What works at each age, from one to twelve

Children change faster between three and eight than at almost any other point, and party entertainment has to change with them. What delights a four year old insults a nine year old, and what a nine year old loves goes completely over a four year old's head.

One to two years

They cannot follow a routine, cannot sit through anything, and will not remember the day. The party is genuinely for the adults, and the job of the entertainment budget is to give the babies somewhere safe to be so the grown ups can talk.

• Book play hire, not a performer. Toddler play, a small soft play set or a ball pit.
• Two hours, late morning, after the first nap.
• Add a face painter only if older cousins and siblings are coming.
• Skip magic shows, character performances and anything requiring them to watch.

Three to five years

This is the hardest age to plan for and the one where an experienced entertainer earns their fee most obviously. They want something to happen but cannot sustain attention on any single thing for more than about ten minutes.

• Short blocks, cycled. Bubbles, parachute, a song, a story, and around again.
• Ninety minutes total is plenty. Two hours starts to sag.
• Face painting, characters and gentle entertainers all land well.
• Keep a play area running underneath the structured activity.
• Skip long performances and anything competitive. Losing is not yet fun.

Six to eight years

The widest choice of any age group and the easiest to plan for. They can sit and watch, they enjoy competing, and they are old enough to follow a routine but young enough to be genuinely delighted by it.

• Magic shows land properly from about six, and best around seven to eight.
• Competitive games with prizes, an entertainer running the room, or a jumping castle.
• Two hours, with roughly a ninety minute entertainment block.
• This is the age where a party can genuinely be built around one strong booking.
• Skip toddler oriented play equipment. They will be bored in minutes.

Nine to twelve years

They stop wanting to be performed at and start wanting something to do together. Get this wrong and you have a room of nine year olds politely enduring a magician.

• Discos with a kids DJ, obstacle courses, nerf, laser tag, team challenges.
• Anything with a scoreboard or a competitive structure.
• Two hours, and expect them to want longer.
• Skip character entertainers. Most have moved on well before nine.
• Skip anything that seats them passively for more than about fifteen minutes.

Mixed age groups

Almost every real party has a spread, because siblings and cousins come too. Two rules cover most of it.

1. Book for the older end. Children stretch upward happily and get bored downward quickly. A seven year old will join in with nine year old games. A nine year old will not join in with five year old ones.
2. Give the youngest a separate contained option. A ball pit or a small soft play set in a corner means the two and three year olds have somewhere to be while the main activity runs, and it stops them being underfoot in a castle full of eight year olds.

Realistic attention spans

Rough working figures for how long a single activity holds a group. Useful when you are deciding how long to book someone for.