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KIDS PARTIES - Accommodating the 'Under fives'
When I am wearing my “Percy Piecrust – Children’s Magical Entertainer at Kids Parties” hat (!), I am often confronted by several children under the age of five.
At this age, children are usually too young to understand the magic that is being presented to the older ones and will quickly lose interest. When this happens, they can become quite disruptive.
I have found that by sitting them all together at the front and engaging them with a suitable story, their attention can be held for much longer. The older children also are quite receptive and are often amused at seeing their young brothers and sisters enjoying a story. They themselves (although they wouldn’t admit it at the time!) are just as likely to enjoy listening to an entertaining tale.
At the end of these storytelling moments, I will make a balloon animal for each of the little ones and this again will keep their minds occupied for a further seven or eight minutes.
I am always ‘up-front’ with this strategy. I will start the show with appropriate warm-up material for everyone (lively and quite noisy). I will then perform a couple of quick, visual, magical and interactive effects. After which, I explain to the older children that I am going to tell a story to the little ones, “Who aren’t old enough to understand some of the magic that YOU are going to see” (here I am confiding with the older children and acknowledging their advanced level of sophistication!). They are then encouraged to help me organise the seating of the tots at the front. They are happy to accept this helpful ‘older sibling’ role and for the time it takes, accept the simple material that I am performing for the tiny tots.
Some of the stories I tell to the under five’s can be found elsewhere on this web site, see my 'Teddy Bears' page,and The Straw, The Bean and The Lump of Coal. I shall be adding more soon, but I would include “I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly”, “The Little Red Hen”, “The Little Bird, The Little Mouse and the Sausage”. etc.
Incidentally, I have found some excellent 'Kid's Party' web sites
http://www.coolest-kid-birthday-parties.com
http://www.fun-kid-birthday-parties.com/
They have lots of great ideas and if you work at all in this area, I suggest you pay them a visit.
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