A child's birthday party is a fun and memorable event. Children just love to celebrate their special day! And parents love seeing the smiles on their children’s faces, along with the photos and happy memories that will last a lifetime!

At The Fun Factory, we want to do everything we can to make your party SPECIAL! And with over 10 years of experience planning parties from small to large, we have the expertise to make it easy!

To help you with your preparations, we have prepared this list of tips for the most important elements of your party. If you would like additional help or advice, please feel free to consult one of our Professional Event Planners. They are standing by, ready to help make your party great!

5 Great Tips to a Fun- filled Party!

1) Choosing the Right Party Package for Your Event:

With so many themes available, trying to decide on the best entertainment choice for your child’s party can be a bit of a challenge. But don’t worry! At The Fun Factory, we have the experience to help make planning your child’s birthday easy and FUN!

One of the best ways to decide on the right type of party package for your needs is to consider the ages of the children who will be attending your party. That way, it will be easy to choose the type of entertainment that is best suited for their age group.

Here are some easy - to - follow guidelines, based on the age of your guests, to help you with your decision:

Children Ages 1 - 6: PARTY CHARACTER
The most popular choice BY FAR for children ages infant to 1st grade is a PARTY CHARACTER. This is a GREAT party package for this age, since the show is not only lots of FUN, it’s EASY for young children to follow! This party package contains LOTS of music and games children of these ages will already know and love, and is specially geared for the attention span of a younger audience. It’s a package that works well for children who just want to sit and watch (or get a hug from their favorite character!) as well as kids that want to get up and PLAY!
Children Ages 4 - 9: CLOWNs
A GREAT choice for kids in this age group is one of our terrific CLOWN PARTIES! This is a super choice when there will be a mixed age range of kids, as it appeals to a WIDE age group. Our Professional Clown Performers (each of our performers has a minimum 5 years of professional experience!) are friendly, fun, and highly skilled! This package has LOTS of variety, including Magic, Balloon Animals, & Face - Painting! It’s a show with something for everyone!!
Children ages 5 - 12:
This is a great age for kid’s parties that benefit from the longer attention span of slightly older children. And we’ve got terrific activities for this age group!
PONIES & PETTING ZOOS are a GREAT party idea for this age, as well as amazing MAGICIANS that will not only entertain the children, they'll amaze the adults, too!
Children ages 3 - 18:
Will there be a wide variety of ages at your party? Are you looking for something to keep the kids active ALL DAY, at a GREAT PRICE ? In that case, a BOUNCEHOUSE is the way to go! Up to 8 WHOLE HOURS of jumping fun, delivered ANYWHERE!

If you have a little more space available, or for larger budgets, why not take a look at some of our other terrific PARTY PLAY EQUIPMENT choices for lots of other great ideas to keep the kids jumping, climbing, or sliding all day long!

2) SCHEDULING:

Advance planning is one of the most important elements to a fun and successful party. It will also help make the event easy and FUN! If you have everything ready for the day of the party, you will be able to spend more time at the party enjoying the smile on your child's face!

To help make your party a success, we recommend planning your party as FAR in advance as possible. The MOST popular time by far for children’s entertainment is on weekends between the hours of 12:00 - 5:00 p.m. Over 86% of ALL our customers prefer to book during these times. For this reason, these timeslots tend to get filled up the earliest. If you are planning your party on a weekend, especially if it will be in the afternoon, we recommend booking AT LEAST 4 - 6 weeks ahead of time to guarantee availability.

A GREAT tip regarding scheduling your entertainment! :

It’s generally considered a very good idea to schedule the starting time of your entertainment a minimum of one hour after your party starts. This is so that, when the entertainment begins, all children, even late arrivals, will be present. That way everyone can join in the FUN!

3)Party supplies:

PARTY SUPPLIES are an essential detail in planning a great party. The right supplies will also make things easier for you, since having the right amount and type of supplies will mean less work and more FUN on the day of the party! PARTY SUPPLIES are an important touch to add to the fun and festive atmosphere of your child’s special day.

