PRICES START FROM AS LITTLE AS £150 FOR A TYPICAL TWO HOUR AFTERNOON PARTY!
We provide DJs for lots of children’s parties, mostly on Saturday or Sunday afternoons, but we offer additional discounts for mid-week parties, especially during school holidays.
With our many years of experience, we have developed a format which works really well...
For most age groups of 4-9, we get all of the children moving with lots of dance competitions and games.
For older age groups, we tend to focus more on the music, dancing and group activities.
Here’s how things tend to pan out at most parties...
Arrival
We aim to arrive and set up early, as the mums and dads organising the event will probably already be stressed beyond belief. We like to help alleviate this by having the music playing and lights flashing before the first children arrive.
Safety
Kids nowadays seem to have so much energy, and they come running at us from all angles. For many, the novelty of having a DJ there can spark quite a lot of curiosity. Therefore we are mindful of where we place equipment, cables, etc., and we also make it clear that our area is strictly “no-go” during set up and break down. We also ensure that there are no trip hazards after setting up.
Music Policy
Once set up, we play background music for the first ten minutes while the children are dropped off by their parents and mill around, chasing each other, bursting balloons, etc. We tend to play relatively up-to-date material for most of the event – right now CLEAN Hip-Hop and R’n’B and Pop seem to work best. As most of us don’t really get into music until we are about 11 or 12 years old, the music which young children know will be:
- Current chart music being played on the radio and TV
- Whatever Mum and Dad listen to
- Fad musicals and TV/movie soundtracks, e.g. Disney's Frozen, Glee, Grease, Mamma Mia, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, etc.
Later on, when we play party games, we like to drop in some old favourites.
Games
We like the DJ to get things going by first introducing himself, wishing the birthday boy/girl a very happy birthday and announcing that we have lots of fun games to play. We usually ask a couple of the mums and dads to help organise the children and act as judges for the games throughout the party.
The games usually unfold in the following order...
1. BEST DANCER COMPETITION – the DJ plays a couple of tunes and really gets the children warmed up. If there is a good mix of boys and girls, the judges can select best boy dancer and best girl dancer.
2. MUSICAL STATUES
3. MUSICAL BUMPS
4. SIMON SAYS
5. PASS THE PARCEL - we always suggest that Mum and Dad prepare something in advance for this. We then get the children to sit in a big circle for the game.
6. BALLOON RELAY – we organise the children into teams of five or six, all facing the DJ in straight lines. The child at the front of each line (team) must pass a half-inflated balloon backwards between their legs to the team member standing behind them, then this child passes it backwards over his/her head to the team member behind him/her, and so alternating to the boy/girl at the back. He/she then has to run to the front of the line and start the process again. The winning team is the one whose original front child returns to the front of their line. This can be very fast, so we like to have a couple of mums watching out for the winning moment. Ready, steady, go...!
7. LIMBO COMPETITION – we usually provide a long pole and ask two mums to hold it up for the children.
8. MUSICAL CHAIRS – we will need lots of help from the mums and dads for this one.
9. SILLIEST DANCER COMPETITION – again, the judges can choose best boy and best girl if appropriate.
10. FORMATION DANCING– we play songs like Macarena, Cha Cha Slide, Saturday Night, Oops Upside Your Head, etc., and get the children to do the dances associated with them. The DJ will usually jump out to the front and join in, especially if the mums are to exhausted at this stage to join in.
Prizes
We ask that Mum and Dad purchase about twenty small treats – mini Mars Bars, etc. or small gifts from a “pound shop”. We keep these on display and invite the winners of each competition to come and choose their prize after each game finishes.
Microphone use
Naturally, the DJ will be gentle and compassionate toward your child and his/her friends. We always speak slowly and clearly, and repeat our instructions several times. We never use foul language or get angry with the children. Before starting each game, we announce what we are going to do and ask if everybody knows how to do it. If there is any doubt, we explain the rules of the game and then do a trial run so the children have a chance to learn it. We recognise that most of the games are a process of elimination, and we don’t want any upset or disappointment due to a misunderstanding.
Food
We recommend a break for party food after about an hour of games – we drop the music volume at this point and it is nice if the DJ can have a nibble and a drink as well. (By the way, why doesn’t anybody do jelly and ice cream any more?!!!)
Cake
At some point, Mum and Dad may want to bring out a birthday cake. The DJ will get all the children to gather round and then sing “Happy Birthday” before the birthday boy/girl blows out the candles.
Wrapping up
When it is time to finish, we ask all the children to say ”thank you for inviting me” to Mum, Dad and the birthday boy/girl - often we let them do this over the DJ microphone.