Day Care Gigs
- Thread starter Chuck The DJ
- Start date
I did two elementary school gigs in a gymnasium and one outside. The one outside involved babysitting the PAC. :sqerr: It was nightmarish. There were hundreds of people and kids...but the freaking PAC. 
The two in the gymnasium were very civil. I estimated about 200 or so. Not a big deal; at one of them, some kids came to the booth so that I could autograph there arms.
Stupid kids.
The two in the gymnasium were very civil. I estimated about 200 or so. Not a big deal; at one of them, some kids came to the booth so that I could autograph there arms.
Stupid kids.
OK, I can't post all the details now, but they pay a LOT less, And they NEED to be 90 minutes or less due to attention spans of the youngin's. And they are HARDER than ANY GIG I HAVE EVER DONE! The upsides? Well, they happen at non prime time hours. Mine have been on Thursdays and Friday early evenings. Plus, they seem to be fairly loyal. I get call backs.
When I really am in the mood to type, I'll tell ya my experiences.
When I really am in the mood to type, I'll tell ya my experiences.
Mahalo Papa, I would like to know what you did at them...
The Elemtary schools that I was doing... I got hooked up with one of those companies that have schools sell magazines and so after the run I was one of the prizes that the school got... Usually it was a 1 hour or so lunchtime deal,,, I'd go in and play music, do limbo, hula hoops, dance contest relay races and be done...
They paid $300 but again it was about an hour in the middle of the day and never on a Friday.. I had that deal with them, so like on Thursdays and so forth...
They were sorta hard, I brought my easy up and roaped off inside to keep the critters away from the gear... I always brough someone with me and paid them $50.00 so I made $250...
The Elemtary schools that I was doing... I got hooked up with one of those companies that have schools sell magazines and so after the run I was one of the prizes that the school got... Usually it was a 1 hour or so lunchtime deal,,, I'd go in and play music, do limbo, hula hoops, dance contest relay races and be done...
They paid $300 but again it was about an hour in the middle of the day and never on a Friday.. I had that deal with them, so like on Thursdays and so forth...
They were sorta hard, I brought my easy up and roaped off inside to keep the critters away from the gear... I always brough someone with me and paid them $50.00 so I made $250...
Sorry If I've Missed Something
Papa, is everything alright, Bud?
Hey, when you're in the mood, I'd really like you to mention whether or not you had problems with the parents.
Why I am curious? Aside from my PICNIC experience, I have been in two leadership roles with children, and I have quit both times ONLY because of the parents.
Papa, is everything alright, Bud?
Hey, when you're in the mood, I'd really like you to mention whether or not you had problems with the parents.
Why I am curious? Aside from my PICNIC experience, I have been in two leadership roles with children, and I have quit both times ONLY because of the parents.
I use a lot of what you would expect.... Disney Songs, Movie themes, the limbo, Dora the Explorer, and for God's sake, ya have to have the SPONGE BOB song! I can easily play that 4 times in 90 minutes! Kids don't mind the repeats.
Thses gigs are tough because many of the songs are in the 2:00 range. You are constantly on your toes. It is mentally draining.
I try to break the 90 minutes up with at least one contest per 30 minutes. I bring a 12 year old girl with me. She knows all the dances and interacts with the kids well. I pay her $35 usually.
I try to have the kids eat and cut the cake somewhere in those 90 minutes. I discourage parties longer than that.
I have lots of cheap giveaways. Still, I bet I give away $15 worth of stuff. I usually get $225 - $250 per party.... Still considering when you do the parties, it isn't bad money. Plus, I only use one speaker, my Sunray II, and my mini mace. I can be set up in about 10 minutes if the car is close to the building. Usually there are no steps to deal with. Easy load in and out.
So far, NO Problems with parents at all. They usually are the ones making the requests. The kids can be a handful. At one event they stole a bunch of my giveaways. Theives, they are! :sqerr:
I do think they are fun to do. But I leave a sweaty mess!
Thses gigs are tough because many of the songs are in the 2:00 range. You are constantly on your toes. It is mentally draining.
I try to break the 90 minutes up with at least one contest per 30 minutes. I bring a 12 year old girl with me. She knows all the dances and interacts with the kids well. I pay her $35 usually.
I try to have the kids eat and cut the cake somewhere in those 90 minutes. I discourage parties longer than that.
I have lots of cheap giveaways. Still, I bet I give away $15 worth of stuff. I usually get $225 - $250 per party.... Still considering when you do the parties, it isn't bad money. Plus, I only use one speaker, my Sunray II, and my mini mace. I can be set up in about 10 minutes if the car is close to the building. Usually there are no steps to deal with. Easy load in and out.
So far, NO Problems with parents at all. They usually are the ones making the requests. The kids can be a handful. At one event they stole a bunch of my giveaways. Theives, they are! :sqerr:
I do think they are fun to do. But I leave a sweaty mess!
There's a world of difference between an elementary school gig and a preschool/daycare gig.
Number of kids, age of the kids, the amount one can charge, etc.
Number of kids, age of the kids, the amount one can charge, etc.
Thanks.
I brought up the elementary schools because I was actually making fun of Papa.
Parents, though, are parents.
I know a certain 6'4" Canadian guy who is goona get his tail whooped by a 5'6" guy from Philly......:sqerr:
K
Kirby Ball
Guest
Slight derail:
I haven't had the experience of doing an elementary and or day-care event, but I will agree with the parents being harder to deal with.
I used to umpire Khoury League baseball and most of the games I umped for were kids under 9 years old. And you can guess where most of the problems came from...you guessed it, Parents!
Loved working with the kids and had a lot of fun, but some of the parents were definitely not showing themselves to be good role models.
In fact, I remember actually having to have parents removed from the game on two separate occasions. One one of them, the crowd gave me a standing ovation....
When my son was younger and I would go meet his teacher on the first day of school or before the school year started. I always introduced myself and told them that they would never hear these words come out of my mouth:
"Oh no, my son couldn't have done that."
Ok, back to your regularly scheduled program....
John,,, it sounds like that you have some experience to share...... how about it,,,, can we hear from ya>?
G
Guest
Guest
I'm an elementary teacher. I've done about 4 events. No problems. Keep it moving. keep it lit up with lights and fog.....lots and lots of fog. With any luck you'll weed out the epileptics and asthmatics that way. Turn it up loud to keep nagging parents quiet and definitely most definitely give em lots of caffeine and sugar. If they bump heads a few times in the smoke, chances are they will act like stumbling drunks and they won't bug you too much.
Vinyl...don't call the kids stupid. A few of us may get offended.....lol
By the way, I'm just kidding for about half of what I wrote. Little kids are a blast and they will want your autograph. I sign off about a dozen or so everytime....
Vinyl...don't call the kids stupid. A few of us may get offended.....lol
By the way, I'm just kidding for about half of what I wrote. Little kids are a blast and they will want your autograph. I sign off about a dozen or so everytime....