Dhiogo is a Framingham MA face painter and balloon twister available for hire to events in all of Massachusetts.
A graduate from WSU, Dhiogo finished his BA in Art with a focus in ceramics in 2025 (some of his work featured below) and began working with Kaleidoscope as a face painter and balloon twister the following year. While he was in school, Dhiogo minored in math and volunteered as a campus math tutor for students struggling in their classes.
Originally from Brazil, Dhiogo is one of Kaleidoscope’s multilingual artists and is available for event entertainment in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and even French!
Interview with Framingham MA Face Painter & Balloon Twister: Dhiogo
How did you get into art?
I’ve been interested in art since middle school, sketching eyes in the corner of homework assignments, and I always wanted to get better and better. I stayed passionate about it over the years, which led me to go on to get a bachelor’s degree in art. I started working with Kaleidoscope in April of 2026 after graduating.
What are people’s reactions when you tell them you’re a professional face painter and balloon twister?
Whenever someone asks what I do for work, I get excited to know I’m about to tell them about such an unusual job. I lead them on slowly, saying, “I work events… doing face painting, balloon twisting… mainly kids’ parties… in essence, a partial clown!” It gets fun reactions to say that.
What’s something surprising about you?
Something that surprises people about me sometimes is that I speak fluent Portuguese. At events, whenever I notice someone’s Brazilian, I know I’ll be able to connect with them in a slightly more interesting way.
What’s something you didn’t expect about starting at Kaleidoscope?
Something that actually surprised me about my work here is how quickly I was able to get along well with talking to kids, considering I’ve not worked with children before. Parents have asked me if I have kids of my own, which shocked me the first time I heard it!
What are the best and hardest parts of working in event entertainment for you?
Face painting gigs are my favorite! The hardest part about this job for me is memorizing all the balloon twisting designs. My favorite part about working with kids is that they’re often so fair and honest. If they ask for a second design, and I tell them I have to get to everyone else’s first, they are usually good about understanding that.
What’s one party you’ll never forget?
A party I’ll never forget was a block party with sooo many kids, and I was the only face-painter. One of the volunteers sat next to me and insisted on helping out. She had the brightest energy, and although she did not know exactly what she was doing, she helped keep the kids happy, which was a special and inspiring skill to observe all in itself.
What’s some advice you have for clients looking to hire a Framingham MA face painter or balloon twister?
My advice for anyone considering hiring an event artist like us, is to mind the weather! Do not leave the kids or the artists in the sun, or without a tent in the rain, please 🙂
If you’re looking for National Night Out entertainment ideas, Kaleidoscope has been working in partnership with local communities for over a decade to create amazing partnerships.
Here are the top entertainment ideas we’ve seen local police and community partners use to create high-attendance and high-engagement National Night Out ideas happen across CT, MA, RI, NH, VT, and ME.
5 High-Value National Night Out Entertainment Ideas
While these National Night Out entertainment ideas do require professional entertainers, they can often be worth their weight in marketing opportunities!
1. Paw Patrol Mascots
At-A-Glance: Invite families to meet their favorite first responders at your National Night Out–perfect for the theme of community safety!
Ages: Toddlers – 1st grade
Guests Per Hour: 20-30 families per hour.
Marketing Considerations: When booking a mascot company, ask for photos of their actual mascots so you can use their actual faces on any marketing you do. (Even at a glance, families will understand that their kids will meet the characters, verses just be attending a themed party.)
Set Up Needed: Mascot actors need to be in shade or indoors during the hot evenings of August, as well as have access to a private dressing room or break room for events over 45min. Learn more about mascot safety here.
Above: our face painter Bella painting at 3rd Ave‘s National Night Out event in Burlington, MA!
2. Face Painting & Balloon Twisting
At-A-Glance: Hire face painters and balloon twisters for free community entertainment that’s sure to attract a crowd.
Ages: Toddlers – Tweens
Guests Per Hour: In our experience, the type of face painter (and face paint designs) make a huge difference.
A volunteer face painter can typically only get through around 10-15 faces per hour, even with simple designs
A professional face painter can typically get through 12-15 impressive “full face” designs per hour
Our custom speedy face menu can get through 20-30 guests per hour.
The same is true with balloon twisting. We suggest a professional twister with a simplified menu to get through 20-30 guests per hour, verses the 10 or so balloon dogs a free volunteer can make.
