Kelowna Kids Birthday Party Magician Leif David

Leif David’s Party Tips!

Your child’s birthday is a special day and you want make it as memorable as possible. Organizing a great party can be overwhelming and disastrous without the proper knowledge. With this party guide and the instant downloads you’ll have the everything you need to host a memorable birthday party from start to finish. By planning early you’ll avoid as many headaches as possible, so let’s get started...

Picking a Date a Time

There are a few important things to consider when picking a date and time. Pick a date that the "best friends" can make it out to. It’s best to pick a date that doesn’t fall on a holiday or other special day to ensure that everybody will be able to attend.

Most successful birthday parties are between 1.5 hours and 2.5 hours long. The younger the children the shorter the party should be.

Consider if you will be feeding your guests, as this may help determine when the party should occur. Good start times include 1:00pm for an afternoon party or 3:30pm for an after-school party.

Who to Invite

It is important to consider how many people you want to invite - this may depend on how brave you are! The birthday child may want to invite their entire class, but this may not be appropriate if you do not have adequate space or enough helping hands during the party.

We suggest that if you plan on inviting more than 9 children, than you should consider having at least 1 additional helper, and if you plan on inviting over 15 children have at least 2 helpers available.

Avoid inviting children that you believe may cause problems. They may end up ruining the party for you, your guests, and your child. If you invite a child that you believe may cause a problem, invite the parents to stay during the party to help if anything should arise.

Try to avoid inviting children who are sick. A coughing or sniffling child could easily pass it onto your entire family and the rest of the kids. Also, a sick child will take the attention away from your child's birthday party and distract from the magic show.

Entertainment

Once a few potential dates and times have been chosen, contact Leif David as early as possible to determine availability and book your show.

Location

The best place to host a birthday party is in the comfort of your own home. In order to make sure your house is still in one piece at the end, designate "party areas". Turn off lights and shut the doors of places that the kids shouldn’t go. Turn lights on and decorate the areas where the party will be held. Don’t forget to make sure the bathroom has enough supplies!

We suggest placing balloons near your house address outside your home to let everybody know that they have found the right place.

Hosting your party outside can be lots of fun and many games become available to you such as a piņata, but always have a backup plan in case the weather turns bad and you need to relocate. Remember to let your entertainment know if you will be hosting your party outside to avoid complications.

Invitations

The best way to hand out invitations is probably at school. Educate your child on being discrete when they hand out invitations and when talking about their birthday party at school. This will make sure that nobody’s feelings are hurt when they find out they aren’t invited.

Fill out your party guest list form with everybody who’s invited. Check off their name when they RSVP.

On your invitations remember to include; the reason for the invitation (i.e.: Sally’s 8th birthday party!), the start time, the finish time, your phone number, email address if you desire, and the location of the party with directions if necessary.

Send out your invitations at least 2 weeks in advance or sooner if the date is near a holiday or other special day.

Decoration Ideas

Decorating the house with just a few ballons and streamers can go a long way to create a party atmosphere. If you want to get fancy - take playing cards (poker size or jumbo) and a some tape or thumbtacks and decorate your walls. (if you do not mind the holes) or take playing cards and cut them up into smaller pieces like confetti and sprinkle them on the tables.

Don’t forget to add balloons outside your house address so everybody knows they’ve found the right place!

You don’t need to overdo the decorations, and it makes cleanup easier once everyone has gone home!

Games

Pick a few cool game ideas from the list below. Remember that the classic games are usually the best, that’s why they’re classics! Get the kids interested and excited about the games. You only need a couple games for your party, so find the ones you think will work best with your child and their friends. Take your time and let the kids have fun. Let the kids snack on food in between games.

Prizes for games don’t need to be big or expensive. Try picking up a big bag of suckers and giving them out as prizes. Try and make all the prizes identical. Some of the games suggested are cooperative games; these work best because there are no "winners" or "losers".

Balloon Race

Players are divided into two equal teams and form a line, which stand side by side. The balloon is given to the front player in each team, who passes it backwards over his or her head to the next player. The balloon is passed backwards along the line to the last player, who runs to the front of the line and then passes the balloon through their legs to the player behind. The teams keep doing this until they end up back in their original position. Whoever gets there first is the winner.

Bobbing for Donuts

Gently tie a string onto a donut and hang it from the ceiling. Each player gets their own doughnut. Play with 4 players at once. Each player holds their hands behind their back while trying to take bites out of the hanging donut. Whoever can eat the most of the donut in a limited amount of time is the winner. Each player gets their donut to eat after the round is over.

Guard the Gate

The aim of the game is to roll a tennis ball through the ’goal’ formed by the gaps between the kids in a circle. The kids sit an arms length away from each other on the floor. The ’goal’ is the area to the right of each child. The players try to roll a tennis ball through the other players ’goals’. The other players must defend their ’goal’ with their right hand.

Musical Statues

Players dance around the room to music. When the music stops the players must stop dancing and freeze in that position. If any of the players move, they are disqualified. The music is turned on again quickly and continues until there is only 1 player left.

