Category: Magic

Getting the right entertainment

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When planning a children’s party, one thing that will be firmly on your list of things to do is ‘hire the entertainer’. However, with so many different kinds of performers available, how do you go about choosing the perfect person to keep your little guests engaged for the duration of the event and to take the stress off you?

There are loads of different options to choose from to make it a fun occasion but it’s important to choose what is right for your child and what you know they will enjoy.

The Magician

A brilliant magician can really add a sense of wonder to your kids party. Watch as the children are left amazed at the seemingly impossible tricks performed in front of their eyes and then encouraged to get involved in some of the magic themselves. It can be a lot of fun for parents too, particularly seeing how baffled kids are by how the magic is done.

A magician is usually great for children around the age of 4 and above. This way they will be old enough to understand what is going on but still young enough to be mesmerised by the idea of magic.

Stay close to the magic

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Here are some top 6 hotels within a short distance from the Disneyland magic!

1. Vienna House Dream Castle

Vienna House Dream Castle is the closest of the non-Disney hotels and has been designed in the style of a historic palace set in beautiful French gardens. It has a wide choice of rooms with families in mind. They also offer guests free parking and a complimentary shuttle bus to the parks.

2. Explorers Hotel

The Explorers Hotel is a brilliant option for large families as they offer interconnecting rooms that can sleep up to 10 guests. It has a huge indoor play area, on-site 6D cinema and secret lagoon swimming pool, complete with water slides and toddler area! A complimentary shuttle bus will take you to and from the parks.

3. Vienna House Magic Circus

Vienna House Magic Circus is a great value for money offering super comfortable rooms with a curtained-off kids area in the rooms with bunk beds. Also games consoles in the rooms and a fun outdoor playground to keep the kids entertained! A free shuttle bus service is also available to take you to straight to the heart of the magic at Disneyland Paris.

4. Hotel Kyriad, Magny-le-Horne

The Kyriad Hotel is a budget-friendly, family hotel with larger sized hotel rooms, most having a double bed and a set of bunk beds in each. The hotel has a video games room as well as a play area in the lobby and an onsite farm with ponies, goats and rabbits. Jump on the complimentary shuttle bus to take you straight to the Disney parks

5. Radisson Blu Hotel

The Radisson Blu is a 10 minute drive from the airport and offers guests a complimentary shuttle to and from the Disney parks. The rooms have tea and coffee making facilities and also has access to 3 beautiful 9 hole golf courses. After a day of Disney, you can swim in the indoor swimming pool or enjoy a family dinner in one of the restaurants.

6. Hotel L’Elysee

Hotel L’Elysee is just one stop away from the Disney parks by train. Bedrooms are well equipped for families with both triple and two double bed configurations. The town offers fabulous shopping and dining with the added bonus of The Vallee Village Chic Outlet Shopping.

Hire some entertainment

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The Best Prima Ballerina Parties Barre None!

Take your child’s passion for ballet to a whole new level with a ballerina party they’ll be raving about for months. A professional ballet dancer will thrill with a real ballet class, a hairstyling session (with lots of sparkles!), tiara and wand props.

Marvellous Magic With Close-Up Magicians

Magic is really popular for kids, thanks to the new wave of TV street magicians, so a close-up magic show is perfect for a birthday party. Often combining conjuring tricks with an infectious sense of fun, a children’s magician will give your kids a show that’s amazing, amusing and absolutely unforgettable.

Crazy Comedy Jugglers

A Comedy Juggler is fabulous entertainment for a children’s party, combining amazing skill with a healthy dose of humour. And it’s not just juggling balls and clubs either –  jugglers have been known to juggle 7 objects or more objects at a time, a bowling ball, a small child and a chainsaw (well maybe not a small child!!)

Superb Storytellers

Once upon a time, there was a children’s party where every child was spellbound by the power of a great story. And that party can be yours, a wonderfully relaxing experience for both guests and parents that is hard to find in today’s busy worlds. Now that’s a true happy ending!

Children’s Themed Parties

Two hours of sheer delight, transporting kids into a make-believe world of fun and games. Led by professional children’s entertains such as, Children’s Themed Parties and Children’s Entertainers, and with optional face painter, you can choose from popular party packages that delight from start to finish.

 

Go on a fairy hunt

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Acorn Bank, Penrith, Cumbria

Come and explore this magnificent forest and see what you can find! Hidden doors, a hollow tree and a wild play area are sure to bring your little elves and fairies imaginations to life!