Marketing Considerations: Free face painting and balloon twisting is probably THE best way to draw a crowd. Ask your artists for photos of their work to use on your social media, and in turn ask them if they can promote your free event on their own social media.
Set Up Needed: Face painters typically require 1 table and 2 chairs each. Balloon twisters usually require 1 table and 1 chair. Given that it’s August, make sure you set them up in the shade (with their line in the shade as well) to prevent any medical emergencies while children are waiting in line.
At-A-Glance: Hire a family-friendly entertainer to stroll through your crowd and entertain with a touch of magic.
Ages: Prek – Adult
Guests Per Hour: Typically strolling magicians can get through around 6-10 groups per hour, a group consisting of a family, a segment of a line waiting for food, or any other cluster of people.
Marketing Considerations: Magic is wonderful, but doesn’t tend to draw as many families as face painting or balloon twisting. To get the most bang for your buck, ask your magician if they can share the free event on their social media or email list.
Set Up Needed: Typically a magician just needs a place to store extra props and a water bottle, even if that’s just their car parked near by.
At-A-Glance: These bucket-list worthy cartoons of your party guests are always the most popular station at any event.
Ages: Tween – Adult
Guests Per Hour: 6-10 faces per hour per caricature artist, so you’ll likely want to hire multiple artists.
Marketing Considerations: Caricatures can draw a good crowd for an event, but the real marketing magic can be in getting custom caricature paper created. Families will keep these forever and often hang them in their houses, so your department can make an impact by getting your name and logo front and center.
Set Up Needed: Each caricature artist will need 1 table and 3 chairs (1 chair for them and 2 for guests since couple caricatures are so popular). Make sure this is in the shade because caricature lines can be long and in August we don’t want anyone to faint in the direct sun!
At-A-Glance: Having a DJ can set a great ambiance for your event, but more importantly a professional DJ can also become a much-needed Master of Ceremonies to help advertise different activities, host games, or run giveaways.
Ages: All Ages
Guests Per Hour: Your whole event!
Marketing Considerations: While a DJ typically won’t draw a crowd by themselves, you can use your DJ to make announcements for community advertising partners to sweeten your partnership packages. If you’re considering doing tiered community sponsorships, use our DJ’s ability to make announcements in one of the higher tiers available to local businesses who help make your event a success.
Set Up Needed: DJ equipment will need to be in the shade and have access to a 3-pronged, grounded outlet. (Make sure their set up is close enough to an outlet so no one will trip over any cables!)
National Night Out Entertainment Ideas Using Things You Already Have!
1. K9 Unit Meet & Greet
Whether it’s a petting station or a station where kids can learn how to appropriately interact with working dogs, animals are always a huge draw for families.
2. Touch a Truck with the Fire Department
Team up with a local fire station to bring out one of their trucks and to meet and greet with one of their fire fighters in their gear.
(Bonus points: ask them for some demonstrative equipment for the next idea!)
Above: a demonstration of what a themed photo booth prop table can look like. This was for one of our corporate clients, but for your National Night Out you can use odds and ends from your department.
3. Dress Up DIY Photo Station
Gather up any demonstration handcuffs, uniforms, hats, badges, or anythings else around your department to create a photo booth prop table. Even better, ask EMTs or Fire if they can add anything else.
This station can go a lot more smoothly with a professional photo booth attendant and set up, but you can also make it a selfie station with a volunteer.
Far away from the main event, park a police cruiser and invite kids one at a time to try the sirens!
(Just make sure it’s far, far away from the main event. While there sirens may be just background noise to you, there will be families with young and autistic children that may need to leave if your party is too noisy!)
5. FREE Police Badge Sticker Crafts (Above)
Print out the above FREE craft on label paper. Invite families to color, cut out, and stick their DIY police badges onto themselves!
3 Community Building & Marketing National Night Out Entertainment Ideas
1. Have community members sponsor event entertainment booths
If you’re not sure that entertainment is in your budget, talk to local banks, daycares, grocery stores, cafes, or real estate agents about sponsoring an entertainment booth.
Place the free entertainment at their booth, with the advantage to them that while families are waiting in the line their sales team can talk to waiting parents or hand out promotional materials.
2. Work with the local food pantry or churches to rally donations
Do good in your community by teaming up with community members to collect food for pantries.
This has a triple advantage: a reason for families to come, an activity anyone can participate in, and more marketing partners to get the word out about your event.
3. Work with local outdoor shopping centers to host your National Night Out
In our experience, outdoor shopping centers often have designated spaces for community programming and are often looking for community members to use those spaces.