Simon Says

One person is the leader and the rest of the group follows the leaders’ orders. The leader gives actions for the others to follow such as touching their nose. If the leader says "Simon says" before the action, the group must do it. If the leader does not say "Simon says," first then anybody who does the action is out. The leader can go quickly to try and mix up the other players.

Squiggle Drawings

This is a good icebreaker game to play at the start of the party when guests arrive. Each player gets a piece of paper, and they draw an abstract squiggle on it. Players then exchange papers, and they have to use the squiggle to come up with a drawing. This is a non-competition game, and players can easily join in at any time.

Telephone

Players sit in a circle on the floor. The first player thinks up any sentence to say. That person whispers their sentence into the ear of the person on their left. That player then whispers it to the next person. This goes on around the circle until the last person. The last person then says what the sentence is and it's compared to what the original was. It’s usually quite different.

Tortoise Race

Players line up along one wall. On the word "Go" players make their way as slowly as possible towards the other wall. Players are disqualified if they stop moving, or go in any direction but towards the other wall. The last player to reach the wall is the winner.

What Time is it Mr.Wolf?

One player is chosen to be Mr.Wolf and stands with their back to the rest of the group from some distance away. After each step, somebody from the group says "What time is it Mr.Wolf?" The wolf gives any time, and the group takes another step forward. When the wolf wishes, instead of saying a time the wolf says "Lunch time!" and quickly turns towards the group to chase the others. Whoever is caught becomes the wolf.

Activities

Leif David Colouring Sheet

Download and print a Leif David Colouring Sheet and have the kids colour it in. This is a great activitiy for before or after the show, plus its super easy.

Ice Cream Decorating

Pick up a couple different kinds of ice cream like chocolate and vanilla and a bunch of different kinds of toppings. Have the kids decorate their ice cream with different kinds of toppings. Try sprinkles, cookies, syrups, nuts, whipped cream, or candies. You can get as complicated or as simple as you want.

Opening Presents

Educate your child on saying "thank-you" when they receive a present on their birthday and when they open it. It's also important that the birthday child doesn’t play favorites with their "best friends."

When opening presents write down the gift they received on the guest list form. When the parents come to pick up their kids you can thank them once again for the gift.

Goodie Bags

Leif David offers magic goodie bags to complete the magic theme birthday party. This gives them something to take home and remember the great party by.

Food, Cake, Drinks and Snacks

Food

Traditional food options for birthday parties include pizza and hotdogs. However, regardless of what you choose to serve, we suggest that you try to keep it simple, easy to clean and accommodating for potential "picky eaters."

Pizza can be delivered during the party. Most kids will eat 2 slices each. This is simple because you do not need to cook anything and clean up is a breeze. Popular pizza choices include pepperoni, Hawaiian, and cheese pizza.

Hot-dogs are also another popular choice. Help put condiments on the hot dogs to avoid a mess!

Cake

Typically you cannot go wrong with a Chocolate or Ice cream cake, but remember to keep your child's favourite in the forefront of your mind as it is their special day! Places like Dairy Queen or a Bakery can decorate your cake in a magic theme.

Instead of going with a traditional cake you could go with cupcakes instead. Each child gets their own and because each one is identical you can avoid any fighting over somebody getting a specific piece.

Drinks

Kids love pop, but you may want to serve a healthier alternative such as fruit juice or punch. Try making a fruit punch with colourful ice cubes using Kool-Aid. Help the children pour the juice to avoid spills. If your party is outside remember to serve water so the kids won’t get dehydrated on a hot day.

Snacks

Kids love to snack on chips or candy while the party is going on, however, you may want to consider a healthier option such as veggies and dip and/or a fruit platter.

Checklist

2-4 Weeks in Advance

• Pick a date and time for the party
• Send out invitations to guests
• Place guest list sheet beside the phone (To check off names when guests RSVP)
• Book entertainment
• Find helpers
• Buy batteries / film for video cameras and digital cameras
• Pick up any extra game prizes or game items
• Plan food

1 Week Before

• Do any heavy cleaning where the party will be held
• Order cake from the bakery
• Buy candles
• Follow up on guests you have not heard back from
• Determine the schedule for the whole party
• Buy any groceries you require for the party

Day Before

• Clean up any of the party areas (including bathroom)
• Confirm entertainment
• Defrost frozen foods or prepare any necessary foods
• Decorate
• Put together the goodie-bags
• Make sure you have candles and matches for the cake

The Big Day

• Finish the remaining decorating
• Put balloons outside by your house address
• Prepare food / Order food
• Have the camera ready
• Place pets in an unused room
• Setup and prepare the games
• Prepare payment for the entertainment
• Expect the entertainer 15 minutes before show time
• Take a deep breath and have fun!

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Bonus Tips!

The easiest and fastest way to create the party atmosphere is with upbeat music. Try finding popular dance music.

If the children are all over 7 years old, try getting disposable cameras and setting them out on the tables. Let the kids play with the cameras and take crazy and wacky photos.

Let the kids wind down before going home. Pass out the goodie-bags and thank them for coming. Don’t forget to thank the parents for the gift as well.