Last weekend my niece spent the night. She is 5. My daughter is 6. They NEVER go to sleep when they should, but stay up talking, giggling, whispering, etc.

After about 30 minutes of such activities, I came up with the brilliant idea of THE QUIET GAME.

Here are the rules. "When I say "START" then the game begins. The first person to speak a word loses. To win the game, you have to be completely quiet - not even one word. I have a prize waiting for you in the morning. You can report to me in the morning who wins the game and gets the prize. If it's a tie, you both get a prize. Any questions? No? Then... START"

Not a peep out of them after that and I was overjoyed to give out two small prizes in the morning! :-)

Works for me!