Activities for Birthday Parties

Activities for Birthday Parties can be difficult to decide on. Firstly because there is so much to choose from. Then, you as the parent or party planner need to be able to gauge whether or not the kids at the party will enjoy and participate in the activities that you plan or arrange for them.

How to choose an activity?

When choosing an activity for your child’s birthday party. Your child should, of course, be your number one consideration. No one knows your child better than you. Think about what they like and the younger a child is, what they like at the moment… With so many entertainment options, TV shows and influences in our young children’s lives. If you start planning too early, they could be bored of a particular theme by the time the party comes. So, bare this in mind when planning the party and the activities you intend doing.

The next factor to look at is, does your child prefer small groups of friends or is he or she in their element when the whole class, all their family and friends etc are around them. The number of children you intend on having at the party will influence your decision on what activities you will be able to do.

Give some thought as to what your child would enjoy the most before you start planning. This will go a long way in making the party planning process easier for you.

Types of Activities for Birthday Parties

The way we see it, activities for birthday parties can be broken down into the following categories. Parties for boys. Parties for Girls. Indoor Activities. Outdoor Activities. Active or passive activities…

Party Activities for Boys

We have a wide range of party activities for boys. Army, Survivor and Nerf Gun Parties are probably our 3 most popular boys party activities. These parties involve high impact action, loads of action and running around. They are very suitable for boys aged 6 years and older.

Nerf Gun Parties have replaced the paintball parties that we used to offer. Unfortunately, the high cost of a portable paintball setup became prohibitive in comparison to going to a dedicated paintball venue. Battlezone in Bryanston is probably one of the most popular paintball party venues in the North of Johannesburg. Field 19, The Woods and River Raiders are also good paintball ranges in the North of Johannesburg. In Pretoria, you can have a look at Gotcha Paintball Range, Proball Paintball, and AWOL Paintball.

Sports themes are always a hit. We offer Soccer, Rugby and Cricket parties and can also do a combination of these sports in a single party. Instead of just playing a match of the various sports. We have developed a range of fun and exciting games and activities using skills from the various sports. By doing this, even the children that are not necessarily fanatical about the sport in question will still have a great time at the party.

Parties for Girls

if your daughter is a girly girl and pampering is her thing, then a pamper party for her and her besties by Your Pamper Party is a great option. Pamper Parties and Pamper Girlz are two other service providers in this arena that you may wish to have a look at.

Not all girls want their nails painted and a facial for their party though. Some just want to have some good old-fashioned fun. We have found that our Minute to Win it, Fear Factor and Amazing Race parties are the most popular themes for girls parties among our range of parties. These parties are engaging and fun for all girls aged 8 and upwards. The boys in the class that may attend the party will also not be alienated by these themes. Unisex in nature these party activities will ensure that all the kids at the party will have a great time!

Indoor vs Outdoor

If you are looking for an indoor party venue, BOUNCE Inc trampoline park is good fun. We have such great weather in this beautiful country of ours. As a result, we believe that outdoor “fun in the sun parties”, are the best. All of our themed action parties can be done outdoors. In the event of bad weather on the day of your party. Our highly flexible facilitators will be able to entertain your children indoors with a range of activities that are more passive but still great fun. Classic party games like musical statues, eating a chocolate slab with a knife and fork, and fun games from our Minute to Win it party, all work well in a garage, on a patio or in your lounge.

Amount of Action

The amount of action you have at the party is a personal choice. Themes such as our Amazing Race and Minute to Win it involve some more passive elements such as puzzle building, code-breaking and counting exercises. It is our experience though that the more action there is the better. We can come in and help purge some of the energy that all that sugar generates from “standard party fair” available at the sweets table. Please Contact Us and we will show you how we can make your child’s next party, their best one ever!

May 4, 2018May 15, 2018

Kids Parties Johannesburg

Kids Parties Johannesburg. Since 2002 Andy’s Action Parties has been offering entertainment for kids parties in Johannesburg. See our range of themed action parties here.

We also have the widest range of Garden Games available for hire.

Through a partnership with a leading Jumping Castle company. We are able to offer Jumping Castles, Inflatable Slides and Mechanical Party Hire items at the best rates.

From 16 years operating in the industry, we have a database of great kids birthday party venues in all locations across Johannesburg and Gauteng. Contact Us to find out more.

Options

When it comes to kids parties in Johannesburg, you are spoilt for choice. There is a vast array of entertainment available for activities for birthday parties in this beautiful city of ours. These options can be broken down into many categories. I suppose the two main choices are, do you have your kid’s party at home or do you have it at a dedicated party venue.

Venue

Having a kids party at a venue other than your home has its benefits and its drawbacks.

Pro’s

The number one reason for people choosing a dedicated kids party venue would be not having to clean up the mess after the party.
Party venues generally have a stipulated start and end time, while this could be considered a negative… When you have to leave the party, annoying Aunt Hilda or your mother-in-law “who never knows when to leave” also has to leave the party.
Depending on the level of effort you put into your children’s parties, having it at a venue often means, get in, setup, party, leave. This can help in making the party less demanding on your time as a busy mother…
Entertainment, venues that are dedicated to children’s parties usually have jungle gyms, sand pits, bike tracks and perhaps even jumping castles as a feature of their venue, this can kill two birds with one stone by getting entertainment options as part of your venue hire fee.

