My daughter, Josephine, turned 9 this week and had a Harry Potter-themed sleepunder party. For those of you not familiar with a sleepunder, it’s a party where everyone comes in their pajamas with a favorite stuffed animal, has dinner and watches a movie together, and then goes home before bedtime. So all the fun parts of a sleepover, without the exhaustion of a sleepover!
Nothing says “sleepover” like watching a great movie with your best friends. Whether you have younger kids who are new to the slumber party scene or veteran teen overnighters, this list is sure to get the night off to a great start. We’ve got everything from silly comedies for kids to romantic tearjerkers and super-scary movies for teens. if you’re a fan of Heartland and want to travel to Canada you can check out the little town of High River where the show is filmed and see all of the filming locations.
We were searching for a craft the girls could do together and we arrived at what I think is an ideal sleepover party craft activity so I thought I’d share it with you.
I love this craft for a few reasons. There’s no mess and nothing to clean up. It’s easy enough for kids starting at age 8 or so, maybe even a bit younger, but still fun for tweens or even teens – the only skill needed is the ability to tie a knot. The materials aren’t super expensive. And the finished results are something the kids can use at the party, and then take home and continue using for years.
For our pillows, we bought:
- 2-packs of 16″ pillow forms from JOANN
- several yards of fleece in coordinating prints
To prep the materials you’ll need a ruler and a sharp pair of scissors. We cut our fabric into 22″ x 22″ squares and then cut fringes that were 1.5″ wide x 3″ deep all along the edges. We cut a square out of each corner and discarded it.
Each girl chose a piece of fleece for the front and one for the back. Place them wrong sides together, lining up the fringe, and just begin tying the knots. Each fringe gets tied in a double knot to secure it.
Once three sides are complete, slip the pillow form inside, then tie the fourth side. Done!
The girls worked on their pillows while watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Once they finished their pillows, they used them to get cozy during the movie. Everyone enjoyed it and was successful!
Perfect! Simply perfect fabric party craft activity. So glad you shared this experience, how the party progressed, and the process. Never knew there was such a thing as a sleepunder. Love it!
Yep! It’s all the fun of a sleepover, without the stress 🙂 So glad you liked the craft. Josephine is sleeping with her pillow on her bed tonight!
Fabulous idea! What would you suggest for a sleepunder here in Australia where we are having a boiling hot summer??
Gosh, maybe wait to do this one in a few months when it’s cold outside!
Wonderful idea for grand-girls activity when they stay at Grandma’s!