Party Tips 

Childrens party entertainers tips

1. If intending to book an entertainer for your child’s party, book the entertainer before sending out invitations.
2. If booking for the one hour show, invite the party guests 15 minutes before the entertainer arrives to ensure no one misses out on the fun.
3. Name stickers for the guests are a great help for both the entertainer and the parents.
4. It is a good idea to hold back on opening the presents till later to allow the birthday child to fully focus of the other guests and the fun.  It also means that there is something else to look forward to when the party is over and it also helps your awareness of who gave which present and who to thank.
5. To maximise the enjoyment and engagement for the children with all aspects of the party entertainment I recommend if at all possible to hold the party in a toy free space as children are so easily distracted by toys.  For the same reason I recommend balloons to be up on walls rather than loose on the floor.
6. It can be helpful to inform the entertainer of the birthday child’s other siblings names and ages particularly if close in age as this awareness can help the entertainer to respond if a sibling is feeling ‘upstaged’ by the birthday child, by perhaps giving them a special role as ‘helper’.
7. It can also be helpful if I am made aware of any special sensitiveness/needs that children may have i.e. some children may be very shy or find playing in a group difficult or might not know the other children or may have fear of puppets.  So that I can respond to such needs with sensitivity.
8. If the food is going to be in the same space as the entertainment it is a very good idea to keep it covered until the entertainment has concluded.
9. I usually recommend a set time for the children to eat as it minimises the ‘distractibility’ of the food and also the ‘mobility’ of the food ending up everywhere in your house.
10. I also recommend to serve the savoury food before the sweet food as children will always eat the sweet in preference to the savoury. While party hooters are great fun it is a good idea to withhold them until the birthday cake appears as they distract the children from eating the food.
11. It can also be a good idea to hold back on the birthday cake until towards the end of the party (15 minutes before the end)as it is a really nice way to finish the party with the full focus on the birthday child and all the guests will really relish the cake at this stage.
12. To maximise your enjoyment of the party as a parent and to liberate you from being tied to cooking during the party I have some suggestions: serve pre-prepared sandwiches and snacks.  Fruit such as strawberries, grapes and melon dipped in chocolate provide a healthy alternative to sweets.
13. As the show I perform is essentially a theatrical one in the interests of the full enjoyment of my young audience, it greatly helps if any background noise is minimised or moved to another room – usually adults chatting among themselves!
14. Keep a list of the children’s parents’ phone numbers just in case you might need to call them.
15. Don’t forget to check that your phone is fully charged so as to capture the magic moments for your memories.
16. An alternative suggestion to party bags which I have come across recently is to give each child a pot and a packet of flower seeds to take home.  They were all thrilled with this imaginative gift.

You can contact Anna at 01 2353929, mobile 087 9133288 or email her at anna@kidsentertainment.ie