Con’s

Yours is usually not the only party at a particular venue on a particular day, so time and privacy could be an issue.
You generally have to pay for a dedicated kids party venue.
Less freedom to do as you please in terms of decor, noise, length of the party and possibly number of guests as you could at home.
Bring in all your decorations, catering, entertainment if this is not provided by the party venue. Also, you will need to take it all home with you when you leave. Along with presents etc. This can often be a bit of a drag after a long day of preparation and entertaining your guests.

Kids parties Johannesburg at home — Having a Kids Party at home in Johannesburg

Party at Home

If you are having the kids party at home. You will either need to do it yourself or hire entertainment, decor and or catering from service providers. Luckily for Kids Parties Johannesburg, our city has many options for you to choose from. Depending on your requirements and budget, you are able to throw incredible parties at home in Johannesburg. We have great weather pretty much year round.

How to select a Service Provider for Entertainment in Johannesburg

You have no doubt been to many kids parties Johannesburg. You’ve probably seen the good, the bad and the ugly in terms of great service. Unfortunately, you have probably seen or experienced exceptionally poor service. So, how do you go about ensuring that the clown you find on page 15 of Google doesn’t end up as a joke? Below are a couple of pointers that we would recommend…

Use recommendations from friends and family. They have been happy with the service that they received and they have your best interests at heart.
Use service providers that you have seen in action, this way you know what you are getting.
If you are looking for entertainment that you have not seen before, look for some reviews of their service, Facebook, Hello Peter, Google reviews are just a few places that you can get a quick idea of an entertainment offerings level of service.
Ask for references. This can help but is usually skewed. The company in question isn’t exactly going to give you the numbers of their 10 worst clients that were unhappy with their services…
Trust your gut. If you deal with a company representative over the phone and they are polite, accommodating and efficient, they respond quickly with a quotation. This should give you a good indication of the kind of service you will receive on the day of the party.

Good Luck, and have a great party!

If you would like to get in touch with us, we would love to hear from you and it would be our pleasure to help you give your child, their best birthday party ever!

May 3, 2018May 4, 2018

Hire Garden Games

Hire Garden Games for an event, party or wedding entertainment to provide a cost-effective option. Let your guests entertain themselves with a range of Garden Games at your next event or function.

See all of our Garden Games for hire here

We have found Garden Games to be a very popular party hire item recently for kids parties Johannesburg. These giant versions of the popular table and board games are great fun for children and adult guests at parties, weddings and for corporate events. They are a great informal entertainment option. Garden Games allow guests to play at their own leisure. They are a great icebreaker and get your guests interacting with one another while participating in an activity that is not physically demanding.

Decor and Entertainment

Giant Chess Set for hire — Giant Chess Garden Game

Garden Games can help in two aspects of your event. Both the entertainment and decor aspects of your event can be enhanced cat effectively by hiring a set of garden games, a giant chess or draughts set, giant snakes and ladders and croquet set along with a Boule or Bocce Ball set can give a garden wedding a great feel. While guests have a Gin and tonic while waiting for the wedding couple to have their photographs taken they can play a game of croquet or chess and enjoy some light-hearted entertainment at the beginning of a wedding function.

Relaxed Atmosphere

Garden Games do not require facilitation and each game does not take a long time to play they are a hire item that helps to create a relaxed atmosphere at any party or event. There is no pressure on your guests to participate and this often results in guests being more inclined to use the items that you have hired for your event or function in their own time and enjoy the activities more. The games can generally be played with anything from 2 – 10 players and because of this, you can have multiple garden games on the go at the same time. Shrieks of laughter and sounds of fun and enjoyment erupting at intermittent intervals around a garden setting for your event really does create a wonderful atmosphere. This atmosphere often leads to more participation and enjoyment of all the guests at your party or function.

Creativity

We have had a lot of clients hire garden games and send us pictures of them using the games. This is great to see and while there are rules for all of the games. The lighthearted nature of these activities allows for some creativity. As we all know, children can be very creative. Below we have put together a small album of kids being creative with our Giant Jenga Blocks at various functions.

[Show slideshow]

April 26, 2018May 15, 2018

Fun Parties For Kids

Fun Parties For Kids are our specialty. There are a number of elements in a party that need to be present in order to have fun parties for kids. These are: other kids, an exciting theme, quality entertainment, good party food and catering, safety and enthusiasm.

Fun Parties For Kids

Other Kids

All parties start before the big day actually arrives and tireless planning goes into the day. Usually by mom and involving input from the birthday boy or girl. The people you have at the party are the most important element of the party. The list of invitees usually starts with all the children in the birthday boy or girls class at school, then extended to family and then friends from other areas of the child’s life. The first step is to decide how many people you would like to have at a party. When children are younger they intend to invite the whole class and all family and friends because the nature of younger kids dictates that their best friend on a particular day may not be their best friend tomorrow… As children get older and develop a sense of who their friends are you may wish to consider having a smaller party with fewer children and giving them a different party experience. This all depends on your child and how they feel about their birthday party. The way to get people to your party is by way of an invitation.

