The Evolution Of Children’s Entertainment

The first birthday “party” was believed to have been for an Egyptian pharaoh around 3000 B.C. This was to celebrate his ascension to a “god”. In America, middle class families began celebrating birthdays in the 1860s, and birthday parties became popular across the country around 1900. There are certainly other reasons that kids have parties or celebrations, but birthdays are certainly the most common.

Hats, party favors, and cakes with candles have been staples of a children’s party for decades. Some games seem to be prevalent with children’s parties of years past. Well into the 1980’s at least, “pin the tail on the donkey” and “bobbing for apples” seemed to be very popular, if not somewhat archaic. Of course, if your parents were able to spring for a pizza party at a local pizzeria, that was particularly exciting. The founding and rise of Chuck E. Cheese locations in the 1970s and 1980s was a boon to the children’s party industry. McDonald’s was also a big party destination. While some customization was possible at these venues, most of the parties were cookie-cutter, or mirror images of each other. Game tokens, pizza or burgers, cake.

In the last decade or so, parents have been considering more expansive ideas on how to entertain children and their friends. “Air parks”, bounce houses, climbing walls, and giant inflatables are trendy recently, but these arenas evoke similar feelings to the Chuck E. Cheese’s of the world, in that they are loud, overcrowded, and claustrophobic.

These entertainment hotspots are able to be so successful partly because every party is the same, and the resources are re-used for every…single…party. Decades ago, in most cases, only wealthy people may have thrown elaborate customized parties. Renting a pony or hiring a magician may have been exorbitant and costly. The consumer is looking for even more options these days. Children’s entertainment has become specialized and diverse. The sky is the limit, and people with multiple children or even the children themselves don’t want to spend every year at a Chuck E. Cheese’s.

A lot of kids love music of course, and they enjoy singing and dancing. At a chain restaurant or children’s party center, the music may only be a group of singing mannequins or mascots, or speakers blasting the same songs over and over. The magic of a personalized DJ would be of much greater value to most. Similarly, inflatable centers can be crowded and lack the privacy of a personal home setting. Safety can also be an issue concerning large, public party centers. Children can get lost in the crowd or trampled on. Wild and Crazy Entertainment is a Baltimore-based company that brings the celebration to you. It is a concept that allows a party to be creative in nature and very customizable. Many aspects of the gathering are infinitely more controllable at a private property, including safety, security, guest list, cleanliness, menu, decorations…the list goes on.

In the era of digital technology and artificial intelligence (A.I.), the sky is the limit for entertainment. Companies such as Disney embrace the enormous possibilities that are available to entertain children and families. The stronger event companies seem to tie together experts in all verticals in order to maximize the fun and enjoyment had by all. Wild and Crazy Entertainment is just one example, but they can provide musical themes, theatrical themes, or even the gold standard for children’s birthday parties, super hero themes. It doesn’t even have to be a “party”. It can be a celebration where people are pampered, like a spa party. The options and ideas are innumerable in the event production world today. Children’s parties will continue to evolve, and the flexibility is much greater for the mobile operations.