Sons birthday sleepover... HELP?!

[Mrshaych]

For my ds 12th birthday he has asked for a sleepover and invited 5 friends.. they're all good kids and looking forward to it.. how can I keep them entertained?? Pinterest etc games seem to be all aimed at girls. Anyone any ideas?? Open to any kind o fa suggestions.

glow in the dark bowling ( if you have a large enough space)

fill plastic bottles with rocks, then glowsticks
try and knock them over with a ball (have all the lights off so the sticks glow)

Air hockey table www.argos.co.uk/product/7018583
Darts
Piñata
Strawberry shoe lace race: competitors put one end of a strawberry shoelace between their lips and then put their hands behind their back. Somebody else shouts go and all competitors race to get the shoelace into their mouth without using their hands.
After Eight Race: similar to the shoelace race but start with an After Eight on forehead and it's the first player to get it in the mouth.
Blindfold shoe shuffle - Each person puts on a blindfold and takes off their shoes. They then throw them into a pile in the middle of the floor. The referee then jumbles them all up and then shouts GO! The first person to find their shoes by touch and smell alone and put them on is the winner.
Doughnut on a string: another eating with no hands race, this time with doughnuts hanging on a piece of string!
Smarties race: Give each child two small bowls and a straw. Fill one of the bowls with small sweets like Skittles or Smarties and leave the other one empty. On the count of three, children must suck the sweets onto the end of their straw, and transfer them to the other bowl. You can either put a time limit on the game, whereby the children get to keep all the sweets they have transferred when the timer stops, or you could have a race to see who empties their bowl the fastest. If you are planning the race version, make sure everybody has the same amount of sweets in their bowl to begin with!
Balloon bulls eye: To start with, give every child a balloon to blow up, and ask them to hold the neck shut rather than tie it in a knot. Place a biscuit in the middle of the floor, and on the count of three, everyone releases their balloon. Whoever's balloon lands closest to the biscuit gets to eat it! If you didn't want to play this with biscuits, you could also use trading cards or stickers as the target.
Balloon shaving: Give everyone a balloon and marker pen. They now have two minutes to draw a face on their balloon, and then apply shaving cream over it. Then give everyone a plastic knife for their razor. On ‘Go’, players now shave their balloon – only without popping it. The first person to do that is the winner.
Jelly relay: divide players into two teams. Give each team a tablespoon and an empty bowl. At the other end of the room/garden, place a bowl full of jelly. Teams race back and forward to see who can get the most jelly in their bowl within 5 (or 10) minutes.
Would it be possible to have a campfire for roasting marshmallows for pudding?

Lots of Pizza. Xbox. Lots of fizzy drink. Lots of crisps.

Sorted.

At 12 I take don't think they would want to play games.

I'm did this for DS1 a few weeks ago. They had dominoes and watched a film / you tube and played on their phones.

I'm with hopeishere, I'd be very suprised if 12 year olds wanted to play games.

I agree, I don't think they will want games at their age. I would take them somewhere like the cinema or whatever they are into and pick them up later. Then pizza or takeaway with snacks and films/xbox or whatever your son has.

Tbh at that age my DS and his friends wanted to do their own thing (mainly hangout/chat/football in the garden) then have an enormous amount of Pizza and a movie on the TV.

The only activity I did do was I bought some cheap white tee shirts and fabric pens and let them design their own tee shirts which seemed to go down well as they all wore them to go home the next day.

After the movie, to bed, chatting, playing games on iPads/phones and a midnight feast (though where they put it after all the pizza is beyond me).

I called "time" at 12.30 when teeth were brushed and they settled down in their sleeping bags pretty quickly.

I wouldn't try and plan too much at that age. They know what they like.

Thanks everyone for replies...
Did offer cinema or bowling trip but all think that's boring ..
I bought Tshitts to diy as an alternative to pjs as they were all given matching sets at one of the other boys sleepover.
Just thought thought some kinda game might

Help bring them out their shell as 2 of them are pretty quiet compared to the others.
Planning a make your own pizza and ice cream for after a and bought mountains of picky food/ sweets
I thought I would be seen as just lazy r whatever if I just left them to it 🤣😝
Thanks again

I’m always lazy then 🙈

My ds is 12 next week but thankfully just having 2 overnight. They’re having pizza for dinner apparently, then playing Xbox/switch all night I imagine. Although last time his friend was over they got monopoly out.

How about a pizza challenge. Get a small pizza (ie the toddler kind) base for each. Get sat 15-20 brown paper bags and fill each one with a different ingredient. Some should have normal pizza ingredients the rest you can have fun with. They each take turns picking a bag (you can add the element of chance by numbering the bags and getting them to throw dice) and they have to put what they get on their pizza. Then cook and eat it.

Easier option is to play beanboozle.