Trentham Gardens, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire

Explore this magical garden and see how many fairies you can spot on their lovely fairy trail! You’ll also find a fab adventure playground too where your little kids can let off some steam.

Puzzlewood, Coleford, Gloucestershire

Discover ancient trees, bridges, lookouts and twisted rocks at Puzzlewood! Around every corner there’s something different to see! The beautiful scenery is so magical that it’s often used in movies.

Shervage Wood, Somerset

Rumour has it that Shervage was once home to a mystical fire breathing dragon named Gurt the Worm! Be careful where you tread whilst exploring this whimsical wood… you’re walking on an enchanted path! Be sure to visit Honer Wood where you’ll see ancient trees draped with mosses and rare lichens!

Furzey Gardens, Lyndhurst, Hampshire

With wonderful walks, gorgeous trees and shrubs, as well as stunning views and a fascinating history, Furzey Gardens is sure to get everyone in the fairy hunting mood! Kids can head to the outdoor children’s play area and hunt for fairy doors around these gorgeous gardens.

Ashridge Estate, Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire

Come and discover a rare breed of deer, bats and songbirds as you hunt for fairies in this mystical forest! This stunning estate was also the setting for Disney’s Maleficent where certain scenes were filmed within the trees.

New Forest Fairy Festival, Burley, New Forest

Immersed in ancient oaks, tree spirits and woodland creatures, this fab family friendly festival will be hosting a range of wonderful workshops, classes, music and more. You’ll be sure to spot a fairy or two (as well as a dragon!) as festival-goers dress up for the occasion!

 

Joint Birthday Parties

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Admittedly, children’s entertainers and children’s magicians can be quite pricy, and that’s only half the cost. With the credit crunch still looming, a great way to save money can be to have a joint children’s birthday party with another parent. That way you don’t lose out on the fun of having a children’s entertainer at half the cost. Aside from the cost benefits, you can also share the organisation and work load that goes with planning a children’s birthday party. That said, does sharing a children’s birthday party with another parent create a headache in itself?

Common problems can be found amongst parents trying to jointly organise kid’s birthday parties, like not being able to decide on what type of party to have. Children’s party entertainers alone can be a tricky thing to decide on. Do you have a themed children’s party or children’s magician, clown, etc.? Kids party entertainers can be one of the trickiest things to decide on when having to liaise with another parent. As your child might want something entirely different to what the other parent’s child wants.

Additionally, many parents can find that they have to compromise more than they bargained for, or workload is not shared out equally, and then after having spent a great deal of time and effort organising most of the children’s birthday party, the parent they’re sharing it with isn’t entirely happy with what has been arranged and in the end you’re left wondering if it would have been better to spend a bit extra and be left to organise your own children’s birthday party.

If you’re planning on sharing a children’s birthday party with another parent, it’s best to do it with someone who has the same ideas as you and who is in the same class as your child so the numbers of children don’t instantly double, otherwise your costs go up and you’re saving is far less.

When organising kid’s birthday parties together, the key thing is to have a clear idea of what you both want right from the start. Have a budget set and decide who is going to do what. Look at different types of children’s party entertainment packages that are on offer.

You’ll also need to figure out who you’re inviting to the party, will it be at home or in a hall, who will organise the food, or if you’re sharing it who will do what. Once you’ve set a clear outline for what you’re going to have and who will do what, that should help prevent there being disagreements along the way.

It can be a great thing for kid’s birthday parties to be organised together. The initial liaising with another parent can definitely be worth the saving, as kid’s birthday parties are not always cheap. Kids party entertainers alone are usually a large part of the cost, so halving that cost can be very helpful. If the workload is shared equally that helps a great deal too. You might also find you can benefit from the expertise of another parent who has organised kid’s parties before. Just make sure you both know if you want similar things before you get too far down the planning stage.

 

Pretty fairy parties

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So your daughter is living in a fairyland of sorts and is ready to grow wings and take a magical flight?

Get ready to start sprinkling the pixie dust because it’s bound to help get this girls birthday party ready.

Are you ready to transform your home into a fairy house and your garden into a family fun fairyland?  You could welcome your guests into a land full of flowers, colourful toadstools, butterflies and fairy decorations?  Little girls Fairy parties only come once in a lifetime and you want to make it one that your little beautiful fairy will remember forever.

 

Invitations.

