Useful for childcare! Birthday party performances and popular entertainment ideas
Nursery schools and kindergartens have lots of events throughout the year, like birthday parties and fun gatherings.
It can be quite a challenge to come up with performances and content every time! Many teachers may be struggling with a lack of ideas.
In this article, we introduce recommended skits and entertainment for nursery schools that will liven up events for both teachers and children.
We’ve gathered ideas that are sure to make participating kids smile, including solo performances as well as plays and dances put on by all the teachers together.
Event performances are a great chance for teachers to shine! Make full use of your creativity and put on a wonderfully fun event for the adorable children who are looking forward to it.
Useful for childcare! Birthday party performances and popular entertainment ideas (1–10)
Silhouette Quiz
A “Silhouette Quiz” is a game that all the children can enjoy while wondering, “What’s that shadow?” It’s fine to show pictures drawn in black like shadow puppets and ask, “What’s this a shadow of?” as a quiz, but let’s try a slightly different method too.
Prepare a large white sheet of paper or cloth and place the object you want to project as a shadow behind it.
Then shine a light from behind the object to complete your shadow picture! It’s easier to see if you dim the room a bit.
You can also try occasionally changing the angle of the object.
Using everyday items from the nursery or plush toys of characters the children love will make it even more exciting!
Magic show!
A magic show that even adults find fun is sure to delight little children too, letting them experience a world of wonder! Rather than large-scale tricks aimed at adults, prepare simple yet mystifying magic that kids can join in and enjoy.
There are many occasions to perform—Halloween parties, Christmas gatherings, farewell parties for kindergarten seniors, and more.
Of course, it’s also great to show a few tricks during everyday moments! These days, plenty of easy, beginner-friendly tricks are shared online and on video sites, so be sure to use them as references and make the kids smile!
Newspaper Theater
This is a “newspaper theater” you can make with a single sheet of newspaper.
You fold it like a large piece of origami, change the shape into a firefighter’s hat, a captain’s hat, and an explorer’s hat, and wear them to represent different occupations while performing to the song “What will you be when you grow up?” At the end, you boldly tear the edges of the newspaper to turn it into clothing.
A few little mishaps during the show actually heighten the children’s excitement and make it even more fun.
Colored Water Theater
Clear water transforms into colorful water in an instant! Let me introduce the “Color Water Theater,” where you use this magic water to create stories.
To prepare the color water, put plenty of watercolor paint on the inside of the cap of a plastic bottle filled with clear water.
Then, as the story unfolds, just shake the bottle and the clear water will easily turn into colorful water.
Create a story that uses this color water and share it with the children.
The story can be anything! For example, a tale about turning water into juice, or a quiz format like, “What color will this water become now?” Because the water changes color instantly, it feels like magic to children and they’ll love it!
Play: Guri and Gura’s Birthday Cake
Not only children but everyone loves “Guri and Gura.” It’s a charming story about twin field mice who do all sorts of things.
Many people may feel nostalgic when reading it aloud to children, remembering how it was read to them when they were young.
Let’s turn this popular children’s story into a play and put on a performance.
Since there aren’t too many characters, it should be easy to stage.
Construction Paper Theater: “Happy Birthday!”
How about making a birthday cake with a “construction paper theater” for a birthday party celebration? Like a pop-up book, you fold colored construction paper back and forth, and—ta-da!—a birthday cake appears.
All you need is construction paper, scissors, and glue.
If you fold along while singing the birthday song and the cake is finished just as the song ends, it’s sure to liven things up.
Panel Theater ‘Hungry Ghost’ Birthday Party Arrangement
This is a panel theater piece called “The Gluttonous Ghost,” about a ghost who opens the fridge at midnight and secretly snacks.
When the fridge is opened, items appear as food-shaped silhouettes.
The ghost eats them and gives hints like “sweet” or “sour,” and everyone guesses what the food is based on those clues.
If it’s someone’s birthday, you can put a birthday cake in the fridge; when the cake appears, everyone can sing the birthday song together—it’s sure to be a big hit.
Magic Theater: The Ghoul Cake
When we think of birthdays and Christmas, cake is a must, right? Kids love cake, and just hearing the word probably gets them super excited! This magic theater show, “Obake-ke” (Ghost-Cake), is a delightful and thrilling panel theater: its outline looks like a ghost—like a living creature—yet it also turns into a cake.
Children are sure to enjoy the series of cute little ghosts that appear one after another! Ask, “Is it a ghost? Or is it a cake?” as you perform to build excitement!
Swirly Juice ShopNEW!
“The Whirling Juice Shop,” a panel theater show where we make juices kids love.
We add ingredients like strawberries, yogurt, and chocolate to whip up a tasty drink.
It’s fun to watch the colorful, juicer-inspired mechanism spin around, and singing while we wait for it to finish builds excitement—“What kind of juice will it be?” In the end, it turns into a rainbow juice! The kids are sure to be thrilled.
Paper Cup-chan’s Hide-and-SeekNEW!
A heartwarming little theater where the paper cup characters play hide-and-seek.
After a round of rock-paper-scissors to choose “it,” the hiding paper cup characters tuck themselves inside cups that are even bigger than they are.
Since there are three cups for two paper cups, once everything gets shuffled, kids can’t help but think, “Huh? Which one are they in?” and feel just like the seeker.
It’s exciting to guess right and frustrating to miss, and rather than just listening to a story, you’ll feel as if you’ve joined the paper cup characters and are playing along in this fun theater.