LLD Sitters helping set up for a great kiddie bash

Don’t overwhelm your lil’ ones.  A good general rule of thumb is invite one kid for every year (for example, if your child is 5, invite 5 of their friends). If you do choose to include more friends or adults, try to keep the activity low key. Too much commotion and a new surrounding can cause lil’ ones to feel overwhelmed and unhappy. Stick with fun, simple crafts, games, and activites.

Finger Foods. Although everyone loves being a great hostess and having a fantastic spread, lets face it, finger foods are just easier. Save yourself the cleanup and hassle of big spreads and opt for chips and dip, veggie trays, cookies, and other items that are not as messy. A cupcake “cake” is always a good option to avoid having to cut the cake (or that kid who always has to plant his face in the cake before it is even cut… yikes!).

DIY. One complaint many parents have is how expensive it can be to throw a birthday party for a young child. Although some costs are unavoidable, some things are easy to make yourself! Crafts, decorations, balloons, and games are all things that you can do yourself for a cheaper price. This is also a great way to get other siblings involved in the birthday party; having them help make crafts and set up will get them excited for the day, even though the attention won’t be focused on them.

Keep it simple; Its a party for kids! Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the birthday party is to make kids happy. Don’t get too wrapped up in making it fancy. Kids usually end up happier playing in the cardboard box their gift came in than playing with that fancy hovercraft itself. Remember that your kids will love their party; if they want mini hot dogs instead of cheese and crackers, go for it! If they want to wear their pajama slippers and a princess hat with a Batman cape, let them! Plus… those blackmail pictures could come in handy during their teenage years!

Call in help. Keep yourself from getting stressed by inviting the other guests parents to come with their children. This will help keep them in line and save you from being the bad guy if anything goes wrong. If this is not an option, hire a sitter or party staffer to help out and keep your party running smoothly.

We hope these tips to throwing the ultimate birthday bash have been helpful! Any other ideas? Feel free to comment down below! LLD offers sitters for parties to help watch the kids or staffers to help set up, run errands, and plan the party itself. Let LLD help you with all of your childcare needs! We’re here to help you throw the best party ever!

• 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!