After reading some of the other threads here, I decided to share my own style of management in a children's show setting.

When you are a performer, you want children to have fun and act silly, however you want the to stay under control. A clown that walks into a party without a good idea of how to keep control can start a riot.

Start by realizing that every show will not go well. Children are going to yell out, mess up tricks, spoil funny points of the show, fight, whine, throw things, cry and scream. They are children. You have to put up with it for 30 minutes. Their teachers and parents have to deal with it a lot longer. 90% of the misbehavior in your show can be ignored. Just pretend that you don't see it and keep going. If you stop, tell children that they are bad, yell or threaten to stop the show then you come across as being a jerk. Don't expect complete silence. Know your show well enough that you don't have to think about it and it's not going to bother you if someone is talking while you are.

Start out the show by explaining how to act. Give specific rules and model good behavior. Compelment children that are showing good behaivior and ignore children that may not have realized how to behave yet. I tell children how I expect them to sit, what they can do to be a good audience and that if they are sitting next to someone that is bothering them, that's it's ok to quietly move away from that person without interupting the show.

During the show a problem may arise. Again, complement children that are still in there seat doing a good job. If a child is acting out, sometimes it helps to complement that child and tell them they are doing a good job. If they wanted the attention and feel like they got it for a positive thing, then they will try for more attention using positive behavior. This doesn't always work, but neither will anything else. Never tell a child you are not going to select them or give them something because they have been bad. If a child feels like he has lost something with no hope of getting it back because of his behavior, he may feel he has nothing left to lose.

"He didn't give me a balloon dog, so I'm going to show him!"

Things can get very bad. Children can start fighting, throwing things at you, destroying your props, attacking you. Some children can be very mean. If I'm in a bad situation and there is no other way out, I leave. Walk away. This will hurt your reputation as a performer, cost you the payment for the job and hurt your pride. I try anything else before I do this.

Some things that have worked for me:

Send a child that is misbehaving out of the room to get you a glass of water. This will give you and him a few minute to calm down. Praise him for being a good helper when he returns.

Give a child that is doing a good job a sticker. promise to give another good child a sticker in a little bit. Then in one minute give another child a sticker. Keep looking for good children and reward them quickly. *Don't do this with your own children. Teach children that you spend time with that it's better to be good for internal rewards than external ones.

Start dancing, get everyone else to join in.

Start singing and get everyone else to join in.

Be flexable and love what you do. Enjoy your job. Remember that it's just a children's party. They are there to have fun. Calm down. Don't worry that people may think you are losing control if they aren't stitting perfectly still. If somethings not working, try something else. Even if all chaos erupts, people will admire you for being cool, calm and level-headed. If a parent seems very concerned about the behavior or the noise level, let the parent know that it's not bothering you. Some people do think that children are suppose to be quiet all the time.

Start by realizing that every show will not go well. Children are going to yell out, mess up tricks, spoil funny points of the show, fight, whine, throw things, cry and scream. They are children. You have to put up with it for 30 minutes.

Hi,
I do not consider this a good view/attitude to take, fine if you are a hobbiest but if you are working semi or full time pro you should at least expect to do a good show everytime! I have seen Oh too many performers where the children behaved as I would have considered a failure on my part .. yet these performers thought they had controlled them well.

my moto is aim to aim high in all aspects then even if you fall short you should still land in a good place

Phillip

I agree Phillip, it is a bad attitude for a performer.
There is one clown down here who is like that, kids run round go through his box etc, he just shrugs his shoulders and looks at the adults and says "Kids Eh!" Parents have commented on the differences between him and me, and his lack of control.

I expect and get all the children to behave during the show, and I keep them that way for an hour, not 30-minutes. anyone who isn't behaving themselves at the start is reminded that only the best behaved kids get to help with the show. the first thing to learn is the difference between excited and naughty, some kids are just so excited at a party they just can't contain themselves, these kids you obviously handle differently to a naughty kid, and once the show starts they usually settle down on their own.

If you ignore these restless kids it becomes infectious and you get more and more kids playing up. Why? well the kids who are sitting near the restless kid can not fully enjoy the show because of that restless kids noise or messing about, pushing etc. They will then start to look at other ways to amuse themselves. Kids like rules, they like to know where they stand in the big picture, and will endlessly test the boundary's if they are fuzzy. The more you ignore them the worse they will get.

Remember it's easier to secure a boulder so it doesn't run down the hill, than it is to stop it once it's moving.

by stopping the naughtiness at it's beginning you ensure all the kids get to watch and enjoy the show. 9 times out of 10 once you've put the restless kid straight they will then sit and enjoy the show with the rest. If they get fidgitty again the rules can be reinforced when you chose the next assistant.

