6 Fabulous Party Suppliers Catering to Kids with Complex Needs.
As parents, we all want our children to feel included and celebrated, especially on their birthdays. But for children with complex needs, such as those who are neurodivergent, traditional parties can be overwhelming and exclusionary. In researching my blogs Making Birthday Parties More Inclusive and How Party Suppliers Can Accommodate Complex Needs, I came across some lovely party suppliers who are already tailoring their services to accommodate children with complex needs; creating accessible and inclusive celebrations that cater to all. I really wanted to share the stories from the party suppliers who are making a difference.
Tahlia from Mrs Miles Magic
Tahlia, a former nurse, now provides face painting, glitter tattoos, and other activities for parties and events. Her nursing background means she intuitively caters to children with complex needs by being flexible and adapting to their needs. Thalia always checks if the child has had their face painted before, offers other options (eg glitter tattoos), and is prepared with backup materials, like extra brushes so that the child can play with some of the soft and fluffy brushes while they wait. Tahlia is always happy to paint wherever the child feels safe and also has a bigger chair that can accommodate the weight of a parent and a child, so the child can sit on their parents lap if that makes them more comfortable. She also arrives early or makes time at the end of parties for children with special needs to ensure a calm environment for their face painting. Mrs Miles Magic.
The team from The Little Gym
The Little Gym offers private parties and they are very happy to tailor them to fit the needs of the birthday child and their friends. When booking with The Little Gym, one of the team will discuss any special requests and considerations, including their likes and dislikes, any particular games or activities they enjoy, or even something like keeping the music low. All of their teachers are experts in child development, DBS checked, safeguarding trained and first aiders. The facilities are carefully risk assessed, and the equipment is rearranged to suit the age and ability of the attendees. Parents can choose how to cater the party so children with sensory needs or specific diets can be catered for. The Little Gym has three rules: to be safe, have fun, and try your best. The Little Gym.
Naomi From Jigsaw Parties and Events
Naomi and her business partner set up their business during the pandemic, in response to the difficulties Naomi herself was experiencing as a mum of two young girls, one of whom had complex needs. They decided to rent out bell tents for families to use at home, to create a safe, contained entertainment space, something different to the local park. Along with the bell tents, Jigsaw Parties also offer soft play and dark dens to cater to families with special needs. In addition to this, they offer silent disco and silent cinema. They can also provide NED receivers for hearing aid users and they are hoping to soon offer vibrating vests to allow those with hearing loss to enjoy the feel of the music, which can also be calming for people with additional needs that don’t have hearing impairments. Their dark dens are often hired out to parties to provide a calm space for kids to get away from all the party chaos and their most popular dark den will fit a wheelchair inside. Jigsaw Parties.
Daniel from Play House Parties
Daniel offers storytelling based parties that can be specifically tailored to kids with special needs. As the dad of a child with complex needs, inclusivity is close to his heart and as such he has learnt Makton; a sign language for non-verbal children, which he uses in his storytelling. Daniel also provides a magic display, which he makes visually stimulating with lots of colours and also uses sensory items such as lights and bubbles (assuming this is suitable for the particular audience). He also offers lots of fun party games that can be themed to the party and tailored to the needs of the children attending. Play House Parties.
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Sarah from Kingswood Shetlands and Friends
Sarah has an organisation that caters specifically to kids with special needs. She is lucky to have some fabulously experienced staff and a range of different animals which allows them to adapt every party to the needs of the children attending. For example, for children that dont like so much noise, they will bring out their “quiet” animals like hedgehogs and bunnies that are very sensory-friendly, which the children can stroke. They also use ponies to help the kids with their emotions. Kingswood Shetlands and Friends.
Jade Foster from Jelly Jade
Jade hosts traditional parties with music and party games. She also has a child with complex needs and has used her invaluable expertise to help tailor her parties to be inclusive. She is very keen on sharing the schedule of the party in advance and has been creating her own ‘social story’ that she can provide to parents that book her services, so it can be sent with the party invites. Once the party starts, she explains to all the children what is going to happen at the party and keeps going back to it, using Makton sign language and keeping the volume down. She is aware of over-stimulating the kids and offers a lot of flexibility to make the party more inclusive, such as having a sensory tent. Jelly Jade.
As you can see there are party suppliers out there who are already making a difference. By tailoring their services to accommodate different abilities and needs, they are creating accessible and enjoyable parties. While not all party suppliers will openly advertise that they cater for inclusive parties, many would be happy to make the relevant accommodations if you can let them know what would be required. As parents, we can do our part by seeking out these suppliers and supporting their efforts to make all children feel included and celebrated.
If you are a party supplier and offer inclusive parties, I’d love to hear from you; you can email me on hello@icecreamandjelly.com.
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I would like to thank everyone that contributed their stories, experiences and expertise to this blog: Faiza (Mum), Steph (Teacher), Lisa (Autism Consultant) Thalia (Nurse and Mrs Miles Magic), The Team (Little Gym), Naomi (Jigsaw Parties), Daniel (Play House Parties), Sarah (Kingswood Shetlands and Friends) and Jade (Jelly Jade).
