SAFETY & SUPERVISION
You will of course need, unless you are a masochist, or an ex sergeant major, help to run the party, so try to arrange it when there are family and friends available to lend at hand.
Running a party for children is really just a simple matter of common sense. Most problems that may arise, have been dealt with in other specific chapters. Although I have listed below some of the more important do's and don'ts, that will help to make the occasion run smoothly.
- If your guests
are 6 years old and under, ask before you start an activity who needs
to go to the toilet, before games, food and any possible entertainment
are ideal times. Having them need to go during games, or a show of
some sort can be very disruptive.
- Treat your guests
as if they where your own children. They will certainly treat your
house in the same way. Some children may have habits that you are
not too keen on, such as jumping and climbing over the furniture,
or racing around the upstairs of the house.
- Lay the party
rules down at the start, don't be afraid to have a few private words
with any naughty or disruptive child about their conduct.
- Never, for any
reason, leave a group of younger children unsupervised, when in groups
they tend to become daring, and silly. It only take a second for
something to go wrong and an accident to happen.
- When playing games,
especially in a hall or larger venue, use a whistle for gaining the
children's attention. Shouting and screaming to obtain children's
attention can be a waste of time when children are already hyped
up from racing around. A short blast on a whistle followed by holding
your arm in the air will get immediate results, the children will
instantly start to gather around you.
- Lock house pet
away safely for duration of this invasion of your home. Most animals,
however friendly get frightened by large numbers of noisy children
racing around. Caged pets suffer particularly badly, having their
privacy disturbed by an never ending procession of eager sticky fingers,
being push through the bars of their home.
- Most entertainers
will expect an adult to be present for the duration of their stay
for obvious reasons. In addition to this they will be grateful for
a few minuets unhindered, at both the start, and finish, of their
act to allow setting out and packing away of their show.
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