A persistant troublemaker must not be ignored and can be dealt with using the methods we've discussed in previous topics. Starting gently and working up in severity if they don't respond.

If you are doing a show and you have a couple of kids mucking about it has a detrimental effect on how the adults watching view you and your show. Your show is after all the best advert for your talents. I get work because my show is good and I take charge of the kids during the show. Parents like that and often comment on how impressed they were with my control of the kids.

The thing as Phillip said is every show should be good, the difference is that at some shows you may have to work harder than others to achieve that. A great bunch of kids = a great show as you don't have to divert any attention to troublemakers. A show with trouble makers will still be very good, but not quite as great, as some of your attention has been diverted. Every 1% of your attention that is diverted to a trouble maker is 1% less towards the other kids.

Parents watching are not stupid and will note that it is the trouble maker causing any problem and not your show.

I never meant that you should not try for good behaivor. I just meant that you should accept that even with the best management plan you will not always get appropriate behavior. Don't worry about it or take it personally, just do your best.

I was watching a performer last week who seemed so worried about losing control, that everytime the children started to laugh or talk or anything; she stopped and reminded the children about how they should be sitting and tried to quiet them down. She didn't seem to be enjoying herself at all. The whole show was like a battle for control, trying to keep the children in line.

They weren't even acting out!

I don't think that you should lose control completly, it just think that you shouldn't worry so much about it that you keep the children from enjoying themselves. You're there to help them have a good time.

I know what you mean, some take it too far. There is one entertainer in Plymouth who told a girl off for talking during the show. It was her birthday and all she said to her friend next to her was, Wow how did he do that? A comment I love to hear.

My show encourages the kids to interact so things like that, and shouting, pointing and laughing and even the occasional questions are encouraged. It's this interaction from the kids that fine tunes a routine and often introduces new ideas. It's the jumping up running around, pushing, fighting, heckling and general behaviour which is not suitable to the situation that I put a quick stop to. As I said ignoring it is the worse thing to do.

A good peformer knows how to play the children like a flute, you build them up and then before they get over excited and out of hand quieten them down again. This is down to the structure of your show, and your presentation and with a great bunch of kids with no trouble makers will take no real effort. If done right you maintain maximum control and maximum enjoyment throughout the show.

As you say It's fear of losing control which drove both the performers we mentioned to act like they did. The one I mentioned has built himself up a reputation of shouting at the kids.

Thank you, you are 100% right.
It's different if you are performing a classy evening show in front of a mixed or adult audience. It would be a pain to have people talking, etc. But if you expect this at a kids event, it is you who will be dissapointed! However there are some easy things you can do to "set the rules".



Perfect.
Also try "border lines" either tape or rope that marks the stage area. Also when you do give out a sticker or gift or fake bill compliment how THIS child acted today, that way they will know what they HAVE to do to get on stage. You don't have to say it in so many words, just prove it with your actions.

#1 way to KEEP CONTROL of almost ANY crowd:
Have a darn good show that is correctly formatted with highs & lows, keep the suspense level on SUPER-CHARGE about what is going to happen...also have your show well practiced and use participation.



Absolutely.
If you find yourself stressed at KIDS parties you are in the wrong business. If you are doing these parties strictly for income, your in the wrong business. If you call names, harass, slap, tie-up children at these parties, your in the wrong business.

Good post rsummer!

Thanks Jeff,

A lot of it comes down the the motivation of the child who is acting out. If a child doesn't understand the rules or has forgotten them in the excitement of the moment, then they need to be reminded. Serious behavior problems occur when a child is seeking attention or power. You can't "make" one of these children behave. If you try to talk to a child that is seeking attention then you are giving them attention. You are rewarding a negative behavior. If you try to tell a child that is seeking power what to do, then they will not obey you just to prove they don't have to.

One time I was performing for a group and one child was standing up and yelling things out. When I ask him to sit down he just looked at me and smiled. His behavior got worse after that, because he wanted everyone to know that I couldn't tell him what to do.

As a performer you have very few options in the way of disipline. You can't call a parent, send them to the principles office, spank them, or yell at them. I don't think you should have time outs or deny a child something because of his behavior. Your biggest weapon is asking the child to behave. If you can tell that's not going to work before you do it, don't bother.

As a performer, you are a guest in someones home, school, library or daycare. You don't have any power and you will lose if you try to "make" a child do what is right.

Luckly this is a situation that very rarely occurs.
Ralph
Ralph