Party for 7 year olds ALL boys!!!

[UltraBeat Entertainment]

I always make sure that there is a fair mix of boys and girls

Sadly i see this as beyond our control. all we can do is advise the parents and hope they listen.

Would you actually turn down a booking then Garry if it was all boys?

I'm with you on the sweets thing though. as soon as they realize there not getting any but the girls are their straight in there trying to beat the girls. works every time

Never tried the mum thing though, will put it on my list of things to try

[Mayhem 1]

Hiya Spud Mate,

hope you are well.

No I would not turn it down buddy but I would be a bit more strict with what they can not do (normally with mum & dads back up) ie sliding on their knees, running around etc.

Something else for you to use Spud and Amy is this:-

If you have a mix boys and girls and the boys booo the girls for any reason stop the show and say this:

"Please do not booo the girls for 2 reasons lads, Reason 1) It is bad manners and reason number 2 is if you boo them that means you fancy them.

No more boooing after that !!!

[milo]

I wouldn’t do war themed entertainment – Tell them to go to laser quest, paint balling or something like that if they want to play at being soldiers, I don’t even make balloon guns.

No matter the age, kids go to a party to run around not to be told what to do (this is what they have teachers and parents for), they will join in with games that they are familiar with, because they know what they are doing and they don’t need to pay attention to new rules, but as soon as you try to introduce a new game they wont enjoy it because they will be too bust talking about Ben 10, Lego Batman and who their girlfriend is (my son is 7 and the whole class fight over who’s going out with who – Scary) to remember how to play.

Don’t forget that the theme is something the party child likes and the other guests may not necessarily be that keen. Themed parties are fine, but themed entertainment is a recipe for disaster, unless it’s something like HSM.

I do kids parties for all ages as follows:

Three and under – I don’t do a sit down magic show for this age range as they have a short attention span and don’t understand the magic. I will tend to do these parties as a clown, but I get the kids to do my make up, try on my shoes and I give away foam noses so everyone is comfortable with me. I then go on to do sing along songs such as happy and you know it, mamma’s taking us to the zoo etc. They like parachute games and pretty much anything they ALREADY KNOW from tv or nursery. Balloons modelling goes down well, but make sure the parents are happy for the younger ones to have balloons and stick to doing things that aren’t too likely to pop when chewed. If you have softplay or ball ponds these are great addons. Try to stick to 1hour bookings as 2hours is just too much for this age.

Three to Five year olds – At this age they will have been to a few parties and they understand it a bit better. Again they don’t have a great attention span so I do a couple of big bright & funny magic tricks and move straight onto games such as traffic lights, corners, pass the parcel (if less than 12 kids) and stuff like that. Play musical bumps or some kind of music game with prizes and finish off with balloons and a pie in the face!

Five to Seven year olds – perfect audience for a magic show, they have been to school and are more used to structured activity! I start by introducing myself and getting the kids nice and loud. Ask them who lives in a pineapple under the sea! Say that one half of the room was louder than the other then do a competition to find out using the Spongebob soundtrack (you can get a really good 10 minute routine out of this using the Axtell noise’o’meter and the kids love it). I then call kids up to do FUNNY magic (the magic isn’t important it’s the funny way you present it), followed by something like a HSM quiz using slush powder to threat water over the loosing teams head, mummy game and a 1 hour disco with dancing games.

Over 7 – They have seen all the magic, they want to be grown ups so just do them a disco and lead the action songs. Don’t structure it … They get enough structure at school.

Oh yeah – Most important thing!!! Get a headset mic and don’t be afraid to take control, shouting without a mic doesn’t work even in a small venue. I use an amp can and a rechargeable battery so you can be heard anywhere.

Remember – They can smell fear!

[UltraBeat Entertainment]

Good advice but abit to structured for my liking. I think you need to "read the crowd" a bit even with children.

So milo you offer a clown, magician, presenter, DJ and baby sister all in one? Do you charge any extra for these?

