Planning and Preparation
The key to a successful sleepover is to plan and be prepared for anything....you must be a scout!  Gather the essential supplies and have them at the ready for the comfort and convenience of your young guests.

Develop and agree on the house rules with your child to ensure the sleepover goes smoothly and there are no misunderstandings.

Check with all the parents of children coming for dietary restrictions, bedtime routines or any issues. Make sure you have their contact details in case of an emergency.

Welcome the guests and make them all feel comfortable and know where to find everything they will need. Run thru the house rules with everyone!

Have loads of drinks on hand....caffeine free.  Allocate each child a sports bottle or similar container to avoid constant clean up of spilt drinks.

Request the guests bring along a sleeping bag and pillow but have some extra bedding available just in case they forget or it turns cold during the night.

Go finger food for snacks or individually wrapped treats. Eating is a good distraction so try for multiple small servings of savoury and sweet goodies.

Buy a few backup toothbrushes and extra toilet paper as it is surprising how much they can use!

Have age appropriate movies for down time or when getting close to bedtime.

Set up the sleepover room or space, remove any furniture or push it back against the walls if it is the lounge room. Best to try and keep them in one area of the house all night.

While they will want to have privacy (especially girls) have some planned activities ready to break out when things get restless. Keeping them entertained and having fun allows for no time to be homesick or getting into mischief.

Decorate the sleepover space or have a theme.  Some coloured bulbs in lamps or strings of fairy lights will make it feel cosy. See Keep 'em Busy for some ideas.

Let the kids stay up late at night. They can always catch up on sleep the following day, and half the fun of sleepovers is seeing who can stay up the latest.

Most importantly, go in with a sense of humor, of adventure and a positive attitude.  Just remember that they will all go home in the morning.