We just had a Camp-In" sleepover birthday party that my son said was "the best party EVER".
Guests arrived and were greeted with "Welcome to Camp Yadthrib!" (Birthday spelled backwards and were given a bandana (which they wore on their heads). Guests were told on the invitations to bring PJs sleeping bags & pillows flashlight boots toothbrush & toothpaste. We gave each parent a pre-made slip of paper with our home phone and cell phones and we had a pre-printed list of the kids' & parents' names and home numbers onto which they added their cell numbers. The boys put their things into the tent which was set up in our great room then were invited to the kitchen to make their own trail mix. They wrote their names onto a brown lunch bag selected their ingredients then shook to mix. Ingredients were Chex cereal granola raisins dry roasted peanuts mixed nuts roasted sunflower seeds and m&ms. Shortly after all arrived it was time for camp grub. They roasted hot dogs in the family room fireplace side dishes were cowboy beans and cheesy potatoes drinks were root beer lemonade and bottled water. A cooler with bottled water was always available in the kitchen & the cooler doubled as an extra seat at the table. The boys decided to go outside & play and luckily we had lots of snow they played in the snow fort and had snowball fights. When they came in they had cocoa to warm up (with extra marshmallows on the side). Next it was game time. They played "Worst Case Scenario Survival card game with a modified format. Each player got 3 pieces of paper and wrote an A on one and a B and a C. The party boy's older sister (and self-appointed "camp counselor") read questions out loud and the A B C answers. Each player then held up their answer card. We kept a tally of the correct answers. Great game and lots of really good discussion about why each answer was the best option so this was fun AND educational - always a plus! Next birthday apple pie ice cream gifts. The plates & napkins were all camouflage colors. Also used plastic camo cups so that they could re-use and take home. Treat bags had candy camo- note pad bungee pop granola bar and a VERY cool key chain with a REAL bug in acrylic. The rest of the evening included movies board games card games and using their flashlights to make shadow puppets using a book from the library. Decorations were minimal - just balloons - the tent was really all that was needed. (Should have done a sign but we came up with camp name a little too late.) Unfortunately there were no brave souls to lead the group in campfire songs! We decided to send home S'mores "kits" rather than add to their sugar buzz. Downloaded a recipe from the Hersheys website for Indoor S'mores using the microwave. In the morning the boys had cocoa while I had my coffee - much needed of course not much sleeping as expected. I got lucky for breakfast since I live near a VFW and today was the monthly "Farmer's Breakfast". Served all of us for only $30 and they have THE BEST pancakes anywhere! I asked my son to rate the party on a scale of 1 to 10 he gave it "Four billion and three". Other ideas that we had but did not do: go on a nature walk identify animal tracks using a book from the libray. Make a pendant and put an amimal track or leaf print tie to a leather cord. Campfire songs. Flashlight tag. Put up a Christmas tree next to the tent. Play nature sounds in the background. Great party everyone had a blast. If you're brave enough to try a sleep-over with boys then this is definitely the theme to use! :)"