Fairy party invitations can be fairy flowers, cards, or even a Fairy puzzle.  Make them super exciting with some hints on what to expect and include whether costumes are being worn.  Be sure to give the start time, end time, date and location of the Fairy Party.

 

Decorations.

Set the mood for your party with great decorations like Fairy posters, music, and character party supplies.  Cover the party table in blue, purple and other Fairy colours accented with streamers, balloons and confetti.

 

Party Games.

Fairies always love to decorate wings and wands.  Follow-up with photos of each child with the main character.

 

What Fairy party is complete without a Fairy party scavenger hunt and Fairy party games.  Games like Fairy Freeze Dance, Pass the Wand and Pin the Wing on the Fairy. Games add excitement to the party and provide fun for all the family to interact.

 

Costumes.

A Fairy party just isn’t the same without all the Fairies and Pixies dressed in their wings, flowers and wands.

 

Snacks and Drinks.

Don’t forget snacks and drinks for all of your Fairy friends.  Certainly snacks and drinks with Fairy names are always top of the list.  But sometimes it’s best to incorporate some healthy vegetable snacks.

 

The cake.

If you are a keen baker then making a fairy cake will be easy, lots of pink icing and everything that’s pretty, even a beautiful fairy on the top waving her wand to spell out your little princess’s name.  However, if you aren’t too clever in the baking way there are loads of suitable fairy birthday cakes to choose from in the local supermarkets.

 

The Puppeteer

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Puppet shows are great for children of all ages and have been part of our culture for thousands of years. They’re normally aimed at 3-7 year olds but can work for 2 years too. Even if the younger children don’t fully understand the storyline or the jokes, they can still enjoy the visual aspects and get involved with audience participation, which usually includes shouting things to the puppets and doing loads of funny actions.

Puppet shows can be the main event or form part of a huge mix of party activities. Either way, it goes down a treat and is often one of the things kids remember best.

The Circus Performer

Circus performers or clowns are great for parties where the guests are a little bit older (maybe 4 and up) any younger and the kids can get a bit scared of clowns as they don’t like the makeup on the face or the red nose and clown wig. Our clowns do loads of fun clown gags and jokes. The parties are very interactive for children. A clown is not something kids see every day so it really adds a brilliant wow factor when your child sees a clown coming to their party for their birthday. Apart from general clowning around, a clown can be a magician, he can hold a puppet show, do games, juggling, etc. Clowns can be balloon modellers or, face painters; their versatility really is endless.

Don’t go overboard.

We are well aware of the pressures facing parents, and would like to tell you that those looking to create a memorable birthday celebration for their little one should focus on simplicity and fun and try to ignore, where possible, the feeling that they have to compete with other parents as this can actually result in having an adverse effect on your children’s party!

Ask any parent and they will tell you of the increasing pressure they feel when planning their child’s birthday party. The growing competitive element of hosting a children’s birthday party that has recently emerged now means that many parents end up overspending and creating a party that is filled to the brim with far too many activities.

Do remember that children love simplicity. Not to say the entertainment shouldn’t be good or varied. It should definitely be good and varied. It needs to be engaging, fun and imaginative too. But parents should avoid the temptation to overload their kid’s party with too many activities at the same time as this will end up being over stimulating and confusing. We’ve seen it time and time again where parent book an entertainer, bouncy castle, popcorn machine, mascot, face painter, etc. all in one party that last just 2 hours.

Parents feeling the need to plan a children’s party filled with different activities can actually leave birthday boys and girls so overwhelmed with far too much to take in that they don’t focus properly on any one thing and are unable to really enjoy their special day properly. Instead, parents should choose no more than a handful of activities for the children and to make sure that there is plenty of time for the kids to enjoy all of it.

In the same way, parents that don’t plan enough activities or have any form of kids party entertainment at all, can often find that their children are completely underwhelmed, bored or worse become very restless and start running around and be difficult for parents to control. If there is no structure to the entertainment planned this can happen a lot, which is something all parents want to avoid.

A perfect party has a few fun activities planned for different times, but parents should be prepared for their party ‘timetable’ to change slightly during the celebration so it can be adapted to suit the kid’s energy levels on the day and to accommodate any unforeseen events e.g. food running late.

Happy Birthday sweet 16

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Sweet 16 is a time of coming of age and celebrating it in true style. Many 16th birthday parties are becoming quite similar these days so why not make your 16th birthday party one to remember.