Talk to a local outdoor shopping center about potentially teaming up and hosting your event. Again: the more community members you team up with, the more families on your collective social media and email lists.
Tips for Making Your National Night Out Entertainment Ideas Work For You
1. Use “high value” entertainment to lead your marketing. Your “why” is to meet your community members. But their “why” is likely not to meet you–it’s likely to get their kids out of the house with something for free. Using entertainment as a marketing hook is a great idea.
2. Remember that free volunteers may struggle with high volume events. If you can get free volunteers, that’s awesome. But especially for “line” activities like face painting and balloon twisting, you’ll need more than you think you will. Even with simple designs, volunteers doing something they’re not used to will struggle with a large event (we’ve seen this plenty of times).
3. Don’t assume families can pay for food, entertainment, or experiences at your National Night Out. If you want to bring in food trucks that may be a great option for you, but regardless of your community don’t bring in a lower tier of free activities (like touch a truck and a craft station) and a paid tier of nicer activities (like face painting or caricatures). Don’t leave out kids whose parents can’t afford to pay for activities because you want to pass on your event costs to guests. This may be an attendance boost one year, but will turn families away from your event for good going forward.
If you’re looking for event entertainment ideas for ABA Centers, here is our list of the top 5 ideas we’ve seen work well for our ABA Center clients!
Kaleidoscope has been serving ABA Centers in CT, MA, RI, and NH for close to a decade and works with an accessibility & inclusion consultant to make sure that our artists know how to modify and adapt performances for all children at every event–including at ABA Centers! Entertainment and programming ideas only work if they work for everyone, and Kaleidoscope is committed to making sure that’s the case.
5 Event Entertainment Ideas for ABA Centers
1. Face Painting and Balloon Twisting: Together and with Modifications
At A Glance: Face painting and balloon twisting are classic kids entertainment that are popular with all ages.
We Love It For:
Open houses (listing “free face painting and balloon twisting” are great magnets for new families)
Family days (especially with siblings of ABA clients who would enjoy being included)
RBT appreciation days (even adults love face painting and balloon twisting)
Accessibility Problems: Children may not want to be touched by a stranger (or at all) or may be fearful of balloon textures or noises.
Accessibility Solutions: Make sure you hire artists who can do and bring both face painting and balloon twisting together so children can pick which art they can tolerate. If the station has more choices, more children can participate.
At A Glance: A favorite cartoon character can come visit your ABA center.
We Love It For:
Special evenings (parents night out, family celebrations)
Camp weeks (featuring a different character on different days)
Accessibility Problems: We’ve actually found that children in ABA centers prefer mascot visits to “face characters” (like princesses or super heroes), so this programming idea may be an accessibility solution to itself. However, some children are still nervous about tall mascots walking towards them.
Accessibility Solutions: Have a meet and greet room where children can choose to approach the mascots instead of having mascots walk into the center of your ABA Center. This room can also double as a changing room for your mascot actor, but is a better contained space for sensitive kids and offers them entertainment which they can consent to participate in. (For very shy kids who are fearful of adults, this can be one of our favorite Event Entertainment Ideas for ABA Centers with the right accomodations.)
At A Glance: A sensory-friendly magic show for young children with lots of silliness that doesn’t require a long attention span!
We Love It For:
Seated programming for vacation camps or special events
Marketing added value to parents choosing between centers
Indoor programming
Accessibility Problems: Children may not be able to sit down for a full 30min show, may not be able to tolerate loud noises or unexpected movements, or may not be able to follow longer magic show plots.
Accessibility Solutions: Make sure your magician can:
come with more tricks than they typically need,
can pivot to close-up magic if the group isn’t able to sit and watch the show,
is able to moderate their volume and the volume of any tricks,
and can perform their show without on-stage participants.
In general, we’ve found that shows are great event entertainment ideas for ABA centers only if the entertainers can pivot. Every group is different, but if an entertainer is expecting the same responses in your center that they do at a neurotypical birthday party, it can be a disengaging experience for all.
At A Glance: A bubble performance and bubble play station are a great mix of seated entertainment and sensory play that can be assessable to many children with different play styles.
We Love It For:
Outdoor ABA center summer camp programming and entertainment ideas
Low-sensory splash day alternative programming
All-ages hands-on entertainment
Accessibility Problems: ABA clients may not be able to sit for a full show, even if the show is modified for young children. Other children may not enjoy the sensory experience of bubble liquid on their hands.
