want to follow these steps:

Divide into two teams of equal size. Or as close to equal as you can get.
Each participant writes a phrase on a slip of paper and they are all placed in a bowl or bag. The phrases are often things like book titles, movies, popular TV shows, celebrities, etc. You can set guardrails here or try to follow a theme.
Each team takes turns with a player drawing a slip from the bowl and acting out the phrase for their team to guess in under 1 minute. Use a timer with a buzzer to track this.
If the team guesses they are awarded a point, but if they don’t guess it, then the other team can try to guess and steal the point.
After everyone has had a turn acting out a charade, the team with the most points wins.

Tie-dye

While tie-dye probably hit it’s peak popularity while we were all stuck at home in 2020, it’s a classic choice for entertaining a group during a sleepover. Have everyone bring a shirt from home they want to tie-dye or provide some simple white t-shirts to the group. Use a tie-dye kit to get started earlier in the party and they’ll be ready to go the next day.

Make Friendship Bracelets

Even if you’re not going to a Taylor Swift concert, you can still get in on the fun by creating friendship bracelets! Create bracelets with fun phrases, popular lyrics or just lots of cute colors. Everyone can trade them and take home their favorites. You can find huge friendship bracelet kits online that will make dozens upon dozens of bracelets.

Make Charm Necklaces

If you’re wanting something a little more upscale than a friendship bracelet, let me introduce you to the charm necklace. These have become incredibly popular in New York City with entire stores dedicated to making your own custom charm jewelry. It’s also easy to find charm kits online so you can spend a few hours creating them with friends.

Learn Origami

I’ve always wanted to learn origami and think it would also make a great group activity during a slumber party.

Build Legos

I love Legos and some of my most nostalgic childhood memories are of playing with legos with my brother and friends. The lego custom kits are super expensive, but the big kits of just tons of pieces in various colors are much more affordable and allow for more creativity.

Learn a TikTok dance

Throw a dance party! You can learn a TikTok dance or another popular dance together. There are tons of tutorials on YouTube and TikTok and you can just stream that on the TV on a loop while the group learns it together.

Board Games

Pull out the classic board games for a wholesome way to spend a few hours. A few popular options include:

Monopoly
Scrabble
CLUE
Candy Land
Trivial Pursuit
Catan
LIFE
Azul (a personal favorite!)

Card Games

In addition to board games, there are plenty of simple card games that are just as fun to play, such as:

UNO
Go Fish
Monopoly GO
Cards Against Humanity
What Do You Meme

Ouija Board

Bring up the spooky factor by pulling out the classic ouija board game.

Conversation Cards

My partner and I have been together for over a decade, and we still learn new things about one another when playing with conversation cards. They sell many options of these cards online, or you could also just search on Pinterest for various questions to ask.

Basically, these cards will provide prompts to boost conversation. Sometimes the questions are pretty deep and other times they’re just silly, but for the most part, they’re 100% effective on getting the conversation rolling.

Cupcake Decorating

Bake a big batch of cupcakes in advance (or pick up plain ones at your local grocery bakery) and set up a cupcake decoration station to add frosting, sprinkles, chocolates, candies and whatever the heart desires.

Make Fondue

Another foodie idea, but one that has a more savory option! Make fondue together, whether it’s a cheese fondue or a chocolate fondue (even better if you can do both!).

Enjoy the fondue with fresh bread cubes, fruit and even some meats. The experience of making it and enjoying it are both so fun.

Bingo

Play BINGO! Honestly, I used to love going to Bingo nights back in high school – even then it felt so retro. But it’s just entertaining and silly. You can take turns on who is leading the Bingo and who gets to play. There are Bingo kits under $20 available to play at home.

Have a Movie Marathon

Choose your favorite movie and pick some crowd pleasers for a movie marathon. You can follow a theme like having a bunch of rom coms, or scary movies. I personally like to have a mix – watching something scary first and then something cute to finish the night. In fact, I’ve shared the best movies to binge watch that includes scary movies, animated movies, love stories and more!

Play Would You Rather Game

Would You Rather is an easy game to play with a group and requires no supplies. In order to play, players will take turns asking each other questions with two options. The other players then choose their option between the two and explain why. You can play this with any number of players and make the questions silly or more serious.

Play Two Truths, One Lie

To play Two Truths, One Lie, everyone gets to share some fun facts about themselves. Each person will share three statements about their self, but one of them is actually a lie. Everyone else guesses which one is the lie and the original person reveals the answer.

