Hosting a large group of 5th grade girls for playdate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I’m between the other posters. 10 (or 11) is young enough that having a back pocket (or even front pocket) activity is a good idea, but your DD should 100% plan it.

We had an 11 kid 5th grade sleepover and DD asked for personality quiz type books (think 17 or YM style from when I was a kid). It was a huge hit for a group running the spectrum from calls me mom to has never come over before.

Do you have links to these?

[Anonymous]

Mine is in 5th grade and on a new sports team and at a new school so this has been our fall.

A big hit earlier in the fall was a pack of blank shrinky dinks and tons of fine and regular size colored sharpies. They worked for hours and took a break for pizza while the shrinky dinks baked.

We’re going to decorate winter village houses next. Look up “putz houses”. Each girl will paint one, then while they dry they’re going to watch part of a movie and eat. Then they’ll decorate them with hot glue and tiny pom poms, glitter, gems, etc. There are a lot of fun inspiration ideas online. If you don’t have time to wait for the paint to dry, you could spray paint a bunch in white or pastel colors beforehand and let the girls just focus on decorating.

We plan to make this an annual tradition so the girls will have a little collection by the end of middle school (or high school!).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think having an activity in your back pocket is a good idea - something like nail painting or a small craft - in case they start spiraling. You can ask you DD for ideas (also ideas on snacks).

This is a tough age, sometimes they just play and sometimes they rove around bored and testy.

OP here and that’s what I am trying to plan for. It’s a mix of good friends and a couple she doesn’t know as well so I am mildly concerned there might be some awkwardness. There have been several things that she has said she knows a few of them will like, but nothing that is definitely a fit for everyone.

It’s probably too big of a group (long story) but here we are. I’m sure it’s going to be fine.

As a mom of a 5th grader, I think you have the right approach. In a mix of girls who don’t all know each other, things can spiral quickly because they get anxious to prove their friendships or are too immature to know how to include someone new. They need defined activities if there are more than 2-3 girls.

[Anonymous]

OP here and I really appreciate the suggestions. I am going to have my daughter take the lead of course but I like having a couple more ideas to give her. All the comments on the divide between those kids who are younger and more tween really hit it on the head. My DD is well liked but solidly in the younger/goofier side of her grade and it’s tricky when friends have suddenly outgrown some activities they used to do together.

[Anonymous]

Tie dyeing, Bingo, baking, uno, the mean girls movie or maybe Home Alone (I know, I’m being specific - covering 5th grade girls of a variety of maturity levels is tough!), maybe making brownie sundaes - with a variety of toppings/sprinkle colors

Have some snacks out. Don’t forget to leave them mostly alone (leave the room, not the house🙂). 10-11 year old girls can follow instructions pretty well and sometimes chafe against close supervision. I have a 5th grader and 7th grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pre bake cookies and have them decorate them?

+1 We've had success with this, also with assembling gingerbread house kits. We've also gotten our money's worth out of make your own lipgloss and make your own beaded bracelet kits.

As others have said, sometimes they just chat and play, but sometimes it's good to have something structured to fall back on.

[Anonymous]

How about a holiday craft project? Something they can make for someone as a gift, if they want.

[Anonymous]

I like everyone's suggestions. That was a pretty sweet age for my DD. She and her friends were VERY crafty, and had no trouble coming up with ideas for fun things to do.

I know you said it would be mostly indoors, but any chance you live in a walkable neighborhood? That was the other thing my daughter and her friends liked to do at that age -- walk around and yap.

[Anonymous]

We have a Ninja Slushie
They use it non stop when our kids have friends over.

[Anonymous]

Madlibs

[Anonymous]

OP here and I did not end up needing a back pocket activity. They made up a bunch of games and my DD handled snacks. But I think she appreciated knowing that we had some ideas on hand.

We are going to research those personality tests for another time.

[Anonymous]

Dance party
Movie
Art kits
Mad libs

[Anonymous]

Buy preassembled or
Hot glue together gingerbread houses and have them decorate? Then they can take a little pic with their “village”. Easy and prob takes at least an hour

[Anonymous]

Holiday themed slime, shrinkey dinks