[Dragonfly]

just have lots of how far can you skid on your knees competitions

[milo]

I do Clowning, Magic, Balloon Modelling, Face Painting, Discos, Quizzes, School Assembly Safety Talks, Bouncy Castle Hire, Catering, puppets and pretty much anything else you want. I’m also a Beaver Leader, I do youth work with my local youth group, I have a 7 year old son and I studied Children’s Care Learning & Dev a few years back. So I suppose you could say I’m an all rounder?

I agree with you totally – Obviously not every party is the same, there are a few people in my area who do the exact same party over and over and they have been doing it for 20 years! They say that it’s because it works, but the feedback I’ve heard is that no one wants to see the same show twice!

I have a 10-15 different magic routines so I can chop and change depending on the audience. Sometimes you turn up to a 4 year olds party and it’s all 8 & 9 year old cousins! Also the older ones will help to keep the younger ones in line because the young ones will copy the older ones.

My intro usually follows the same structure and if some of the kids have seen me before they like showing off to the others because they know what to do.

“Right boys & girls can I have you all sitting on your bottoms in front of me here please?”
“Can anyone tell me my name?” – Some can some can’t, but it’s printed on my magic box so there is always someone who shouts out Milo.
“WHAT! Who called me BIRO? (or SPYRO or whatever you like)?”
“It’s Milo thank you very much…. And do you know what usually happens when I come to a party?”
“Usually I come on and say hello everyone and everyone shouts back hello Milo. Do you think you can do that for me boys and girls?”
“Right here goes, on the count if three, 1,2,3….. Hello Everybody!!!”
“That was rubbish, who here has a brother or a sister?”
“And do you ever argue with your brothers and sisters?” (they will scream YES)
“Do they mums & dads?”
“Right well that’s how loud I want you to shout for me today”

Repeat Hello everybody bit…

“I think the girls were louder than the boys!”
“What do you think boys?”
“Well there’s only one way to find out”

Then get the Noise’o’Meter.

That’s everyone warmed up, the shy ones have come to join the fun, the parents are happy and you’ve set the stage for a good show (10 minutes in).

Everyone knows my name, their voices are warmed up so all I need to do is teach them the magic words and we’re good to go! (magic words can be something like Umpa, Umpa, Stick it up your Jumpa to get a laugh).

Always pull someone up to help and make them look a bit silly with big glasses, noses, ears etc. I use a top hot that falls down to their shoulders then I use fuzzy felts to stick a face on the front!

I love the mummy game, because I play the Benny Hill theme and run around the outside of all the teams with a roll or two of my own! But I have several games I can use depending on the audience. I also work with Blind and deaf children so I have specialist things I do with them.

Best advise is that if you want to try something new and it doesn’t work straight away, just scrap it and move onto something you know works. You can look at why it didn’t work when you get home and try to fix the problem.

I’m not sure I would take two “employees” with me either - £150.00 for me or split it three ways?

Remember to have fun and listen to what the kids tell you they want.

[Mayhem 1]

I am always introducing new games at children’s parties simply because they always need fresh material, but… any new games are quick for those taking part and also fun to watch especially if you say that the ones who are watching are the judges!!!

With boys who slide around on their knees it is just a simple case of a quite word with mum or a teacher if it is a school and it is soon resolved.

Scenario for you: Last week I did a primary school event that was split into 3 different age groups the first one (Littlies) was superb - The second one is where I had a boy causing all kind of trouble (there is always one) things like shouting continuously when everyone else was behaving fantastically, sliding on his knees but worst of all he made it his mission to go round and punch every girl there!!! “ENOUGH” I thought to my self and called him up in front of all the school and was just about to point out the error of his ways when his dad came over, I thought “here we go” his dad said “is he being naughty?” and all the children screamed “yes he is” so he made the boy apologise to the school and me and then he took him home.

The secret is to let the kids have fun but let them think they are getting away with it but in reality they are not.