12 Fun Sleepover Games for Tweens

Sleepovers are a childhood tradition. For young children, tweens and teenagers, sleepovers are one of the best ways to hang out with friends and have some fun. Some of the most common sleepover activities include making hot chocolate while watching a movie or getting your nails done. If you are trying to plan out a sleepover or a slumber party for tweens (children aged 10 to 12), then this list of ideas is intended for you. These ideas can be used for other age groups and are a great way to make the sleepover fun.

1. The Beach Ball Game

To play this game, you need to buy a large, inflatable beach ball. These can normally be bought in the summer easily, but many dollar stores will stock them year round. Once you have inflated the ball, write a bunch of interesting questions on the ball. Normal truth or dare style questions will generally work pretty well, although you can also use silly questions as well. Each time a participant catches the ball, they have to answer the question that is under their thumb when they catch it. After answering the question, they throw it over to the next person.

2. Craft Time!

One of the most fun things to do at a sleepover is to make crafts. Popular craft ideas include bracelets and jewelry. If you have lettered beads, you can transform these bracelets into friendship bracelets or make it so that they commemorate the sleepover. Watercolor painting can be incredibly fun and easy to do, and you can always frame the painting for the tweens to take home with them.

3. Pass the Parcel . . . In the Dark!

For you to play this game, you first have to start by turning off the lights and switching on some good background music. Have all of the students sit in a circle and pass a pillow around clockwise. When the music stops, the person with the pillow is punished—perhaps they are kicked out of the circle until a winner is chosen or they just have to sit in the middle of the circle for a single turn. In the United States, this game is also known as Hot Potato, and it is not just a game for little kids. Even older kids and teenagers can have some fun playing this game.

4. Cellphone Hide and Seek

It seems like every tween and teenager has a cellphone these days. At any rate, only one cell phone is needed. A single player hides somewhere in the house with their cell phone. Afterward, the other players turn off all of the lights and try to find them. Every few minutes, the hider has to call the house phone and give out another clue about when they are hiding. For added fun, someone can use night vision and a camera to capture the game—tweens love making YouTube videos and videos for their social media accounts, so the video can be cut and modified to show the game.

5. Musical Sleeping Bags

For this game to be played, everyone needs to have a sleeping bag. There should be one less sleeping bag than participants. Organize the sleeping bags into a circle and turn on some music. The participants should walk around the circle as the music plays. When the music stops, they have to jump into the closest sleeping bag. The person who does not have a sleeping bag is kept out of the game. For the next round, remove another sleeping bag and play again. Keep doing this until one sleeping bag is left and you have a single winner.

6. Snuggle Bug

This adorably named game starts with just one person. You can either choose someone to be the snuggle bug or draw names out of a hat for the bug. Once the snuggle bug has been chosen, that person goes somewhere into the house to hide. Everyone else goes around the house in search of the snuggle bug. When they think that they have found them, they ask “Are you the snuggle bug?” If the answer is yes, the finder joins the snuggle bug in hiding. As more and more people find the snuggle bug, they join them in hiding until only one person has not found the snuggle bug. The game ends when the last person finds the hiding spot.

7. Hunting for Talent

With the popularity of talent shows and singing competitions on television, the girls will love a chance to host their own talent show. Give the girls some time to figure out what they want to do for their talent. Some of the easiest ideas include singing, dancing, modeling or acting. Some of the girls can be the judges instead of competing, and they can judge who performed the best.

8. Setting the Burglar Alarm

To play this game, you need to have a timer. Select one of the girls to stay in the room and have everyone else leaves. They can set the timer for five or ten minutes before hiding it somewhere in the room. Afterward, everyone comes back into the room and they have to find the timer before it goes off. Whoever finds the timer gets to hide it in the next round. If no one finds the timer, then the girl who originally hid it gets a special prize.

9. 20 Questions

For this game, you need to have the girls write down (or you can make a list) some of the celebrities or famous people that they know. Toss all of the names in a hat and have each girl pull out a name without reading it. After pulling out the name, the girl licks the back of the page and sticks it to her forehead. Afterward, the girls walk around and ask each other questions like, “Am I a man?” or “Am I a singer?” All of the questions need to be yes and no questions, and each girl can ask one question before she has to answer a question. Whichever girl is able to figure out who they are first wins the game.

10. Nail Polish Spin

For a more modern, PG take on spin the bottle, the nail polish spin is sure to please. Bring out a number of different nail polish colors. Each girl gets to spin the bottle, and the person that the cap points to in the circle has to paint their nails with that color of nail polish. To keep the game going longer and have quirky looking nails, only have the girls paint one nail each time the bottle lands on them. Before long, the girls will have a rainbow of colors on their fingernails.

11. Blind Makeover

Instead of just doing a normal makeover, have one girl put on a blindfold so that she cannot see. Afterward, she applies makeup on another girl. This keeps going until everyone has had their makeup done by a “blind” person. If you have a photo printer, take a picture of all the girls at the end and send it home with them as a party favor.

12. Pig Out

Get ready for a bit of a mess with this game! Put Vaseline on the tip of each participant’s nose. In a large bowl, place a bunch of cotton balls. Using a timer, give one girl a minute to get as many cotton balls as she can. Each girl must use their sticky, Vaseline nose to “pig out” and collect as many of the cotton balls as possible. As they stick to each new cotton ball, the girl should shake her nose so that it lands on the floor. When the time is up, count the number of cotton balls before moving on to the next girl.