Firstly, choose a venue; this could be your own house. Secondly choose a theme. Trust us, this will make your 16th birthday party that extra bit more unique and give your guests the excitement leading up to your party.

Finally, your party entertainment… make your 16th birthday party stand out from the crowd and have some of the most interesting and lively entertainment. Underneath is a variety of 16 birthday party entertainment ideas to help you!

DJ – Every party needs great music. You will not need to worry about changing songs over on your IPod when a DJ can do it all for you by using the latest technology. You can tell the DJ exactly what music you would like played so your music can be catered specifically for you!

16th Birthday Party Entertainers

Photo booth – Why not keep a little memory of your 16th birthday party night by hiring a photo booth. Your guests will have so much fun trying on colourful props and overall having fun in the photo booth. Instant photos will be available for your guests and you will receive a DVD of all photos taken on the night.

Themed nights– Give your party that Vegas feel by having your very own fun casino. Spin the wheel, place your fun bets and have a laugh with all your guests. The Fun Casino is a great way to get your friends having a laugh and the style of entertainment is top class. Nobody else will have a casino at their 16th!

Magician – A walk around hired magician is perfectly suited to a Sweet 16 party. The magician will stun your guests with various tricks that will definitely catch them out. The magician could also be a comedian on the side, so Dynamo mixed with a bit of Lee Evans will go down a storm at your 16th birthday party.

16th Birthday Party Food

Fish and Chip Van – If you are unsure of the catering you would like for your party, then why not hire out a fish and chip van. The food caters for everybody’s tastes and your guests will enjoy their very own freshly cooked food. You can tailor the food to your requirements as well, burgers, sausages, goujons… whatever you want you can have!

Overall, enjoy your 16th birthday party. This is your big night; it’s not every day you take that step from a childhood to adulthood. Your 16th birthday party will be all about you, show it off, and make sure to get the perfect entertainment for your party. But the best thing you can do is smile and create some amazing memories and plan the best 16th birthday party ideas right here!

Christmas Birthday parties

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Christmas is by far one of the most magical experiences of childhood. From being too excited to sleep to peeking out of the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa’s sleigh, the memories of the holiday season become some of our most treasured.

In the run up to the big day, throwing a children’s Christmas party for the kids is a great way to make this year even more memorable. Plus, it’s an opportunity for you to get your creative juices flowing and fill the house with festive joy.

Here are our tips:

Invitations

Snowman Invitations: To make, simply cut out a snowman shape from white card. You can then cut out and stick on a hat made from black card, and stick on a scarf made from felt. Add the face with coloured pens, or use googly eyes for extra impact.

Fancy Dress

When it comes to fancy dress, you’re spoilt for choice. Ask all of the kids to dress as something Christmassy – this can be anything from a penguin to Santa Claus. Provide them with a few ideas on the invitations to get them started.

Decorations

Aside from the essential Christmas tree, you can have lots of fun creating a festive wonderland in your home.

Santa’s Grotto

A great idea is to create a Santa’s grotto – choose a small room, which you don’t need to use and drape the walls and any furnishings with fabric in deep red and purple.

You can then decorate the room with fairy lights, Christmas lights and decorations to make it feel festive. Get one of the adults to dress as Santa Claus and send the children into the ‘grotto’ to collect their party bags and any other treats.

Get Crafty

There are lots of simple Christmas decorations that you can easily make with the kids. Try making garlands from pine tree leaves, pine cones, tinsel and baubles. Other ideas include; painting the tips of pine cones white for a snow-effect, cutting snowflakes out of paper to string around the house.

Activities

Every party needs plenty of fun kids christmas activities to keep everyone entertained. Why not try:

Pass the Parcel

This is a classic game, which can easily be adapted for the festive season. Hide gifts between layers of wrapping paper – the kids pass the parcel round the circle, and if they’re holding it when the music stops, they get to open a layer. 

Gift Wrap Relay

Divide the children into two teams and provide each team with a gift-wrapped box – you should also prepare stations with pre-cut wrapping paper and cello tape. Each child has to run to a station, un-wrap and then re-wrap their box, before running back to their team and passing it on to the next person. The first team in which every child un-wraps and re-wraps the box, wins.

Mystery Stocking

Fill a stocking with a collection of ‘mystery’ party bag fillers, with a distinctive tactile feel. Each child has a chance to feel the fillers inside the stocking – if they can guess what they are without looking, they get to take them home.