Does your child want to invite a lot of friends? Or does he/she love dancing? In that case a disco party sounds like a great idea for a birthday party! A children’s disco party offers many possibilities, but also presents its own risks and challenges. That’s why it is important to consider whether to hire a professional or to host the party yourself.
Getting the children dancing
Does your child want to have a disco party because he/she likes dancing? Consider that doesn’t necessarily mean that all the friends share the same passion. Even though they would probably enjoy dancing the Macarena together for a few minutes, it wouldn’t be enough to keep them going for the whole party. That’s why you should compose a varied disco programme for the party in which dancing is just one of the parts, along with games and singing.
Tip: prepare more games than you think you’ll need. Many parents tend to overestimate the time they can spend on one game.
A large group
Are you planning to invite the whole class for a schoolparty? You should be aware that you’re not just going to have to entertain the children, you also have to keep them in check and make sure they’re all having a good time… oh, and don’t forget that someone also has to take pictures! Doing all that with 20-30 children for hours straight is not easy. If you’re going to organise the disco party yourself, it’s best to make sure that 2-3 adults are there to help you so that you can divide the tasks.
Tip: stick to one separate age group. When there are children of different ages, it’s much harder to keep the group under control. Their music and entertainment preferences can also differ greatly.
Renting equipment
Naturally, you can’t have a disco party without music. But how are you going to play the music? You won’t have enough volume with a laptop, phone or tablet. An alternative could be a Bluetooth speaker, which many people own and which offers reasonable sound quality. If you don’t have one yourself, chances are you could borrow one from someone you know. However, these Bluetooth speakers have one large disadvantage: usually you can’t connect them to a microphone. And if you’re standing in front of a large group of kids without a microphone, you can count on not being able to use your voice anytime soon… which is to say: not a great idea. For that reason, it’s probably best to rent audio equipment, and if you’re already renting, you might as well throw in a few disco lights, too.
Tip: stay away from anything overly professional. You will only have to play music and connect a microphone. As for disco lights, we recommend sound activated lights.
Operating equipment
Once you’ve rented the equipment, you’ll face the next challenge: operating the equipment (and also making sure it reaches your house in case it isn’t delivered). A slightly professional set could have dozens of buttons, but fortunately a simple one usually doesn’t have many. Yet, even though a few buttons may sound easy, keep in mind that you have to operate the sound system while also performing your tasks as announcer, DJ, photographer and loving parent. Of course, the disco doesn’t have to sound perfect (and no one will expect it to), but we can guarantee you it’s not a fun experience to struggle with the equipment while you’re facing 25 impatient children. It might be wise to make sure the equipment arrives one or two days early, so that you can practice with it beforehand.
Or hire a professional
When you’ve already reached the point of considering renting equipment, it might be better to hire a professional children’s DJ for your disco party altogether. He brings all the necessary equipment, operates it, and above all: it’s his job to entertain large groups of (hysterical) children. He effortlessly senses which children want to dance and which children are looking for a different challenge, for example in the form of games. Because of his years of experience, he’s adept at picking the right music to suit the children while simultaneously organising one game after the other. If you hire a professional DJ, all you have to worry about during the party is whether he’s had a cup of coffee, and whether you’re taking enough pictures.
Maybe hiring someone after all…
If you’d still like to fill the role of announcer, DJ, parent and photographer even after reading this blog, then yes, you could definitely try hosting your child’s party yourself. However, once you’ve decided to do so, it’s not always possible to change your mind. Weekly we receive phone calls from anxious mothers who are hosting their party tomorrow and realised that they’re not so confident after all. In rare cases we’re still able to provide a DJ at the last minute, but we’re running on a tight schedule – and with a reason: we get an average score of a 9.5 in terms of customer satisfaction, and 100% of our customers would recommend us to friends/family. If you contact us further in advance, you put us in a much better position to help you.
So: host the party yourself or hire a professional, the choice is yours. But make sure you choose in time, so that there is still a choice to be made.