The Ultimate Birthday Party Planner Blog
by Paul Mordoff, owner of Party Talent, LLC
Paul Mordoff performs over 300 shows a year in the Northeast as Mr. Bungles, a comic clown character without makeup, whose act includes a comedy show, juggling, magic, and huge bubbles. For more information, visit PartyTalent.com or call (203) 846-2000. (This blog may be copied or reproduced in its entirety as long as this byline is posted.)
One of the most important things to consider when planning a birthday party is the age of the children and how to gear the activities for the age range of most of the kids or solely for the birthday child, if different. People love to have a special one-year-old celebration, and the children attending may range from infants to teens. It can be a challenge to try to have activities that appeal to all age groups. With smaller children you have to be careful with them putting foreign objects into the mouth and their short attention spans. With older kids, you need to keep them interested so that they do not become bored. Since you need different activities for the three-year-old and the twelve-year-old, it is important to understand the age range of the guests before planning activities.
Birthday entertainers specialize in different age groups. As Mr. Bungles, I gear my show towards children from three to nine years of age, all of whom have a great time laughing and having fun. I modify my show for older kids. It is always helpful to provide the birthday performer with the age range of the children who will be attending, so that the entertainer can be prepared with activities that are appropriate.
Costumed cartoon characters can sometimes pose a problem. Younger children, around two years of age, often burst into tears at the sight of a costumed cartoon character while the four- and five-year-olds will enjoy it. Whenever parents have a party of mostly two-year-olds, I always discourage them from hiring me as a costumed cartoon character because seeing a two-inch lovable TV character become six feet tall with a gigantic head can frighten most toddlers. As kids get older, they can process reality from fantasy better, and they will enjoy meeting characters.
Parents often stay at a party with children younger than three years of age and sometimes surprise you with siblings that you were not expecting. Therefore, you need to make sure you have enough food, goody bags and activities for them as well. As Mr. Bungles, I provide goody bags for all the kids, and I always make sure to have at least ten extras for any unexpected guests. Once you have a guest list and know the ages of the children, you can plan a great birthday party that will be special and enjoyable for everyone.
Handling Distractions to Keep Them Having Fun
It is important from the beginning to set the parameters for children by establishing the boundaries of where they can go (for example, the bathroom or party room). This will help to minimize distractions which come up during the birthday party with children in unwanted areas of the house. As I pointed out previously, distractions can be a serious problem indoors or outdoors. If you are trying to conduct an activity like a craft or a game, or if you hire a birthday entertainer like my character, Mr. Bungles, it is important that you eliminate as many distractions as possible. For a child, just about anything can be a distraction, including the sun, bugs or a wonderful array of toys on the floor.
If you are using the family room, any visible toys will distract the children. You can easily resolve the matter by moving the toys out of the way and covering them with a sheet, or by choosing another room for the performance. Noisemakers are another obvious distraction. One time, when I was about to start my birthday comedy show, a mom was handing out noisemakers to all the children as I was setting up. All the children were blowing their horns and making lots of noise. The mom had not imagined how loud 30 horns could be. I had to collect them all in order to be able to start my show and to restore the “sanity” of the other parents. I told the children that they would get them back later.
When outside, plan your activities in an enclosed area like a deck, a porch, or screened area that would be away from swing sets and yard toys. When planning an event outside, think about where the sun will be and where your guests will stay. The sun and flying insects can be a major distraction preventing you from successfully running activities. Does your budget allow you to rent a tent? If you are hiring an entertainer, it would be best to have the children and performer in the shade with their back facing any major distractions like a swing set or bounce house. It’s also a good idea to define the space with blankets or chairs around the perimeter of the performing space. By giving the illusion that the kids are “contained” they will run around less and be more focused with the planned activity.
One time while I was performing as Mr. Bungles, the children spotted a snake crawling nearby. This caused the children to focus on the snake rather than on my magic routine. I knew there was no way I could go on with the show until we dealt with this distraction. I improvised some jokes about the snake and moved it away, bringing the focus back to my show. Another time, an ice-cream truck arrived about 30 minutes early. All the kids ran to the truck as soon as they heard the bells. I solved that problem by moving all of my props to the front of the house and continued my show.
Another important rule is to keep the children hydrated and fed with nutritious snacks. Sometimes they will become dehydrated and have behavioral issues just because they are thirsty. A hidden culprit of dehydration in children is the bounce house. Children who play in bounce houses use a tremendous amount of physical energy and become dehydrated without knowing. Whenever I perform my comedy and bubble show and the parents have scheduled a bounce house, I suggest that they unplug it before my show to remove the distraction. I also encourage the parents to have the kids drink water before I start. Plain water instead of sweetened drinks is always the best choice. I find that too many sweets and sugary foods can cause disruptive behavior. The best plan is to serve cake or cupcakes right before they go home. It is important to make sure that you set up the desserts and sweets where the children cannot have as much as they want. It could be out of reach or brought out right before serving. Other common distractions that need to be addressed include, dog waste on the lawn, holes in the ground, broken glass and other types of garbage, tripping hazards, and napkins and paper plates blowing in the wind. Small chairs for children often fall over as the kids move about and the chairs shift in the soil. A simple solution is to use blankets when possible. It is less of a problem when the chairs are set up on a solid surface like cement. Helium balloons are really fun and create a wonderful atmosphere, but they too are a distraction since kids will play and not be focused during the birthday show if they are free floating in the area where you have a planned activity. If a child slips and falls or gets hurt somehow, always have a first aid supplies handy, including ice packs.
Guests should arrive at least 30 minutes before the scheduled entertainment begins. It is always better for all the children to have some gathering time before watching the birthday show. When guests arrive after the show has started, it is very distracting for everyone, and it takes away from the comic energy being created in the room. It is like someone walking into a movie theatre minutes after the film has started. It is not only distracting to the other moviegoers, but it takes a while for the person arriving late to figure out what is happening on the screen.