Play Never Have I Ever

Another game that doesn’t require any materials! To play Never Have I Ever, players need to sit in a circle or group together so everyone can see and hear one another.

You’ll hold your hands in front of yourself with all 10 fingers up. Then players take turns sharing a statement that starts with “Never have I ever,” while then sharing something they have never done.

If you’ve done this thing, then you put a finger down. The game continues until there’s a final person standing with a finger up – or after a set number of rounds.

There is, of course, a drinking version of this game that can be played by the adult crowd. Instead of putting your fingers up, you just take a drink if you’ve done what the other playing has never done.

Do a Treasure Hunt or Scavenger Hunt

Create a treasure hunt or scavenger hunt that can be played inside the house or around the neighborhood. Create a checklist of items that can be discovered and the first person or team who checks them all off wins a prize!

Make a themed playlist together

Within Spotify you can easily create a playlist and share that link with others to add their favorite songs too. Use this playlist for the rest of the evening and try to guess what everyone’s favorite song is.

DIY Vision Boards

Get some old magazines, print pages from Pinterest or grab old books from the thrift stores and pick up large posterboards, glitter, markers, stickers, etc. for a DIY vision board experience.

Star Gaze

Depending on where you live, going star gazing might be a really interesting activity. Ensure it’s a non-cloudy evening and look up the various constellations for that evening. Pack some glow sticks for the group to play with afterwards in the dark.

Clothing Swap

This might be less of a game, but I think it’s a fun idea for a sleepover. Do a clothing swap! Have everyone bring an item or a few items of clothes they no longer want or wear and everyone can swap and find new things. I also do this with beauty products when I have too many extra or lots of samples I’m not using.

Arts and Crafts

Any arts and crafts are so fun for sleepovers. Paper mache, collages, playing with pipe cleaners, painting DIY doormats, etc. The options are endless and customizable for every age group.

Video Games

My favorite video games for a slumber party would be Mario Kart and Mario Party! You can have up to 4 players at once for a game, so if you have a bigger group, it might make sense to split activities up so while some are playing games, the other attendees are doing a craft and vice versa.

Create a Photo Booth or Photo Wall

Set up a photo booth/photo wall area to take pictures in front of. You could use items you already have around the house or grab some inexpensive craft supplies like streamers and anything sparkly. After the space is set up, have a fun photo shoot.

Have a Fashion Show

Hold a fashion show! If everyone brings clothes to swap, this could be the chance for the group to show off new outfits. or pull outfits from old Halloween costumes or anything outdated in the house for dress up.

Spa Night with Mani/Pedis

This was probably one of my favorite activities for a slumber party. I loved and still love a spa night! You can have mini facial set ups, make “spa water” (water with cucumber and fresh lemon slices), and everyone can give each other manis. I suggest getting an inexpensive nail polish set with stickers and variety of colors.

Toilet paper someone’s house

Back in my day, sleepover parties weren’t complete without toilet papering someone’s house. Nowadays, I feel like this is less common, but I still had to include it as a suggestion!

Karaoke

Karaoke can be such a fun activity for sleepover parties. Play your favorite songs, put on some cool lights, and fun outfits and everyone can take turns singing their favorite songs at the top of their lungs. They make really simple karaoke machines too for an easy set-up.

How to Make a Slumber Party Fun

Put the Phones Away

The worst part of a slumber party was when everyone got too sucked into their phones texting or playing a one-person game on the computer. Instead, encourage everyone to unplug and place all phones in a bowl and set it in the other room.

The phones are still there and accessible in case of an emergency, but just not seeing them helps to take focus off of them so everyone can focus on having fun together.

Get All the Snacks

It’s not a party without snacks! A classic slumber party is going to have pizza too.

In addition, get some veggies and fruits. And your favorite snacks to enjoy for a night. For me, that’s going to include Doritos, pretzels, popcorn and some candy, like Starbursts.

Make it a themed party

Planning a theme for the party can boost the vibes even more. And centering everything around a theme can make it easier to plan the party since you have one main focus to center everything around.

Go with the flow

The most important thing is to go with the flow. Have these games, snacks and entertainment, but don’t get too tied up with specific timelines and what everyone must do. Instead, let things happen and just go with the flow.

Like I mentioned earlier in this post, if you’re looking for inspiration for a bachelorette or bridal shower party, some other games to consider are the “Guess What the Groom Said” bridal shower game or the Would She Rather Bridal Shower game.

I hope these fun sleepover ideas have given you inspiration for your next slumber party or kickback with friends!