struggling with 4 year olds

[teenypops]

I promote myself as a childrens disco and advertise that we run disco parties from the age of 4, but recently the 4 year old parties are in particular a real chore.

I am not sure if I am playing the wrong games or what, but I have had a couple of parties now with this age group and they have been really hard work.

Can anyone suggest some games that keep them involved, I find that the likes of musical bumps are good to start, but as the kids are slowly out they get bored with waiting.

Of course pass the parcel works well!

[Ryu]

Do you know Hedgehogs?

It works better for smaller groups who know each other well (birthday parties at this age tend to be entire class/nursery groups).

Play Music, Music stops, the children have to crawl up in a ball on the floor and cover their eyes. Then you cover one of the children with a blanket, and say something like "Now children, who's the hedgehog" and they have to guess who is under the blanket. Simple, Silly, but have had some good success at that age with it.

The Justin Fletcher Album is an absolute must, going through tracks like Wheels on the Bus etc.

I also enjoy doing themed musical statues. This is where you choose a statue the children have to be (a Giraffe, Penguin etc) and you give a prize to the best Penguin. This can work with older groups too, where you get them to be pop stars or footballers as well.

This agegroup, more than any other, require real high level "management" to get them interacting as they'll mostly stare at you open mouthed for the first bit, but go in with a few of the Fletcher tracks, follow up with 1 or two games, and you're golden.

Hope that helps.

[teenypops]

that is top - Thanks

I love the hedgehogs idea

I do have the Justin Fletcher album, but have been slightly edgy about using it, especially when the kids are requesting Xample as one of their fav artists - I think this is probably their parents favourite.

Really helpful advice thanks again.

[Ryu]

that is top - Thanks

I love the hedgehogs idea

I do have the Justin Fletcher album, but have been slightly edgy about using it, especially when the kids are requesting Xample as one of their fav artists - I think this is probably their parents favourite.

Really helpful advice thanks again.

I really wouldn't worry about not being cool enough for the 4 year olds with Justin Fletcher...I'd say that was smack bang in the middle of the demographic he's aimed at. Use it sparingly at first, and if they go well, play a few more, Happy and You Know It, Head Shoulders Knees etc. I sometimes use them as "Warm Up" dances to get them all up for it and interested. :)

[teenypops]

thanks again

[DJ Jules]

Another tip - try and play games so you reward the quickest or the one which is doing what you're asking to do the best, rather than getting kids out and picking a winner. That way you have lots of kids who are actively playing to win prizes, rather than lots of bored kids sitting around waiting for the next game to begin...

Julian

[teenypops]

Thanks Julian

That is the plan, do you have any other suggestions for games that you find work well?

[DJ Jules]

For 4yr olds? Keep it simple as they're only really just starting to learn how to follow instructions and join in Games. The usual kind of things all work - musical bumps, statues, etc, but they'll also do position type games really well and will follow you quite well with party dances.

If the parents are there, get them involved for the first few games or dances as they'll help guide the kids at first. Once the kids have got the idea of who you are and that they've got to follow you, they'll follow your instructions a whole lot better.

The nice thing about this age group is that they're only just starting to fall into their gender stereotypes so you'll probably find the boys joining in with everything as much as the girls.