Posts tagged dance
Hitting the right notes – 27 of our favourite kid’s birthday party songs
Mar 7th
We all know the types of music we like to dance to, but what will make children between 4 and 9 get up and groove at a birthday party? Is it best to play nursery rhymes and cartoon theme tunes, or something a bit more rock and roll?
The trick is to select a mixture of both and make your choices wide ranging to suit all tastes. Yes, even Black Lace! So here are our 27 top tunes.
Have we included your favourite in our list?
| Blame it on the Boogie | Jackson 5 |
| The Time Warp | Damian |
| I Like to Move it – Radio Edit | Reel 2 Reel |
| I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) | Proclaimers |
| Nellie the elephant | Kids |
| Don’t Stop Me Now | Mcfly |
| Amarillo | Tony Christie |
| Baggy Trousers – Heavy Heavy Hits | Madness |
| Monster | The Automatic |
| Grease Megamix | Grease |
| S Club Party | S Club 7 |
| Fast Food Song | Fast Food Rockers |
| Cha Cha Slide | DJ Casper |
| Pump It | Black Eyed Peas |
| Twist and shout | Jive bunny |
| Saturday Night | Whigfield |
| Superman | Black Lace |
| 5, 6, 7, 8 | Steps |
| Who Let The Dogs Out | Baha Men |
| YMCA – Best Disco Album | Village People |
| Hey Baby | DJ Otzi |
| Ghostbusters | Ray Parker Jr. |
| Can We Fix It | Bob The Builder |
| The Hokey Pokey | Kids Party Songs |
| Rock This Party | Bob Sinclar |
| Macarena | Los Del Rio |
| Boombastic | Shaggy |
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So you’ve chosen a party date, booked the venue, and sent out the invites, what next?
Feb 2nd
- Image via Wikipedia
The idea of entertaining a room full of little rascals may seem daunting at first, but with a little planning you’ll find the time simply flies by. Here is a simple checklist for your party plan.
- Break the ice
A simple energetic game is a great ice breaker. It encourages kids to join in and play together, even less confident children who may be a bit shy at first. Strike a pose is a good one as it uses music (always a great ice breaker), dancing and everyone’s a winner too. - Celebrate
Draw all your little guests together, welcome them, introduce yourself and your helpers, and then lead them all in a cheer for the birthday boy or girl. Right from the beginning, it is so important the birthday girl or boy feels it is there special day. - Create
One great advantage of a theme is that it provides your event with an obvious beginning, middle and end, and the beginning can be very creative. This could involve making things, like pirate hats for example, or getting dressed up a fashion divas, princesses and rock stars. - Energise
Two or three highly energetic party games will be about enough to keep the room buzzing if you are planning a party of 2 hours. Need a few ideas, read How to choose the best children’s party games - Feed and water
If you want to serve a small meal, keep the offerings simple. Familiar snacks like sausage rolls, cupcakes, fruit skewers, fairy bread or sandwiches always go down well. Be aware of any food allergies – it’s best to avoid anything with nuts (including peanut butter sandwiches) because so many children are allergic to them.If the parents are staying for the party, make up some tasty treats (dips are easy and delicious) for them too.
- Cool down
It’s best not to encourage kids to be too energetic after they’ve eaten so think of something less energetic than a game. Again your theme could help you here. We often finish off with a simple dance routine or a fashion show. - Release
And before you know it, it’s the end of the party and parents are ready to collect their happy, fed and exhausted children.
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Children’s party games for princesses, fashion divas and rocking stars
Feb 2nd
- Image via Wikipedia
Strike a pose
This simple game is similar to musical chairs – except that you don’t need chairs. Kids always enjoy it, and with the added pizzazz of it being on an imaginary catwalk, it becomes really exciting.
Everyone dances around to the music until you stop the song. They must then strike a pose in whatever dancing position they are in. Anybody caught moving is out.
Start the music again fairly quickly and keep repeating until you have a winner. The non-players can pretend to be fashion photographers and help you to spot any movements
Hide a small item of treasure – it could be gold coins, a crown, or some other object that suits your theme, in one of your party rooms, or in a section of the garden. Make sure the kids know what they are looking for.
Then have your little guests come into the room and search for the item. As they get closer call out “Warmer, warmer” until you get to “Hot!”. As they get further away you call out “Cooler, cooler” until you get to “Cold”.
The first person to find item then gets to go and hide it for the next round, or if it is an item of clothing, like a crown, wear it for the rest of the party.
Disco lights – a version of traffic lights
You will need disco light for this one. Or alternatively, cut our a red circle, green circle and a yellow circle. Now get some music playing. Ask the children to start rocking. Every few minutes, stop the lights or hold up a coloured card and shout:
“Stop, the lights are red!”, “Slow down – the lights are Yellow” or “Get dancing, the lights are green”.
If the lights are red, the children must stand absolutely still. If they are yellow, they must slowly and on green they can dance normally.
Any others ….
| Looking for other ideas:
The BBC’s Guide to Party Games we enjoyed as kids |
|
Netmums collection of Party Games
http://www.netmums.com/parties/Party_Games.251/
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Is your child ready to rock? And other fabulous kid’s party themes.
Feb 2nd
- Image via Wikipedia
Can you remember your first disco? I was 7 and my dad took me to the Golf Hotel in Ireland. Dancing with my Dad and my friends was just electric. Can you remember dancing to C’mon on Eileen by Dexy Midnight Runners too? Such memories often inspire me when planning birthday parties.
One of my most successful party themes is Fashion Rocks, a highly energetic, jam-packed party where children dance, sing and get dressed up in the shimmering outfits so that they feel like little princesses and rock stars. There are lots of party games and at the end, our little guests perform a cat walk show.
Fashion Rocks is often chosen by birthday girls. For birthday boys, we have Rocking Rebels, and as well as shimmering outfits we provide ultra-cool bandanas, shades and inflatable guitars (can you just imagine the air guitar moves?!)
Of course, children can be the harshest of critics so I was delighted the other day when one of my mums came back to me and said, “The kids were still talking about it at Nursery today”. Comments like that make me realise, I’ve just got the greatest job!
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Let’s dance
Jan 5th
Ever wondered why we enjoy singing and dancing so much? Because it is the most natural form of communication.
If you think back to when our little rascals were babies, we instinctively sang to them while rocking them to sleep. Now when we dance together, in my case in our kitchen, we share rhythms and rhymes and learn timing and coordination – all while having lots of fun.
The BBC has created a great little site on the benefits of music and dance in your child’s development. The Parent’s Music Room include great tips like
And let’s not forget that a little dance before bedtime can be a good way to drain your child’s excess energy. Follow it with a soothing story and send them off to sleep!
