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TOP TIPS FOR PLANNING CHILDREN'S PARTIES |
Have a quiet game set up so that as soon as a child/ children arrive they can join the game immediately. This ensures that children are used to receiving instructions and involves all children in an organised activity lessening the chance of chaos. It also sets the tone for the rest of the party- a children's entertainer will thank you for this, too!
| Have name labels for the children to wear and make sure adults have them on too. A great way for children to learn each others names and for responsible adults to get the attention of a specific child. Many games can revolve around the children learning names, too.
| If a child misbehaves deal with them very swiflty and very fairly.
Fairly obvious but frequently forgotten! Swift action stops one child's bad behaviour snowballing into total chaos. Ensure it's the behaviour of the child rather than the child that you don't approve of. Psychologists have also found that reward often works better than punishment, so reward good behaviour with compliments. A more advanced system can be to reward well behaved children with points, the child with the most points gets some kind of reward at the end- it doesn't have to be a present such as sweets but can be something like helping you run a game, in other words, getting to feel important and responsible.
| Have a good plan! As far as possible, plan the party like a military operation! So you know what activites children are doing and when they are doing them, as well as who is helping run them. Plan for emergencies too! | Have a quiet time before the tea party. This will help to calm the children down and lessen the chance of a food fight! |
 | THE NAME GAME
Requirements- a soft ball.
This is a good warm up game that is suitable for all ages, it gets the children used to listening and they learn each other's names too!
Arrange the children and yourself in a circle either sitting or standing depending on room available. The idea is that you say your name and then the name of the person you are going to throw the ball to just before you throw it. That person repeats their name and says the name of the person they are going to throw the ball to, and so on. You can ensure that all children are included be throwing it to any children left out. The game can start slowly then get faster and faster to add excitement as the children learn the names.
| | WINK MURDER
Requirements- a space for the children to sit and lie down.
This great old game keeps the children entertained and fairly quiet at the same time, it is best run as a quick game between more action-packed games or as a quietener. Arrange the children in a circle facing inwards as you explain the rules. The game is simple, one child is secretly chosen as the "killer" so only they and you know who they are (you may do this by getting all the children to close their eyes as you walk round and tap the "killer" on the head). The other children try to guess who it is, but if the killer winks at a child that child must "die" in a dramatic way. The game ends either when there is just one child left (apart from the killer) or when someone successfully guesses who the "killer" is. You can add to this by awarding points for the best "death".
If you find the plot too gruesome, you could suggest that instead of a "killer" the child who winks is a master hypnotist!
| | PASS THE PARCEL
Requirements- a present wrapped in newspaper many times, so one layer is within another. A source of music, either a stereo or a musical instrument.
This old favourate can keep the attention of quite a wide age range and generate surprising excitement if timed well. You simply wrap a silly present in many layers of newspaper/ wrapping paper, the idea is that all the time the music is playing then the parcel must be passed round the children seated in a circle. When the music stops, whoever has the parcel gets to remove one layer. This simple game can be made more exciting by adding a few gifts such as sweets every few layers and by asking the children to pass the parcel faster when the music gets louder and more slowly when the music gets quieter.
As you control the music you can time the breaks in the music so that every child gets to remove at least one layer.
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