Your child’s birthday party can be the highlight of their year, you want everything to be perfect and you are looking for party children’s entertainers that the children will enjoy, that will not let you down and will be good value for money.

Should you book  face painters, birthday clowns, childrens discos, puppet shows, childrens magicians show, how much should you pay, will they be reputable, and how long should the entertainer do and will I get value for my money?

Choosing the correct children’s entertainer for your child’s age and to suit the type of party doesn’t have to be a nightmare if you follow these tried and tested steps.

Age appropriateness

Firstly consider the age group that the entertainer is for, generally for 1 and 2 year olds there is nothing that will hold their attention for long and unless there are older children at the party it is not advisable to book a children’s entertainer. For the younger tots it is the ideal time to host your own party with jelly, ice-cream and a chance for the mums to sit and have a chin wag. The party should be no longer than one and a half hours and you can play tried and tested party games like pass the parcel and pin the tail on the donkey. You may find some of the children don’t participate at this age but that’s ok, as long as there is plenty of sweet food around you will have a successful party and it is probably the last party you will have where you can get away with not having to shell out on a party entertainer.

Children’s entertainers for ages 3 to 4 
3 and 4 year olds love entertainment but keep away from birthday clowns at this young age as some children feel frightened by the makeup and larger than life characters; also avoid any loud entertainers who may use bangs in their shows. At three and four children are shy of strangers so an entertainer using participation where children need to get up and help can also not be as successful as one would hope. It is recommended that a softer form of birthday entertainment is considered such as lady childrens entertainers as children of this age feel safer with a female, a lady party magician or a puppet show could work wonderfully for this age group as do face painters and party game organizers who play part games and keep the children busy with activities.

If you are considering children’s entertainers who do a set show for the ages three and four you may ask how long the show should be?

At this age the average attention span is between 35 to 45 minutes and that is why schools have 35 to 40min periods and then a break as that’s the golden attention span time of the three to four age groups. An experienced childrens entertainer will be able to keep this age group for a maximum of one hour before you get little ones getting board and wandering around. If you have some children wandering around it distracts the other children, breaks the flow of the entertainer and can result in disruption to the party. you may be tempted to look for birthday entertainers who offer a full party package with two hours of entertainment at the party, this is not always the best choice for both your pocket and the party.

Party formula running from 14h00 to 16h00, substitute yor times

Experience shows that a 45 min show or the 60 min show is more appropriate for this age group and here is a suggested party running order that I send to parents considering booking me for a three to four year old party, I am using random times but you can substitute yours.

14h00 children arrive (this is the time on your invitation)

There will always be late comers and when the children do arrive they are so pleased to see one another and there is excitement giving a gift. You don’t want an entertainer pulling the children to one side and sitting them down, allow the children to meet and greet and run off a little steam, believe me they will entertain themselves for the first half hour. If you feel you want a little activity during this time I suggest a pass the parcel game at 14h20, this focuses the children into a group and any late comers can join the circle as they arrive. Making and running a pass the parcel game is simple and needs no more than a gift, some wrapping paper and a small portable CD player.

14h30 start the show

By now all the guests have arrived and said hello, the show begins before the children start getting board and entertains them until around 15h30, this is the ideal attention span for the 3 to 4 age group. The show you choose should be fast paced to keep their attention and as suggested you could consider a lady children’s entertainer, puppet show or a good and experienced childrens party magician

15h30 sing happy birthday

Sometimes as adults it’s easy to forget what a big deal the blowing of the candles is, bring out the cake, everyone sings, blow out the candles. This is the iconic moment and nothing says birthday better than cake and candles, make sure you get a picture showing 3 or four candles being blown out as this is the one that will be in the album.

15h40 serve the food

Birthday party food is a real treat; I suggest sitting the children down at a table or on a blanket and serving their goodies on paper plates. Don’t have a table of food and drink available from the beginning of the party as it loses its specialness, children pick at bits and bobs and you are guaranteed to have crisps, sweets and drinks spilled over other children and your floor making it a health and safety nightmare. Sitting down to eat is a social activity and here again the children don’t need to be bombarded with entertainment, they chat and enjoy the party food. By the time the children are finishing their food the mums and dads will be arriving to collect the children. Party a success!

The best part is that the sugar from the sweets only starts kicking in when the children are on their way home meaning you don’t have to deal with 25 sugar high children.

This formula leaves you free to enjoy the party as well and to take pictures and video for your family memories without having to shell out hundreds of pounds booking a full party package, believe me at three and four it’s not necessary.

Children’s entertainers for ages 5 to 8

This is the golden age range for hiring an entertainer, the children are responsive, love participating and understand that the entertainer is not a real character but a person dressed up to entertain them. For this age group birthday clowns are appropriate as the kids love the comedy sketches, juggling and antics and at 5 the fear of clowns makeup should have gone. Childrens magicians are ideal for the five to eight age group as the children can fully appreciate the magic, a good childrens magician will combine comedy, magic, balloon animals with hilarious routines designed around audience participation and you can expect to find a variety of packages ranging from 45minutes to a full party package of two hours. Usually a full party package will be a combination of a children’s magic show, balloon animals, musical disco games and activates and the package will allow around twenty minutes for the children to sing happy birthday and have their birthday goodies. other ideas are Children's Discos, circus workshop entertainers and specialist girls and boys theme parties like fashion model dress up for the girls with a professional photographer who comes to the party with studio lights and all and the children leave with a personalised printed photo or an army themed show for the boys.

Where do I find a good children’s entertainer?

There are a number of ways of finding a childrens entertainer each has its pro’s and con’s, you can try entertainment listing sites, entertainment agencies, individual websites, newspaper adverts, yellow pages adverts but the best way is always word of mouth as then you know what and who you are getting. With listing sites, entertainers register and pay a fee to list their shows, this is an ideal way to find an entertainer but there is no guarantee of quality as anyone can list if they pay the listing fee so always be sure to check out the entertainer first. Experience shows that by far the easiest way to find children’s entertainers is to look online, don’t use a general search like children’s entertainers as you will be bombarded with options not applicable to you for example an entertainer two hundred miles away.

Try a more chiselled search including your area and the type of entertainment you require also remember that you are looking for children’s entertainers but very often the entertainer is advertising using the word children’s entertainer, not plural. Her is an example of some searches, I live in Warrington so I may search childrens entertainers Warrington Cheshire or childrens magicians Warrington Cheshire, the ‘s of childrens is deliberately left out as there are more hits for childrens than children’s, a handy tip.

You will be presented with a number of options, the paid for ads on the right and natural listings on the page, some of the natural listings may well be listing sites and agencies but there will be individual’s sites as well. Check a few out and get a feel by looking for feedback, pictures, pricing, check they have a show that fits your specific age requirement and check the areas that person works. Usually the entertainer will provide a form to fill in, fill this in with your details and let them get back to you, fill in a few and see what kind of response you get. The entertainer should be CRB checked have liability insurance in place and have checkable references from other parents who have used the service. Feel free to speak to the entertainer on the phone and ask any questions relevant to your booking like what show do you suggest for my five year old. Once you have found someone you feel comfortable with make the booking and enjoy the day, if they are truly fantastic share the number with your friends as there is no better advertisement than word of mouth.

click to book Kelly