The best way to keep children excited is to have a non-stop action party. 2 hours is typically the amount of time needed for a magic show, gifts and cake. Depending on the activities the length of the party may vary.
From my experience I suggest magic show first, than gifts and ending with cake. There has been a few occasions that I have done parties where the guests ate cake first and I find it hard to do my performance because the kids are all Sugared-Up. This will also make your party run more smoothly.
This can be a little tricky. I have arrived at a lot of parties where I sometimes have to wait 15 minutes or more before all the guest arrive. What I found works best is if you tell the parents that you are on a tight schedule and their child might miss something if they are late. A great idea is to put the time of events on the invitations.
Example:
Party starts at 2:00pm
Magic show at 2:15pm
Cake at 3:15pm
Open gifts at 3:30
We are on a tight schedule so please take note of the times
so you won’t miss anything.
Name Tags is a great idea because there will be some kids at the party that you may not no. You can get the kids involved by having them make there own name tags as they arrive for the party.
Goodie bags are a great idea for the kids to go home with when the party is over. I have seen some simple to elaborate ones depending on your budget and taste. Most of the time they go with whatever theme you have for the party. For example I did a party where they had a magic theme and all the plates, cups, napkins and goodie bags had a magic hat and rabbit. The contents of the goodie bags contained candy, cards, magic wand, magic tricks and more. Some Great places to get party favors is the Dollar store, Party store and my favorite Oriental Trading. (See Link Below) These are just a few of my ideas from my experience that will leave your guests talking about it for days to come.