Invitations

There are quite a few options for invitations these days if you are looking for unique ways to invite children to kids parties in Johannesburg. You can purchase an invitation pad from a party shop or stationary shop. Alternatively, you can use a graphics program like Photoshop or even Microsoft Word. Print it yourself depending on your design skills and budget.

Online Invitations

There are also a wide range of free and paid for online design websites. These make it very quick and easy to design and create digital invitations for fun parties for kids.

Here are a couple of links to sites that we recommend for making digital invitations.

www.paperlesspost.com has a really nice and simple invitation management system that allows you to create free invitations that you can send via SMS, email or Whatsapp and manage your RSVP’s

Evite allows you to create invitations and also manage your RSVP’s electronically. Below is an example of an invitation from Evite.com

Fun Parties For Kids Invitation Example

Quality Entertainment

Activities for Birthday Parties are wide and varied, contact us for advice on which activity will suit your child best or have a look at our range of themed action parties.

April 10, 2018May 4, 2018

Birthday Party Entertainment

Andy’s Action Parties Blog

Our Birthday Party Entertainment blog consists of a series of articles about children’s birthday parties. These articles are designed to share information and knowledge that we have gained over the last 16 years doing kids parties in Johannesburg. That’s how long we have been offering themed action party entertainment for kids at children’s birthday parties. Hopefully, we can share some of the lessons learned and help you to make your child’s party, their best birthday party ever!

Elements of a Party

When planning a birthday party for your child there are a number of different elements to consider. The articles in this blog will help you with planning and ideas for your kids birthday party. From budget, catering, invitations, gifts, entertainment and hire items to venues and activities to do at your child’s birthday party.

Birthday Party Entertainment is our main business and we offer themed action parties. However, being a part of more than 4000 birthday parties over the last 16 years we have come across many service providers. Some good, some bad and some ugly. We hope that our experience can help you to select the best service providers. This is a special day and the last thing you want is to be let down by a service provider on the day!

Our Philosophy regarding Birthday Party Entertainment

Kids respond well to a high energy individual that can harness their energy and get them excited. Participating in active games and activities at a kids birthday party is our goal for all kids that attend an Andy’s Action Party.

Things like a jumping castle or hired game are great for a party. Kids are able to entertain themselves well on these items. However, an experienced facilitator who knows what they are doing is able to help and encourage all the children at a birthday party to participate. Thus, enjoying games and activities together. Parties are always more fun when everyone is doing something together!

We help to get kids outdoors. Play active games that develop their gross motor skills. Interact with other children is also important. As a result, growing, learning to play together and having fun while doing it.

Please browse our articles, have a read and feel free to comment or send us feedback by getting in touch.

We look forward to giving your child their best birthday party ever!

March 26, 2018May 9, 2018

Parties for kids

Parties for kids – Andy’s Action Parties – Johannesburg – Gauteng. Andy’s Action Parties, the original themed action party entertainment provider in Gauteng. Operating since 2002 we have entertained over 100,000 children at more than 4000 birthday parties.

We are constantly working to offer the best Themed Entertainment at parties for kids. Driven by our motto “Serious About Fun!” we have a range of games and activities designed around popular birthday party themes that we believe will give your child, their best birthday party ever!

Invitations

When organizing parties for kids the first thing you need to do is create an invitation. This is dependant on the theme of the party so your first step is to decide on a theme. Think of what your child is into at the moment. This could be a TV program such as Survivor, The Amazing Race, Fear Factor, Minute to Win it. It could be a movie like Star Wars or Ninja Turtles. It could also be something that kids of your child’s age particularly enjoy, like Army, Soccer, Cricket, Rugby or Swimming.

Catering

Once you have a theme this can help you decide on what to cater. This is a very personal thing and you need to decide whether you are catering for the kids, or both kids and adults. Pinterest is a great resource if you are creative and would like to do the catering yourself.

Entertainment

When deciding what to do with the kids at the party a good idea is to think of other parties for kids in your child’s class at school that you have attended. What entertainment has been offered, what worked and what did not. If you like the idea of enjoying the party yourself then our themed action parties are a great option. We will take the kids off your hands for 90 minutes and ensure that they have a great time. All you need to provide is the kids and some space and we will take care of the rest.

With the experience we have gained over the last 16 years doing parties for kids. We know what works and what doesn’t. Ensuring the kids are fully entertained and that everyone enjoys the party is a key factor in a successful party for Kids. Sit back and relax knowing that a well trained professional party entertainer is making sure the children are all looked after and having a great time at the party.

Party Hire Items

If you have sorted out the entertainment or dad has agreed to run around and play with the kids for the whole party then you may want to consider hiring some entertainment items for the party. Hire Garden Games as a relatively inexpensive option. Jumping Castles and inflatable slides are also classic party hire items that kids love. You should also consider what tables, chairs, gazebo’s, catering items you may need to hire for your party.