This year, Keyan started Kindergarten and one of the first things we learned about was that the kindergarten classes would be participating in a sleepover in December at the school gym. After hearing about that, Keyan was so excited and couldn’t wait for the big day! It finally happened during the last week of school before the holidays.
Leading up to it, we had a lot of prep to do and things to buy because we actually haven’t done any camping in…a long time. So I went out and bought a mattress that we could sleep on. It ended up being the highest mattress at the sleepover! What was so awesome about it was you just had to plug it in, turn a knob and it inflated all on it’s own. We also bought a few blankets and some other necessities and then we were good to go.
On the day of the sleepover, after eating dinner, Keyan and I changed into our pyjama’s and headed to school with our suitcase, yes I did say suitcase. It really was the most practical thing because it carried almost everything in it!


Once we set up in our little area, which was quite cozy, all the kids gathered around to listen to the teachers to find out how the night would go. For the first little while, the children went into the hallway and got to do a whole bunch of activities and arts and crafts like paper bag reindeers, small gingerbread houses, candy styrofoam christmas trees and lots of other fun stuff! After that it was story time with a snack and then lights out.
What the kids didn’t know was that a surprise was planned. Soon, Santa showed up. All the kids got out of bed and gathered around to see Santa; there was so much excitement! Then everyone got to sit on his lap, talk to him and get a small gift.
The kids were all pretty wired after that but finally at 9:45pm, the lights were turned off in the gym. Soon everyone was asleep except for me and Keyan. He just couldn’t wind down. So we read a few books under the covers with our flashlight. But as it got close to 11pm, and Keyan was still tossing and turning, I had to get stern and that did the trick and we all finally got some sleep.
Lights were turned back on in the gym at 6:45am. We all got up, packed our stuff, brushed our teeth and headed to Keyan’s classroom to eat some breakfast. Before we left, Keyan got to talk to his teacher, thank her and get a chocolate ornament to take home.
I was a really memorable night that we will always remember. Do you or your kids have a fun and interesting activity you did over the holidays?
It’s a cute idea for little ones, isn’t it?
I wouldn’t like to get up at 6.45am though!
It was cute!
Hi Salma,
What fun! I bet she had a blast at her kindergarden sleep over and what a great idea for moms and kids to participate it 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
It was fun to have parents involved!
I remember when my daughter was in Grade 1 (8 years ago), and her school had a Christmas sleepover (Grade 1’s only). She was a bit scared but in the end she had such a great time 🙂 I was bummed when I found out they weren’t doing the sleepover any more. My son would have love it.
It’s such a fun idea. My daughter will get to do it this year hopefully!
What a wonderful idea!!!!! Looks like everyone had a blast!
It was fun!
Wow, we never got to do anything like that when I was in school (about a hundred years ago), but it would have been fun. I can imagine the kids were SO excited when Santa came. I love that the parent(s) got to go too. Cool school. Glad you all had fun. Your son is just as adorable as your little girl. 🙂
It was really great Jeanne! The teacher has been teaching for 25 years and it’s a tradition she’s had for a long time 🙂
Aww, that’s such a fun idea! So glad to hear you both had a good time.
Looks like a fun time. I must admit that we didn’t do any sleepovers when my kids were in kindergarten. I should ask: how does Keyan relate to Santa Claus? Do you have a Santa Claus tradition in your house?