Accessibility Solutions: Make sure your bubble artist can pivot to a bubble play sensory station with the kids if they’re unable to sit and watch the full show. Ask your bubble artist if they’re able to bring wands of contained bubble liquid for children who don’t want to free play with bubble wands and open trays of liquid.
At A Glance: If your ABA center loves shows, a kids’ science show can be a great alternative to magic or bubbles.
We Love It For:
Educational programming ideas for ABA centers
Themed camp weeks
Accessibility Problems: Like our other shows, kids may not be able to follow a longer plot of a show or sit for a full 30min show.
Accessibility Solutions: We love the combination of a science show with a slime lab to entertain both children who are higher energy and lower energy; hands on or shy. As long as your science show performer understands that different children may be more or less drawn to different aspects of the performance, they can find some way to engage everyone.
Bonus: Event Entertainment Ideas for ABA Centers We DON’T Recommend!
After a decade of providing accessible entertainment and programming for ABA centers, here are the top Event Entertainment Ideas for ABA Centers we don’t recommend.
Caricatures. We love them, but young or high energy children often struggle to sit still long enough for it to work (and often the pay out for sitting still isn’t worth the struggle!)
Stilt walkers. These are fun for huge events, but often intimidating for young children of any ability (and unpredictable movement or behavior near a stilt walker can be dangerous for everyone).
Hair art. Hair art can be a great alternative to face painting for a festival atmosphere, but can often be harder for parents to remove than face painting, especially if their children already struggle with bath time.
Tarot or psychic services. We don’t perform this type of entertainment for any group under 16, as they don’t understand the difference between metaphor or story telling and facts.
3 Tips for Working With Vendors for Event Entertainment Ideas for ABA Centers
Kaleidoscope is committed to the entertainment and fun of kids of all abilities, with an accessibility & inclusion consultant on our team; ethical labor practices that include accommodations for artists with invisible disabilities; and required internal trainings so that everyone on our team is both the best performer they can be and the safest adult to all children.
However, if your center is not located in New England (we serve all of CT, MA, RI, NH, and most of VT and ME) then here are our tips for making sure that your entertainment and programming vendors can adapt their ideas to your ABA center.
1. Make sure they understand what autism and an ABA Center is.
Don’t assume they know as much as you–even the basics.
When sending an introductory email to an entertainer, explain the demographic of your center and what your needs are (not just their pricing and availability).
2. Ask what entertainment or programming modifications they can prepare.
If your entertainer does have an idea about autism or ABA, still explicitly ask what modifications they can make for common problems like touch aversion, noise sensitivity, communication difficulties, or unpredictable movements/behavior.
3. Ask if they can prepare backup or alternative entertainment or programming.
Can your entertainer bring more than what you’ve hired them for if your original programming or entertainment idea for ABA centers doesn’t work?
Many can, so in your research make sure this is possible.
Juel (pronounced like “jewel”) is a Salem NH face painter & balloon twister who has been with Kaleidoscope since the spring of 2026!
Juel is a student at Roger Williams University, double majoring in both biology and creative writing, who additionally works as event staff on campus during the school year.
Juel is available for events in Salem New Hampshire and the surrounding Southern NH / Northern MA region.
Interview with Juel, Salem NH Face Painter & Balloon Twister
When and why did you start working for Kaleidoscope?
I started working for Kaleidoscope in May 2026 after a year of working in campus event management. I started at Kaleidoscope because I really enjoy art and making people happy! This job combines those two things in such a great way. I have been into art for a pretty long time, I just love expressing myself creatively.
Do you enjoy face painting or balloon twisting more?
I love balloon twisting a lot because it’s such an interesting form of 3D art, also it’s just fun! It’s surprising what we can make out of just a few pieces of latex and some air.
What’s people’s reaction when you tell them that you do this for work?
When I tell people I know that I do balloon twisting, face painting, and glitter tattoos for work, they often go, “are you basically a clown?” and then I say “kind of?”.
What’s one surprising fact about you?
I have been bitten by a tiger! Ask me about it at your event 😂
What are the hardest and best parts of this job for you?
The hardest part of my job with Kaleidoscope is actually tying off balloons after an hour on a gig. My hands get tired! But my favorite part of working with kids is how happy I can make them with a simple dog balloon or face painting design.
