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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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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So, you have decided the type of entertainer you would like…how do you select one?

Usually, this is the time that you have to do some homework. Look at the directories on the Web and the listings in the parent magazines and draw up a list of the entertainers. Let’s say you have decided to have a clown entertain at your 4 year olds’ party. Here is a handy list of basic questions that I recommend you ask the entertainer on those initial phone calls: Read the rest of this entry »

I hired an entertainer for my kid’s party this year. During the entire routine, the parents who were present were talking so loudly that many of the kids could not hear the entertainer during his performance. How can I avoid this situation during future parties?

During your next party, ask your entertainer to ask everyone (especially the “Big” kids) to keep quiet during the show. The friendly word from the entertainer himself at the start of the show should help this problem.

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How much does an entertainer usually charge for a kid’s party?

Really, the answer depends on where you live, the length of entertainment routine, and what is included in the routine. On average, entertainers charge $150 to $250 for a 45 minute performance. This can be more expensive, but generally this is a good base line. Those entertainers that are especially popular in your community can often command well above the average price however.

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What if you hired an entertainer for your kid’s party, and they were absolutely wonderful…ok, so a good entertainer may cost anywhere from $100 to $500, depending on the length of the routine, what they are doing, etc. Also, some of the costs may be associated with location in the country, etc. On average, a party entertainer will cost around $175. So, the kids had a fabulous time…now other parents who happened to see the show, or at least hear about it from their kids, are asking you “How much did the entertainer cost?”

Do you have to answer this, especially if you feel that the parents are asking to chastise you and say how terribly expensive that is?

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 Hogwarts’ School is just about in session and the Muggles are arriving.  What’s the first step to take with school session just about to begin…well, here are some ideas for when they arrive:

• If you have had the kids dress in their favorite costumes or even if not, give the kids a black cape, twig wand, and wizardy hat to wear during the party.
• If you have asked the kids to bring along brooms for their Quidditch match, have them register their broom and place it in a safe place.  If you are providing brooms for a Quidditch match, you could also have the kids register them as well.
• If this party is for small Muggles, a face painter on hand to apply some glitter and paint to the little faces would add a festive touch.
• If you are having a “House Sorting” Competition, you can either do this at the entrance to Hogwarts or later on in the Great Hall.  If you do it as the kids arrive, you can do something as easy as having them pick a House Name out of the Wizard’s Hat for the sorting or something more involved where they must answer a Potter Trivia Question correctly, be spun around a few times, open their eyes and you have a banner displayed with their House name on it. 
• If you want to be really ornate, as the kids make their way through “Diagon Alley” to your front door, you can have small tables set up where the Muggles receive all of their Wizardy Gear, i.e. shopping for their capes, wands, hats, and then a few treats as well, i.e. chocolate frogs, gummy snacks, jelly beans, etc.  By the time they reach the door, they are ready to be sorted into the various houses, etc.

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