I would like to welcome Brian Wishnefsky to the Party Ideas Blog today!  He has over 20 years of experience being a kids’ party entertainer in the San Francisco area.  He wanted to share some top tips to you when thinking about hiring an entertainer for your next kids’ party.  You can find him on-line at: www.pranks4u.com.  Welcome, Brian!

I’ve been a professional full time children’s entertainer for over 20 years.  I would like to provide some advice on choosing the best entertainer for your event at the most reasonable rate. The old saying “You get what you pay for!” holds true when choosing entertainment for your event. 

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A fire truck party is sure to be a favorite among the little ones. Whether boys or girls, kids are fascinated by the the shiny red fire truck that howls down the road in times of emergency. When I was growing up, our neighborhood park had a mock red fire truck that we could climb on. We would pretend we were firefighters rushing off to save the next cat up the tree. Don’t be surprised if your kid wants a fire truck party. If so, here are some ideas for this theme:

One of the most popular places to have this party would be at your local fire station! You might want to call them up and see if they host kids’ parties. Firefighters can offer the kids a tour of the station, a ride down the pole to the trucks, and an up-close look at the nooks and crannies of the fire engines. This activity will truly make the fire trucks come alive and will also be educational for the kids. This would also take up the bulk of the party time, leaving a little bit left for cake and ice cream. Kids’ parties are something a fire station may do gratis; if so, make sure to do something nice in return, such as baking some treats or making a donation.

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Hotels may serve as a good overnight destination for a slumber party, especially if you don’t want your house all messed by a group of pre-teen boys and/or girls. If you decide to take a group of kids to a hotel overnight, it will be a thrill for kids age 9 to 14. This can be especially popular venue if your child wants a swimming party, and their birthday falls in the middle of winter!

If you are going to use a hotel as an outside venue, make sure that the hotel understands there will be a party of “x” amount of children, so they can give their OK. The hotel may also offer you a special price on adjoining rooms and/or rooms that have a kitchen for snacks and breakfast. I would limit the number of guests invited to five, plus the birthday kid. If there are four double beds, three of them are taken with two kids to a bed, and the fourth bed will be for the parent. So, it works out well to have a small number of guests attending the party.

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Peppers and Pollywogs is often asked how to find those really popular characters (think Elmo and Dora) for their upcoming kid’s party!  It is often really difficult to find an actual Elmo or Dora, you may instead find Traveling Girl with Backpack or Red Puppet instead.  Consumers often aren’t happy with these knock-off characters and prefer that the licensed character actually attend an entertain the children.

Recently, the WSJ spotlighted this problem, i.e the fact that entertainers are not legally allowed to appear as the actual character due to worries over trademark infringement.  The WSJ Law Blog has an interesting take on the problem and the comments are worth a read too.  It is unfortunate that the homemade character costumes often look odd and don’t really showcase the character that the kids know and love.  The example of the 4-year-old’s party where Dora seemed scary is often a common problem when these entertainers are hired.  It isn’t the entertainers fault, but rather the law.  It is illegal for these entertainers to appear exactly as the character.

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The younger the kids, the simpler the entertainment can be. For my three-year-olds party I actually kept it really simple – we kicked it off with a “pin the nose on Elmo” game that we picked up from a local party supply store – but the rest of the time was spent eating lunch, then opening gifts, then eating cupcakes. Little ones can’t handle very long parties anyway; usually gifts and dessert are the main attractions, and actually take up a fair amount of time.

As they get older, I look at the child’s own personality first for inspiration – what do they like to do? Arts and crafts? Sports? Play with water guns? Dress up? Then come up with an activity based on that.

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I am holding a party for my kid at a party venue and when I was filling out the form to set-up my party, there was a section for “Tip” that I may pay on the day of the party in addition to the total amount for the party place.  There are two staff members who will be helping with the party at the venue.  The tips are meant for them.  Am I required to tip?  If so, how much?

Good question!  Party venues will charge their fees for the party based on the package you want, but often there are staff members at the party venue who will be helping run the party at the place.  These employees make their hourly rate of pay, but some venues give the option of tipping if their employees do a great job.  It is an opportunity for these employees to earn some extra money.  If you are very happy with their service and your budget allows for it, feel free to tip.  Standard percentages apply.  If you normally tip, 10% at a restaurant, you can keep with this amount or if that is too much given the cost of the venue, simply pick an amount that you can afford and reflects the service offered.  Usually tipping at these venues is not mandatory, so do not feel pressure to offer a tip if it is beyond your budget and/or you feel the service was below par.

My child has two parties for her two good friends on the same day at the same time. She wants to attend both, but we don’t want to be rude. Is it OK to duck out of one kids’ party thirty minutes early to catch the tail end of the next one? 

Certainly, it is OK.  When you RSVP to the first party, tell the host parent that you and/or your child will have to leave early from the party.  This way the departure time will not be unexpected and the host parent can have the goody bag prepared, etc. in anticipation of your early departure.  The same is true for the second party you are attending.  When you RSVP, contact the host parent and explain the situation, and ask if it would be OK if you came for the second half of the party.  Leave it up to the host to say yes or no to you and be open to either.  If she says no it may be because the party is being held at an outside venue and she doesn’t want to pay the fee for your child who will only attend for the end of the party.  If she says yes, she will plan on you arriving late. 

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