If you’re looking for festival booth entertainment ideas like face painting, balloon twisting, caricatures, or other fun art forms, we’d love to work with you!
Kaleidoscope is New England’s #1 creative event entertainment company, and since 2013 we have worked dozens and dozens of festivals in CT, MA, RI, NH, VT, and ME.
Here are our 5 biggest festival booth entertainment tips, plus our top 5 favorite artistic entertainment ideas!
To get people to visit your event? To raise awareness for your specific brand in a large event? To keep kids entertained?
Knowing why you want entertainment will help you use your budget to achieve your goal.
2. Use Entertainment for Marketing, Not Pay-Per-Face
Advertising “free face painting” or “meet [a character]” will get you closer to virtually any goal than pay-per-face options, where an entertainment company charges guests per design.
In our years in the event entertainment industry, we’ve found that the largest festivals and busiest booths we see do two things:
they lead with free face painting (or whatever entertainment they choose) in their marketing
and they invest in making sure that marketing is seen.
Whether you’re trying to drive booth traffic at your event or trying to boost numbers, leading with “free family entertainment” is going to drive more people to your goal.
Additionally, reputable entertainers–who can paint quickly, handle huge lines, and create good guest experiences–cannot gamble on your events’ outcome if your event is competing with other events that are offering free family entertainment. Volunteers or hobbyists may be open to a “pay per face” gamble, but they are also typically unprepared for the volume that they’ll need to handle at your event.
Kaleidoscope does not currently offer a pay-per-face payment structure for clients because we cannot compromise on our ethical labor practices and know that this leads to overall worse event outcome.
3. Consider a Community Sponsor
If you’re holding a town festival or large gathering, consider working with a local business who is trying to advertise to the demographic you’re trying to draw to your business.
By teaming up, a business can have the opportunity to get direct face time with the local community, and you can have an entertainment sponsor.
When we work with organizations like this, we highly suggest that you (the event organizer) advertise free face painting or balloon twisting to draw a crowd (see Tip #2) then place us as close as possible to a bank, daycare, gym, real estate agent, or whoever your community sponsor is so they can get one-on-one sales time with anyone in the entertainment line.
4. Keep Designs Simple to Save Your Organization Money
Instead of full face painting, consider using our unique speedy face paint menus.
Instead of color caricatures with full bodies, consider black-and-white busts.
In our experience of over 10,000 events, “free entertainment” offered to the public is almost always more popular than an event organizer believes it will be. If your budget is limited, keeping designs simple-but-impressive will save you money.
But even still….
5. Be Prepared for a Long Line!
Even if you hire enough entertainers and limit the designs to simple options, we almost always find that open events have higher foot traffic than you anticipate!
Depending on your event, however, you can leverage a line:
If you want event entertainment to bring people to your booth, you can have your sales or outreach team approach waiting families in line to educate them about your offerings.
If you have a choice, you can put your entertainment (and line) near other activations, high points of interest, or the farthest area from your exit to steer guests where you want them to go in your event.
Still, there are a few things you need to prepare for.
Be mindful of what direction your line will go in. Roping off a line so it doesn’t interfere with other booths or traffic can help your event function smoothly.
Guests will be coming up for free entertainment up until the very last second of the event. If you can’t afford free entertainment for your whole event, our suggestion is to start the entertainment later in the day and go to the end (verses starting on time and ending early).
Likewise, if artists have to stop the line 15min before the end of the event to finish everyone before the event closes, it’s helpful for your staff or volunteers to help artists explain that the event has to be finished at a certain time.
Recommendation for festivals: Keep offerings fast-but-impressive with our unique speedy face menu.
Guests entertained per hour: 10-12 full faces or 20-25 speedy faces per hour per artist.
Great for: Summer festivals and family-centered events.
Not great for: Events with water activation or bounce houses.
Set up required: 1 table and 2 chairs in the shade. (We cannot provide these for insurance reasons.)
2. Airbrush Tattoos
Recommendation for festivals: Make sure you check with your site coordinator to confirm that our airbrush artists will have access to electricity before booking. Otherwise, we can switch to another type of temporary tattoo ahead of time, although airbrush are the fastest and most popular for festivals and fairs!
Guests entertained per hour: Up to 30 per hour per artist.
Great for: All-ages events or festivals / fairs focusing on adults.
Not great for: Events focusing on small children (the airbrush machine can look scary to kids under 4).
Set up required: 1 table and 2 chairs ⚡within 10′ of a 3 prong outlet⚡ in the shade. (We cannot provide these for insurance reasons.)
