• What is Jam with Jamie & what inspired you to start it?  

Jam with Jamie provides musical entertainment for birthday parties, playgroups, and events for children, from 0 to 5 years old, all over New York City and the Tri-State area. My inspiration stems from working as a music teacher in preschools and for the company, Citibabes. My mother encouraged me to start my own company to provide private entertainment for birthday parties and playgroups, so in 2008 I took her advice. I got my start at a family friends’ birthday party and from there Jam with Jamie kept growing and growing. Now, 5 years later, the Jam with Jamie team has six entertainers. We are currently in the works to expand to Nashville and Miami!

•  Describe a typical party appearance with Jam with Jamie 

Parties include live singing and guitar playing with one rockin’ entertainer who interacts with the children through instruments, animal puppets, shakers, parachutes, and bubbles to add to the fun. For forty minutes, children will be up on their feet dancing and shaking to familiar tunes, that even adults enjoy! It is truly fun for the whole family and specials requests are always welcome!

Jamie incorporates the theme of the party into the entertainment!

•  Tell us more about your new online Children’s Song Series!

We are so proud to announce our most recent venture with Howcast.com. There are 38 videos that children can sing and play along with at home. We hope we can spread the joy of music to little ones and help them connect to new songs and classics with these videos. Here is a link to one of our favorites, and please check out the others. It’ll keep you and your kids occupied for hours!

A couple of my favorite videos from the Children’s song series are Baby Shark and Two Little Blackbirds.

• What else are you up to?

When I am not performing at birthday parties I am also an actress. I have done a ton of children’s theater, even when I was a child myself! I have performed in “The Little Mermaid” and “The Velveteen Rabbit” at The Player’s Theater. I am currently performing as the rock and roll granny in the new Laurie Berkner musical, “Wanda’s Monster.” We were just nominated by the Off-Broadway Alliance for “Best Family Show” which I am very excited about. Look out for news on our upcoming run at The Vineyard Theater over the summer!

• How can I book Jam with Jamie for my party?!

Contact us through our website or you can call us at 917-822-0186. Also, follow us on Twitter.

-Jamie has been working with children of all ages as an actress, teacher, and entertainer for the past ten years. She has taught numerous music and movement classes in Miami, Florida and at Citibabes and Kaplan Nursery School in New York City. Jamie has also performed in many off-broadway children’s theater productions, most recently as the Rock and Roll Granny in Laurie Berkners’ new musical, “Wanda’s Monster.”  Learn more about Jamie on her acting website.

Parents often ask me, what is a good time to start the party activities? When should you book entertainment? Should the children eat before or after? Can children this young really play together for a full hour? Actually, planning a child’s party has a lot to do with TIMING. The timing and flow of a party, when worked properly, will ensure that children don’t get antsy and start running around the room. And when the kids are having fun, the parents can actually relax and have fun too.

Timing really is everything if you want everyone to have a good time!

Five Tips for Parties with Guests Under Five:

1. Book your entertainer 2 – 3 months ahead of time. The best entertainers are often solo-acts and their weekend schedules fill up fast. It is important to hire someone who really knows how to hold the attention of younger children who don’t have much of an attention span. When someone is particularly good at it, they’ll get booked up quick.
2. Do you have guests coming from far away? Is your family typically late or always on time? My general rule is to allow at least ½ hour for guests to all be there. You don’t want them to miss any of the fun. Having a few toys, coloring books, or sticker crafts are good busy activities for early birds.
3. Feed kids first. This applies for sit down dinners and buffets. Hungry children do not have fun. And if you’ve witnessed your child’s unexplained melt-down just before a meal time, you know what I’m talking about. But you do not need to allow for much more than ½ hour for the kids’ meal as kids will eat fast, if they eat at all. (Some are just plain too excited for the party!)
4. Time your activities. Overall, entertainment for younger children needs to be between 45 minutes to an hour at most. During that time, children will need a variety of short activities because they will probably tire of doing any one thing after about 10 minutes.
5. If you plan to have more than one type of entertainment, do things ONE at a TIME. For example, deflate that bouncy house during music time! Children cannot deal with more than one or two choices at a time; they will get overwhelmed. None of us like that feeling!

Focusing on one activity at a time makes a party more fun!

But Not The Hippopotamus by Sandra Boynton is not only my favorite kids book, it might be my favorite book in life.- Laura

The Napping House by Audrey Wood and Don Wood was my absolute favorite book when I was a kid! I would read it over and over again. The illustrations were like candy to me! Such soft colors and beautiful fluid lines. Plus the story was so much fun to follow. Even when I had it memorized, I would still laugh when each new character came into the room!- Mary

Pomelo Begins to Grow by Ramona Badescu and illustrated by Benjamin Chaud. Gorgeous illustrations and a wonderful, fun story about a little pink elephant learning about the big world outside his garden.- Shea

I Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw. I love this book because my mom used to read it to me as a child and it is so sweet- Lindsay

Even the really lil’ ones like a good book!

Reading is such an important part of mental, emotional, and educational development for kids, and is a great entertainment alternative to turning on the television after school. LLD sitters use reading as a way of exploring a child’s imagination and creativity and love sharing our favorites with the lil’ ones hoping they become their new favorites too! Our sitters find that after reading, the kids want to act out parts of the book, create their own adventures, or even write their own stories. It’s amazing to see how reading can spark an interest in so many creative ways.

Share your favorites with us!

Check out Phoenix’s Baby Book Club for an extended list of LLD’s favorite bedtime books!

-Alison