Children’s Entertainers all over the country are getting their Christmas Show props out of cupboards and practising favourite routines and songs.  I can’t sing so I don’t inflict my voice on anyone, I do use musical routines in my shows, but rely on others to provide the soundtrack.

Most professional entertainers have a special show for the Christmas Season; it might be a little more expensive than the standard show but is well worth it for the extra bit of Christmas sparkle.  It just adds that extra bit of oomph (!)

In my own show I have new routine for the infamous Celia the Seal.  She helps to get all the children singing Jingle Bells, but still manages to create mayhem in the show.

Another favourite is Frostie the Snowman. For the past couple of seasons I have had to drop this routine from the shows because of the time factor. 

Basically, I draw a picture Frostie on a board with the help of the children.  All of a sudden, as I am talking to the children, the cartoon we have drawn becomes animated and starts talking and singing!  As you can imagine, this part of the show is very popular with both children and adults.

I have slightly different balloon modelling routine this year, Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer is still made but I have a comedy routine that precedes it, involving an adult member of the audience.

Most good children’s entertainers are by now, almost fully booked for the season, so if you need an entertainer for anytime in December, get your skates on!  It will be much easier to get someone for a weekday party than a weekend one.  If I was booking an entertainer at this time of the year and a performer still had weekend slots free, I would be asking myself why.  Good entertainers get booked from year to year and it’s common for my own clients to re-book me in January for December.  I have already got a couple of bookings for Christmas 2009!  Try to hold your party on a weekday if you can, the weekend slots will almost certainly be very difficult to get.

Good Luck!

BB

www.BillyBanana.com

    If you love planning a surprise party, here’s something that may surprise you:

Children don’t really like surprises.

    Before you turn the page, think for a moment about what you, as an adult, like about surprises and compare that to the experience of a young child.  By and large our days are comprised of routine.  We get up at the same time, get to work, park in the same place, talk to the same people (often about the same things), and then come home taking the exact same route day after day like we have for years.  We look forward to any break in the routine, even if it’s just “casual Friday”.
    Children on the other hand wake up and each day is new.  They learn as many as 5-10 new words every day (can you imagine learning that many new words every day?!), and they are constantly learning about what is and is not appropriate.  They are learning all the nuances of body language and struggle to interpret different accents and translate words they don’t understand using context clues.  They struggle for some sort of understanding so that they can have a reasonable chance at guessing what comes next.

    Why do you think they like watching the same video over and over again?  It provides them with the power that comes from being able to predict what comes next.  It is something they understand and feel comfortable with.

    So children are trying to learn to predict their world while adults are far too adept at predicting theirs.  We appreciate a break from the everyday, but children relish the familiar.  Adults have almost complete control over the activities and actions of their day, while children have others make most or all of their decisions.
    Young children are also coming to terms with the fact that they are not the centre of the universe as they once thought.  The older they get, the less ego-centric they realize the world is (ego-centric in this sense meaning the child as the centre of all that happens).  This can be troubling for a child and emotionally traumatic. 

 Pretending to forget a major day like a birthday, can be horribly destructive to a child’s self esteem, even if the deceit is later rectified by the actual surprise party.

    Children also thrive on anticipation.  Getting excited about the approaching birthday is often more rewarding even than the party itself.  Don’t you remember as a child counting down the days to your party?  Even if your child insists that they want a surprise party I would contemplate refusing, and instead offer to throw a great party with a very special surprise at the party which you won’t reveal until the big day.
    Now you get all the anticipation and more!  Plus, they still get the surprise they wanted.  The surprise could be a character appearance (a super hero, a favourite cartoon character, a magician, etc.). 

 It could even be a very major present.  But the child knows that he or she will be having a party and that there will be something exciting there. 

This is far better than not letting the child know that you are even planning a party.

Best wishes

BB

www.BillyBanana.com

Criminal Records Bureau Checks are sometimes requested by parents who want, quite naturally, to protect their children. These checks are done on several different levels, are very intensive, and should not be confused with the ‘police check’.

The so-called police check is simply a check on the criminal record of that person. It does not say the person is suitable to be around children. For that reason it is usually worthless.

There is a lot of confusion about the CRB checks, so I thought I would jot these notes to help clear up some misconceptions.

First of all, a performer does not really need one. He or she will sometimes obtain one as a service for the client. A CRB certificate is issued for one job and so in theory there should be one for each and every booking, which of course is totally impractical.

Generally CRB checks are only useful when a person is to have long periods of time alone with children. Entertainers are not normally left on their own with his (or her) audience; there are usually lots of other people around as well.

The certificate is open ended, in other words, there is no finish date.

The enhanced certificate also covers vulnerable adults and has a far greater depth of information.

Equity, the Actors Union, suggests that entertainers are not left alone with children anyway. This rule is for the protection of the children and the entertainer.

An entertainer cannot apply for the certificate him or herself, they have to be obtained through an agency or an umbrella organisation.

Unless a performer is going to spend periods of time alone with children, it is a waste of time to worry about CRB checks. It is far more sensible for all concerned to make sure a responsible adult (not an older child) is always present. Then everyone will be protected.

Best wishes

BB

www.BillyBanana.com

Nice and soft, will not pull your fillings out and will keep for up to three weeks!

Ingredients

100g self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon mixed spice
75g medium oatmeal
175g dark syrup (or 100g golden syrup and 50g black treacle) 100g butter 100g soft brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 dessertspoons milk

Preparation

1. This parkin mix will need a 20 cm (8 in) square cake tin.

4. Once cooked, leave to stand in the tin for 30 minutes before turning out.
Once cooled, the parkin can be served straight away. However, if kept in an airtight tine the cake will, like a good wine, mature with age. It should be left for a minimum of 2 weeks, when a whole new texture will have been created; for best flavour, leave for 3 weeks.

 Enjoy

BB

www.BillyBanana.com

Hello everyone,

Here is another one of my ramblings about keeping your children amused and happy.

I have been an entertainer for very many years now and over the course of time have picked up on a few ideas, not only for entertaining my own children, but also other peoples as well. Some of this has been on a professional level and some on a personal one.  I have thought many times about writing a book about some of the odd things that have happened to me during the course of my professional career.  With the ever increasing awareness of the internet and my own personal interest in computers and web publishing, this webblog is possibly a start on that project.

There will be no arty stuff here, it is meant to be purely practical help, there will be no need to consult a dictionary or buy expensive cookery books.  It will all be here!

The idea is to impart as much practical and common sense advice as possible. These experiences are gleaned from a lifetime of performing in venues in diverse as holiday centres catering for hundreds of children to a small party with only one child (and yes, I have had that experience!)

Running a birthday party can be a very daunting idea for many parents.  The thought of twenty or so little people running around your carefully cleaned home can fill you with horror!

I will start later this week with some hints and tips for holiday amusements for the children.  A bit too late for this half term but hopefully you can refer back during the Christmas Holidays which will soon be upon us!

I will appreciate your feedback and please do let me know of any areas you would like me to cover.

Bye for now

BB

www.BillyBanana.com