I learned a lot at Chahloula's most recent clown event. There is a learning curve when doing something new. I learned that mistakes give us opportunities to quit, or the chance to become better. I am happy to say that I chose the latter!
I am rethinking my idea about incorporating games into the clown events. I thought having games at the end of the show would be fun, but it wasn't. The party turned into chaos. I should have known! The kids can get a little rowdy when I am looking for volunteers for the hairdresser routine and the change bag. And those are only one volunteer at a time!
I tested several balloon games with children in February, and I wanted to try the best one at the end of the show. The game is simple. Three or four kids have four paper cups on a table in front of them. They each inflate a balloon and then release the air (as many times as necessary) to blow their cups off the table. It is entertaining, exciting, and the students enjoy it very much.
Everything went well. Most of the audience was still in their seats. Chahloula had to move a handful of kids away from the other side of the table so they would be out of the way of flying paper cups.
As soon as one group finished, a bunch of other kids wanted to participate. Let the chaos begin!
I had planned on a different game after that one, but it didn't happen. To be honest, I was disappointed in how the party ended. Actually, the show didn't have an 'ending'. I had plain balloons to play games with, and smiley face balloons to send home with everyone, but nobody understood that. They were so concerned about getting a balloon to take home that they didn't care about playing the games.
And that is why I am re-examining including games in the clown show. When I finished beating myself up after the party, I decided to offer two types of events. I will continue to have a regular clown show with songs, and I will offer another event with balloon games and some songs.
Oh, but I still need to be able to control the audience throughout the games...