Sometimes parents make mistakes at parties, I’ve written a little guide on how to avoid them and upgrade your child’s party to AWESOME.
1. Booking the venue before the entertainer.
I can put on a party of a lifetime in literally any venue, no matter how big or small, be it at your house, or a village hall. But I do get booked up quickly… If you book me first then you have much more chance of me being available, I get parents telling me they have booked the hall for a certain time, but I am already booked for that time. Book your entertainer FIRST!
2. Balloons Everywhere!
Somehow parents think putting balloons all over the floor is a good idea. It isn’t. There always ends up being one child who can’t get a balloon who gets upset, another child who has a monopoly of them and will never let them go and the kid you didn’t REALLY want to invite but you felt you had to, who is now running about trying to pop them all and upset everyone else.
3. Chairs at the side of the room
Trust me on this… Chairs should be in a semi-circle behind the children for parents to sit on. There are a few reasons, firstly my show is for parents too (because I’m a parent and I have had to sit through kids ‘entertainment’) and I want everyone to have fun, secondly that kid who was running about trying to burst everyone else’s balloons now has their grown up behind them watching them (and I wont hesitate to make them sit with them if they start trying to spoil the party for everyone else) thirdly you get to see your kids having fun… and after all that’s what the party is about!
4. Too much entertainment
Parties don’t need to be any more than what I do… When I finish you don’t need Elsa and Ana arriving to serenade your child with the greatest hits of Frozen, you don’t need a bouncy castle, or a rock climbing wall, or a helicopter ride. Two hours in a little hall is perfect.
5. Long lunches
Lots of parents try to give the kids 30 minutes of a 2 hour party to eat… Kids don’t need that, they eat a bit and then start running around the hall filled with sugar and E numbers. At most they need 15 minutes to eat followed by a quick cake presentation, you get much better value for money from myself getting 40 minutes of extra entertainment after the food to burn off that extra energy.
6. Over Catering
Whilst we are talking about food breaks I am constantly surprised to see the catering some parents do for their kids. I have two pieces of advice for parents, one is cardboard pre-made lunch boxes with a sandwich a few little bits and pieces and a fruit shoot hydro, the other is Pizza Delivery (Dominos, Pizza Hut or Papa Johns) Call them up in advance and ask for a cheeky discount or deal for the party.
7. Whistles and blowers
Why anyone would give children whistles and blowers during their birthday food is beyond me. It’s got disaster written all over it... You now have 30 kids blowing whistles, and no matter how much you ask them to stop, they cant, because that’s what a whistle is for… kids ears work on a different frequency to ours, and for them it isn’t annoying in the slightest, if you value your sanity, don’t give them whistles.
8. Pass the Parcel
Children sitting around waiting for that brief second where they get to hold a present and… wait for it, give it so someone else. No one has any idea how many layers of paper there are and the kids get restless as they wait for the parcel for what seems like a lifetime. When the music stops the child holding the present excitedly unwraps it thinking maybe, just maybe they have won. But no, out falls a packet of sweets just like the ones they will get in their party bag. WORST GAME EVER!
9. Party Bags
The party is over and its time to give out a party bag, the whistle and blowers rule still applies if you value your friendships with other Mums and Dads, a bag filled with a load of junk isn’t the best, sweet cones are a bag full of sugar… but of recent years the best things I have seen given out is superhero masks like in the picture below which work out about 30p each, or children’s story books from the works!
Magic Frostie is a Birthday Party Specialist, to find out how to book you party TODAY click here