If you can develop a skill that entertains young kids, there will be a market for your services. For example, you could be a magician, face painter, puppeteer or balloon shaper.

It may not be as difficult as you think to learn these skills — small children do not demand a high level of expertise from entertainers (though a good attitude is certainly helpful). A good, cheap (actually free) place to start is www.wikihow.com. And you can find lots of videos and tutorials on just about anything on YouTube.

PROS:
— Earn money and have fun
— You’ll work mostly on weekends

CONS:
— Need to learn skills that may take time
— You will need to buy supplies

How to Get Started:
NOTE: Before you start your business, you should read the page on this website entitled “things to think about before you get started.” After you have taken the preliminary steps for starting any business, you can take the specific steps outlined below.

Start reaching out to the families you know who have small children. Also, ask your parents about the families they know. Most parents like to hire someone they know to entertain their kids and word of mouth travels fast.

You could also show off your party entertainment skills at a community event in your area and be prepared to hand out business cards.

Other ideas include creating fliers and handing them out at children’s events and giving them to parents who have small children. You could also set up a website.

How Much to Charge:
Create an expense sheet to get an idea of your expenses and decide what to charge and how many hours or gigs you will need to do to make a profit. Some party entertainers charge $75 per hour an up to even $150 per hour.

Taking it to the next level:
How can you make your party entertainment business even more awesome? Try these tips.

  • Include parents’ ideas into your act, whenever possible. Keep in mind likes and dislikes of their kid(s).
  • Keep in mind working at day camps, after school programs and local community events, including farmers’ markets and street fairs, in addition to traditional children’s birthday parties.
  • Having fun? If you’re having a good time, then your audience is probably having fun, too. Keep your party entertainment services fun and fresh by adding new skills, activities or other new material to your act.
  • If you are a musician and have friends who can play instruments, put together a band and play at weddings, receptions and other events.

Taking it online:

Families are getting very creative when it comes to planning birthday parties during the coronavirus pandemic. As a children’s party entertainer, you now have two choices for running, and even growing, your business, depending on your area’s pandemic regulations.

  • Get hired for virtual parties.

You can entertain younger kids and their families via video. Puppeteers and magicians can perform their shows during virtual birthday parties via Zoom. Entertainers who usually portray superheroes, Disney princesses, and other popular characters can be hired by parents to be featured as a surprise guest during children’s virtual birthday parties.

These virtual parties can also be interactive. Have you recently showed off your dance moves on Tik Tok or YouTube? Posting your art on Instagram? You can show kids dance steps or teach kids how to paint during birthday parties hosted on Zoom, Google Hangouts or a similar app.

The major advantage of doing virtual parties? You’re no longer limited to only working with local families. Virtual parties allow you to get hired by families in another city, or even another state. Some party entertainers have also started working with families from other countries.

  • Entertain during social distancing parties.

Some areas are slowly lifting pandemic restrictions for entertainment and similar events. So, how should you handle social distancing for children’s parties? Here are some tips for staying safe while having fun.

  • Stay informed. Check out and follow the latest government guidelines at the time of each of your party performances.
  • Talk with parents. Be sure you and your client(s) have the same understanding of how social distancing, wearing face masks, washing/sanitizing hands, and other precautions should be handled during the party. 
  • Parties should be outside, if possible. If the party can’t be outside, encourage parents to have the party in a well-ventilated indoor space (such as an indoor space with open windows).
  • Wear a face shield and gloves, when possible, while entertaining kids.  
  • Wash/sanitize your hands and all other items you handle throughout the party and between the different kids. 
  • Consider doing parties for smaller groups. You could also suggest that only the party’s host parents join in the room with the kids to keep the party’s group small. Parents of the other children could be asked to drop off their kids and pick them up afterward rather than stay for the whole party.