Our job at The Fun Factory is to make planning your party easy!

So we’ve added a COMPLETE LINE of high - quality PARTY SUPPLIES, available online for your convenience!

We carry EVERYTHING, from plates, napkins, party favors, hats, and more! And best of all, EVERYTHING is available in ANY THEME you choose! It’s all available online, and we deliver right to your door! And because it’s The Fun Factory, you will know that it is the highest quality available anywhere!

4) LOCATION:

One of the most important steps to planning your party is deciding on the right location. Fortunately, ALL of our party packages may be performed at ANY location! All of our shows are fully adjustable, and we are experts at meeting the space requirements for any size venue, whether indoors OR out! Living rooms, backyards, Recreation Centers, restaurants or parks all make GREAT locations for one of our fun - filled party packages.

Here are some of the most popular venues we have performed our parties at over the past 10 years:

- Private homes (living room or backyard) - The most popular party location, by far! We’ve performed over 7,500 shows in homes, and can meet the space requirements of any size living room, garage, or backyard.

- Public Parks - YES, we go to parks! In fact, we go to parks almost every weekend of the year when the weather is sunny! Parks are a GREAT place to hold your party. It’s a good idea to check with the park to see if you need any permits, or a reservation to hold your spot on the party date. Also, you may want to think about parking availability for your performer. While we can do the show anywhere, we may need to be able to park near your party for any loading or unloading of equipment. But don’t worry - one of our Professional Event Planners will work with you personally to resolve any parking concerns. Feel free to ask - after all, we’re the party experts! And we have the experience and know - how of over 10 years in the industry!
Want to try a different location?

Click here to view a few more of the places we’ve brought our fun and friendly party performers in the past 10 years!

5) FOOD:

Obviously, the food you serve your guests will be an important part of making your party stand out. And there are many options to consider, from simple snacks to elaborate catering. However, no matter what option you eventually decide is the best, there are a few simple tips that can help make the process of planning your party menu easier.

One excellent idea is to write down 4 -6 weeks ahead of time how many total guests you believe will be attending. Don’t worry if the number is uncertain now. It’s fine to go with a ballpark estimate at this point, you can always revise the count as the day gets closer and you have received your RSVPs.

Once you have an estimate of this number, try breaking that number down into 2 categories: Children (ages 1 - 18) and Adults (18 yrs +). This will help you determine the quantity of food needed, since children can be generally expected to eat less. This will also help you to decide on the type of food you will serve. For example, if there will be many more children than adults, you will probably need more easy - to - serve, “snack” type foods, and probably more sweet foods, soda, etc. If there will be many children (10 or more) a great idea is to rent one of our great - tasting, fun, and easy - to - use REFRESHMENT MACHINES, such as a snow cone, cotton candy, hotdog, or popcorn machine. This will not only make quick and tasty snacks for the kids, it will add to the fun!

If there will be more than a dozen adult guests, you may want to consider having a few selections of “grown - up” foods. Adult guests will appreciate having tasty food to munch while they watch their children enjoy the entertainment. These foods can be easy, too! A great idea is a platter of cold cuts, cheese, or fruit. Party platters of this type can most often be ordered in advance from your local deli or grocer. Many party foods can be prepared the day before and simply reheated on the day of the party. Some treats can be made as much as a week in advance, and then frozen until the night before your party.

EXTRA SERVINGS:

It is a very good idea to provide 10 - 20% more of ALL food, Party supplies, etc., then you have anticipated the number of guests will be. It is far better to have a few extra cups and plates for your next party, or to have leftover food (or food for guests to take home!) then it is to run out. Preparing for 10 - 20% above the number of confirmed guests is a generally accepted rule of thumb when planning a party. You never know when a guest who has not RSVP’d will choose to attend, or a guest may bring someone else without letting you know in advance. So if you have 20 confirmed guests, it’s considered a good idea to plan supplies for 25 - 30, minimum.
It’s best to be prepared!

With the right help, planning your child’s party can be EASY! Please feel free to contact us for any additional advice or information.

At The Fun Factory, we are always here to help!