3. Caricatures
Recommendation for festivals: Keep things black and white with busts-only. Full color and bodies slow down the line more than you’d expect!
Guests entertained per hour: 6-10 per hour per artist.
Great for: All-ages family events or fairs / festivals focusing on adults.
Not great for: Events focusing on children under 10 who will get bored staring at a stranger and smiling without any stimulation.
Set up required: 1 table and 3 chairs in the shade. (We cannot provide these for insurance reasons.)
4. Tie Dye Station
Recommendation for festivals: Come prepared with branded apparel that is 100% cotton and white! Our spray tie-dye is low mess.
Guests entertained per hour: Around 24 per hour per artist.
Great for: Distributing branded apparel and raising brand awareness, or an activity for all ages (even little ones can work our spray tie-dye!)
Not great for: Events where you don’t need or want give-away swag.
Set up required: 1 6-8′ long table and 1 chair in the shade. (We cannot provide these for insurance reasons.)
5. Mascot Meet and Greet
Recommendation for festivals: Make sure your mascot is in the shade for their safety! Read more here.
Guests entertained per hour: Up to 25 families per hour (so, if each family has 2 kids, 50 kids per hour).
Great for: Family-focused events where you want to move a line quickly.
Not great for: Adult-focused events.
Set up required: An area in designated shade (such as a tent or indoor area), a designated space for the mascot actor to take breaks and change away from children, plus a staff member or volunteer to stay with the mascot. (If you are unable to provide a handler, we can also send additional staff.)
Taylor is a Cranston RI face painter, balloon twister, and caricature artist available for kids parties, corporate events, country club programming, school and camp programming, and more!
Although her passion has always been art, after high school Taylor pursued a career with animals as a vet tech, graduating from Mass Bay Community College and moving into emergency nursing with a focus on exotic pets (such as guinea pigs, ferrets, and other small household pets). She moved to Rhode Island at the beginning of 2026 and has been living in Cranston ever since!
In spring of 2025, Taylor began working at Kaleidoscope around her vet tech schedule as a way to continue with art professionally, on top of her work as a commission illustrator and crafter. On the side, Taylor creates custom art for online sales and craft shows, specializing in human and animal portraits.
Q&A with Taylor, Cranston RI Face Painter & Balloon Twister
How did you get into art?
I have been an artist since I could hold a pencil–it truly is my passion. I wish i could do it full time.
What’s your favorite art form here?
I love all of the art forms i do for Kaleidoscope for different reasons. I love balloons and watching the kids light up watching the process of them coming together, i love the confidence boost i get to give when i face paint and getting to do know so many different people and their stories during caricatures is something in will always treasure
What’s people’s reaction when you tell them what your job is?
I LOVE telling people I’m a veterinary nurse by day and a clown by night. The reactions never cease to make me laugh.
What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about your work here?
People are always surprised at the size and variety of our menus
What’s the hardest part about this job for you?
The hardest part is definitely not always being able to give the children I’m working with everything they want in a specific timespan. If more kids come to an event than expected, or if it’s a huge event with limited menus, we have to really stick to a specific selection in order to accommodate everyone.
What’s your favorite part about working with kids?
I love working with kids because they will tell me how it is! So I know when i get their smiles and approval its 100% genuine and it make my heart happy 🙂
Paige is a Lynn MA face painter and balloon twister available for kids parties, corporate events, country club programming, summer camp events, and more!
Paige graduated from MassArt in 2025 with her illustration degree and began with Kaleidoscope in the spring of 2026. In her career as an artist she’s been a mural painter, a museum illustrator, and comic book illustrator. She also has extensive childcare experience as a camp counselor, a babysitter, and a substitute teacher.
Paige is available for hire to parties or events throughout Massachusetts for face painting and balloon twisting.
Interview with Paige, Lynn MA Face Painter & Balloon Twister
How did you get into art?
In middle school I got my first real piece of technology with unrestricted internet access– something I do not recommend, no kid should have that much power– and was greeted by an influx of all types of artists sharing their work with the world. Webcomics, games, little doodles, you name it, I was into it.
I began teaching myself to draw with online resources and sheer willpower, endlessly inspired and wanting to create things of my own. I had always liked art, but it was then that I became serious about it. Fast forward to now, I’m an official illustrator with the degree to prove it! Art means so much to me, and I’m glad that I can use my skills to make people smile.
