Pajama Party Activities for Kindergarten
Pajama Party Activities for Kindergarten
Celebrate Pajama Party Day with stories, games, math activities, and special snacks!
On Pajama Party Day, the children wear pajamas and slippers to school (or change into them when they arrive). They also bring a pillow and a favorite “buddy”—a stuffed animal they love to cuddle.
Pajama Party Pillow Fight
Have a controlled pillow fight with two children participating at a time.
Each pair has 10 seconds to gently tap each other with pillows below the neck while the class counts to 10.
Use soft pillows, establish gentle-play rules, and supervise closely.
Pajama Party Books
- The Practically Perfect Pajamas by Erik Brooks
- Pajama Party
- Pancakes, Pancakes!
- If You Give a Pig a Pancake
- Ira Sleeps Over
- Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
- Roll Over
- The Napping House
- Goodnight Moon
- Franklin in the Dark
- There’s a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer
- Mooncake by Frank Asch
Literacy and Other Activities
Pajama Party Rhyming Game
Shh! We’re pretending to sleep!
Students close their eyes and pretend to sleep while the teacher says pairs of words.
If the words do not rhyme, everyone stays asleep.
We’re awake! The teacher must have said “man” and “can”!
Students open their eyes and wake up whenever they hear two rhyming words.
Meet My Cuddly Buddy
Have students introduce the stuffed animals they brought from home.
Encourage each child to share:
- Their buddy’s name
- Where they got their buddy
- Whether they sleep with their buddy at night
Flashlight Reading
Darken the classroom and give students flashlights to use while reading books.
Children can curl up with their pillows and buddies for a cozy reading experience.
Dream Nightcaps
Make paper nightcaps and have children decorate them with drawings of dreams they’ve had.
There’s a Nightmare in My Closet
Book: There’s a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer
After reading the story, have students draw or paint pictures of imaginary nightmares.
Create a paper door with a knob that opens. Place each child’s nightmare picture behind the door so the nightmare can be revealed when the door is opened.
Ira Sleeps Over: Packing a Suitcase
Book: Ira Sleeps Over
After reading Ira Sleeps Over, discuss what Ira might pack for a sleepover.
Give students suitcase-shaped paper and have them draw the things they would bring to a sleepover.
Goodnight Moon Class Book
Book: Goodnight Moon
After reading Goodnight Moon, reinforce rhyming words by creating a collaborative class book.
Have each child complete and illustrate a page using the sentence pattern:
Goodnight to the __________ and goodnight to the __________.
Combine the pages into a class book to read together.
The Napping House: Story Sequencing
Book: The Napping House
Read The Napping House aloud.
Provide pictures of the characters and a large bed cutout.
Have students place the characters on the bed in the order they appear in the story.
Nocturnal and Diurnal Animals
Read books about nocturnal animals and discuss the differences between animals that are active during the day and those that are active at night.
Provide animal pictures and have students sort them into two groups:
- Nocturnal: Animals primarily active at night
- Diurnal: Animals primarily active during the day
Pajama Party Math Activities
Roll Over: Teddy Bear Subtraction
Materials:
- 10 Teddy Grahams per student
- Paper bed math mats
Instructions:
- Give each student a bed math mat and 10 Teddy Grahams.
- Read or sing Roll Over.
- Have students remove one bear each time a bear rolls over and falls out of bed.
- Count the remaining bears after each verse.
This activity helps students develop subtraction readiness.
The same activity can also be used with Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.
Bedtime Graph
Send a note home asking parents to record their child’s usual bedtime.
Collect the information and create a class graph.
Discuss the results and compare the different bedtimes.
Pancake Measurement
Materials:
- Paper pancake cutouts
- Classroom objects
Instructions:
- Make several paper pancake cutouts of the same size.
- Have students use the pancakes as nonstandard measuring tools.
- Find classroom objects that are one pancake long, two pancakes long, three pancakes long, and so on.
Have students work with a partner.
One child lies on their side while the other measures how many paper pancakes long their friend is.
Alternative: Tape a numbered row of paper pancakes together and attach it to a classroom wall. Students can stand beside the pancakes to measure how many pancakes tall they are.
Sorting Stuffed Animal Buddies
Have students sort their stuffed animal buddies in different ways.
Suggested Sorting Categories:
- Size
- Color
- Animals and non-animals
- Bears and non-bears
Encourage children to explain how they grouped their buddies.
Pajama Sleeve Graph
Give students paper pajama-top cutouts to color.
Have them identify whether their pajamas have short sleeves or long sleeves.
Create a class graph showing the results.
Counting Sheep
Materials:
- Cotton balls to represent sheep
- A block to represent a fence
- Number cards
Instructions:
- Give students cotton balls to use as pretend sheep.
- Place a block on the table to represent a fence.
- Hold up a number card.
- Have students make the corresponding number of sheep “jump” over the fence.
- Count each sheep as it crosses.
Pajama Party Snacks
Pancake Breakfast
Serve pancakes with a choice of powdered sugar or maple syrup and pink milk.
After breakfast, use paper pancakes for the measurement activities described in the Math section.
This is also a fun activity to include when studying the letter P.
Mooncake Snack
Inspired by Mooncake by Frank Asch
Ingredients and Materials:
- Foil cupcake liners
- Nilla wafers
- Instant chocolate pudding
- Whipped cream
- Star-shaped sprinkles
Instructions:
- Place a Nilla wafer in the bottom of a foil cupcake liner. This represents the moon.
- Add a scoop of chocolate pudding to represent the night sky.
- Top with a spoonful of whipped cream to represent a cloud.
- Add star-shaped sprinkles.
Remind students that they are eating the night sky!
Bears in a Bed Snack
Ingredients:
- Graham crackers
- Teddy Grahams
- Mini marshmallows
- Frosting or icing
Instructions:
- Use one whole graham cracker as the bed.
- Add three mini marshmallows to represent pillows.
- Place three Teddy Grahams on the bed.
- Decorate half of another graham cracker with icing to create a quilt.
- Place the quilt over the bears to tuck them into bed.
For younger children, substitute an age-appropriate ingredient for the mini marshmallows.
Letter P Snacks
Serve snacks beginning with the letter P while students watch Pajama Party videos.
Original Snack Ideas:
- Pepsi or purple punch
- Pretzels
- Pringles
- Peanuts
- Popcorn
Choose age-appropriate snacks and check for food allergies. Popcorn and whole peanuts are choking hazards for children under age four.
Pajama Party Videos
Suggested Videos:
- Ira Sleeps Over
- Peter Pan
- Franklin’s First Sleepover
- Blue’s Clues: Big Pajama Party