There are often reasons kids can’t get together for a sleepover.
Some live too far apart.
Sometimes, there’s just too many kids to get in one place at one time.
Other times, like now, we’re practicing social distancing!
Whatever the reason, kids still want to see their friends, have fun, and get together. Somehow.
So, how about a virtual sleepover? Here are some easy steps and great ideas to pull that off.
How to Connect – Videoconferencing Applications In the old days, friends stayed up on their phones all night long. That doesn’t have to be the way it is anymore, thanks to technology. Today, you have videoconferencing apps like Facebook Messenger, Zoom, or House Party where multiple friends can virtually get together all at once and see and hear one another.
My kids did this last night with a few of their friends and talked and laughed for hours. It was just what they, and their friends, needed.
-Tips- Make it a True Sleepover- Sure, they can’t get together truly, but that doesn’t mean the sleepover should look any different. Talk to the other parents and get everyone to have their PJs and sleeping bags ready.
Snacks- Everyone pop some popcorn or break out other similar snacks.
Activities
Play a Party Game Since everyone can see each other, there’s nothing to stop the visual needs of a party game! You can play Charades, Pictionary, or Truth or Dare. Whichever you choose, the kids will surely have a blast, and you’ll likely have to shut yourself in another room due to the loud giggling.
How About a Board Game? Sure, a traditional board game would be difficult. Everyone would have to set up the board game at their location and move all players as each player took a turn. While I guess that is possible, with technological advances in board gaming, why put yourself to that trouble?
Many popular board games have been turned into apps available on smart phones. From Scrabble to Monopoly, you should be able to find something that fits the bill. Words with Friends is very Scrabble like. There are app versions of Hangman. Facebook Gaming has a number of choices as well. Tabletopia offers some popular tabletop games for free.
Video Dance Offs This would be just like it sounds and definitely lead to a lot of laughs. With the kids all already on a conference call where they can all see each other, simply crank up the music and see who has the best dance moves!
Play a Collaborative Video Game There are a number of video games that let friends join in. Minecraft and Fortnite are two of the more popular ones, of course, but there are many others. Just be sure you check the rating guides on them to ensure you’re picking age appropriate games.
Whichever video game you choose, each kid starts the game in their respective homes. Then, they all join the same game and play together. The steps are pretty simple. They friend each other on whatever gaming platform they are on, they click a friends tab, and then they click to join a game their friends are playing.
Honestly, though, your kids probably know how to do this already and know it better than you or I could explain it.
Make a Craft Together Creating a craft together would require some pre-planning, but nothing too crazy. All you have to do is make sure you and the other parents pick a craft that fits the age range capabilities of the kids and that everyone has the components to make the craft. With that in place, everyone can start and make the craft together. When done, everyone can see each other’s creations.
Watch a Movie Just like a “real” sleepover, when everyone is ready to calm down a bit and stop playing games, put a movie on. You have choices here too. Live TV obviously will be the same wherever the kids are as long as each kid has that channel. You could also synchronize when you start the movie. However, once again technology comes to our rescue and gives some cool new options.
Netflix Party allows you all to sync up your movie so that you don’t hear slight delays from your friends over the video chat. Metastream and TwoSeven allow for a chat screen beside the movie as you all watch together, which would help if you’re not on a video call together or if you just don’t want to talk during the movie. These work on Netflix, Hulu, Youtube, Twitch, and more. Scener similarly gives a chat function while watching Netflix.
So, for whatever reason, your kids can’t get together with their friends. That can lead to sadness, feelings of loneliness and isolation. Why let it though? Start that virtual sleepover and let your kids and their friends reconnect and have fun while hanging out.
Be sure to check out our other parenting advice.