When and why did you first start working with Kaleidoscope?
After I graduated with my MFA in illustration, I was struggling to find jobs that paid artists a fair wage and were local to Massachusetts. About a year into my search I saw that Kaleidoscope was hiring, and it was a perfect fit! I’m now their official Lynn MA face painter and balloon twister!
What’s your favorite art form here?
I love balloon twisting, sometimes I think I’m having more fun than the kids are!
What’s people’s reaction when you tell them what your job is?
People are usually impressed, after all, everyone loves having fun, even grown ups! I also get a lot of people saying that it fits me– I’ve always joked about being a clown, so I’m one step closer to that!
What’s your favorite part about working with kids?
Kids are so full of energy and immediately think you’re the coolest person ever when you walk in with balloons and face paint. I often have really fun and wacky conversations with kids, and leave with a renewed sense of love for the world.
What’s one surprising fact about you?
I feel that based on my appearance, people don’t expect me to be such a big horror fan! Monsters are my favorite thing to draw and create, and my absolute favorite book of all time is 1818’s ‘Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus’ by Mary Shelley. I’ve written several essays and presentations on that novel, and my whole college thesis was on how monsters are a parallel to being human. If you want to be my best friend, chat with me about monsters!
What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about your work here?
A lot of people are surprised that I prefer balloon twisting to face painting, given that I’m much more of an illustrative artist outside of this job. Don’t get me wrong, I love both forms of art, but I’ve always liked widening my skill set and working with my hands, and this is something so unique and so fun to learn.
Julia is a Branford CT face painter and balloon twister available for birthday parties, school and camp events, corporate events, and more!
Julia began with Kaleidoscope in April 2026 after finishing her Bachelor’s in Psychology at St. Leo’s University and beginning her career in social services. Interested in working with others (but trying to maintain her love for the arts) Julia came to Kaleidoscope to find a part time job around her 9-to-5 where she could work with people but still have fun.
With years of experience working with both children and the elderly, as well as creative multimedia experience on the side, Julia is available for events throughout Connecticut for face painting and balloon twisting.
Interview with Julia, Branford CT Face Painter & Balloon Twister
When and why did you start working for Kaleidoscope?
I started working for Kaleidoscope in May 2026 because, as an artist my whole life, I struggled to connect my creativity and eccentricity with my professional career. Kaleidoscope offered me the opportunity to do what I’m passionate about, share it with others, and produce “work” that’s so fun it doesn’t even feel like work.
How did you get into art and childcare?
I have had artistic inclinations since childhood and have continuously nurtured that part of me. I started working with children in adolescence while studying psychology, family dynamics, and mental health in high school and college.
What’s people’s reaction when you tell them what your job is?
People are always shocked and intrigued when I tell them about my work at Kaleidoscope. It’s a great conversation starter!
What’s one surprising fact about you?
One surprising fact about me is that I practice aerial arts in my free time!
What’s your favorite part about working with kids?
My favorite part about working with kids is bringing them joy and helping them feel cool/special!
Kayla is a Lowell MA face painter and balloon twister who has been with Kaleidoscope since spring 2025.
Kayla began her training as an artist as a student at Greater Lowell Technical High School studying in their Graphic Design and Visual Communications program where she amassed a huge amount of professional skills in design, printing services, and commercial art. While still in high school, she got her first arts job at Maverick’s Stitch and Screen working with screen printing and embroidery and worked at the St. Louis School as a daycare attendant.
At Kaleidoscope, Kayla is primarily a face painter and balloon twister for parties and events, as well as a cartoon character and magician. She’s now a community college student studying fine art, but continues to babysit on the side.
Kayla is based in Lowell Massachusetts and provides face painting and balloon twisting at parties and events in all of Central MA, the greater Boston area, the North Shore, and Southern New Hampshire.
Interview with Kayla, Lowell MA Face Painter and Balloon Twister
How did you get into art?
I started my journey at greater Lowell technical high school where I got my certification in graphic designing, and participated in theater.
Why and how did you start working for Kaleidoscope?
In high school I was looking for a summer job when I saw Kaleidoscope was hiring. I was excited to get the job, but I was surprised to find out how much training had to come first–even though I was already an artist! I’m now their official Lowell MA face painter and balloon twister 🙂
What’s your favorite art form here?
My favorite art form here would have to be definitely when I get into character doing face paint for the little kids.
What’s people’s reaction when you tell them what your job is?
The main reaction I usually get once I tell them what I do for work is how sweet and fun it must be.
A fun fact about me outside of this job is I normally go to fan conventions and events on my own time, dressing up as famous characters and popular people from different TV shows, movies, or graphic novels.
What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about your work here?
How much I travel for each of these gigs and how far we cover. I’m based in Lowell MA but I regularly travel throughout Massachusetts and even into New Hampshire or Rhode Island.
What’s the hardest part about this job for you?
The hardest part of these gigs is probably the long drives where you have to sit alone for like two hours there and back making sure you don’t fall asleep on the way there. One thing that makes this a little easier is if our clients provide us clear arrival instructions so we know where we’re going.
What’s your favorite part about working with kids?
My favorite part of working with children is the smiles and the questions I get.
What’s one memorable party you’ll never forget?
The one party I won’t forget is my first time ever dressing up as a character for one of these gigs and doing a magic show for a group of children.
1What advice do you have for someone throwing an event and hiring a face painter or balloon twister?
My advice for when you hire someone like us is make sure we are in a big open space where everyone can see us and everyone can interact with us. Don’t throw us in a random corner!
Faith is a Merrimack NH face painter, balloon twister, and caricature artist with years of experience as a professional artist and event entertainment artist!
Faith started her journey as an artist and performer in high school art classes and theatre, eventually going to Plymouth State University for technical theatre and theatre design, where she specialized in scenic painting. During and after college, she worked professionally as a prop maker, carpenter, and master painter at Silver Center for the Arts and Art of the Event. She additionally worked for a season as a Christmas event photographer.
After moving to Merrimack NH upon graduation, Faith began working with Kaleidoscope in 2025 first as a face painter and balloon twister, and then as a caricature artist at corporate events, birthday parties, college and school events, and fundraisers.
We’re lucky to have someone as talented as Faith on our team, and if you’re throwing an event or party in Merrimack NH and are looking for face painting, balloon twisting, or caricatures, we highly recommend working with Faith!
Additionally, Faith is available for children’s event entertainment in the following New Hampshire Towns: Litchfield, Bedford, Londonderry, Hudson, Nashuah, Hollis, Brookline, Amherst, Bedford, Goffstown.
Interview with Faith: Merrimack NH Face Painter & Balloon Twister
When and why did you start working for Kaleidoscope?
I started in June 2025. I started because it’s rare to find a job full of good people where your job is to make sure everyone is having fun while doing art.
How did you get into art and theatre?
I started as a theatre technician in my first year of high school. I slowly took over doing all the lighting, costumes, stage management, props, and a little choreography for one show. I then went on to study all of that in college.
What’s your favorite art form here?
I love doing face painting. I love when kids come up with ideas outside of what we offer and I get to be a little creative. The best one I think I’ve done is painting an Iron Man arm plate for a kid who didn’t want their face painted.
What’s people’s reaction when you tell them what your job is?
People are mostly interested in the experience required to do this kind of job and I definitely get a lot of confused looks from people who don’t know that this is a job that exists. I have also had multiple kids come up to me at parties and tell me I have their dream job and that is super sweet.
What’s one surprising fact about you?
I have taken 16 years of dance classes in ballet, tap, jazz, and a little hip hop on my high school dance team. I took my first class at 2 years old and my most recent year of classes was my senior year of college at 21 years old.
What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about your work here?
How much work goes in outside of being at a party. There are long drives, costume maintenance, training time, and getting your things all packed and ready. I’m mostly a Merrimack NH face painter and balloon twister, but I’ve driven throughout New Hampshire and into Massachusetts or sometimes Maine for events.
What’s the hardest part about this job for you?
The hardest part for me is parking. There have been many jobs where there was very limited parking and I arrived half an hour early and there was already none available. If our clients can coordinate this and communicate it to us, it makes our job way easier!
What’s your favorite part about working with kids?
They have endless creativity. They always have the best ideas for things I’ve never thought with both face painting and balloon twisting.
What’s one memorable party you’ll never forget?
I’ll never forget my first party I ever did. I was so nervous but everyone was so extremely sweet, both my coworkers and everyone at the party. It was very well organized and there as such a great fun energy all day.
What advice do you have for someone throwing an event and hiring a Merrimack NH face painter or balloon twister?
Maps are so helpful especially when there are building names! Knowing ahead of time where I should park and where I’m going next. Remember we are likely coming from pretty far away and are unfamiliar with the area.
