New Haven CT Henna Artist and Face Painter: Sarah S!

July 11, 2023 kscope

Sarah S began with Kaleidoscope in 2023 as a face painter, balloon twister, UV face/body painter, henna artist, and paint night instructor. A former elementary and middle school art teacher, she’s based in Southern Connecticut and travels throughout New England for events.

In her personal art, Sarah explores and plays in many artistic mediums and modalities, from painting to sculpture, photography, gardening, metalsmithing, installation art, and teaching. Forever a student of the creative process, her style reflects her deep connection to intuitive art creation.

Also a yoga instructor and former art teacher, Sarah finds harmony between her yoga & meditation practice and her art practice. Sarah is inspired by the beauty of this amazing planet, the wisdom and resiliency of the human body and spirit, ecofeminism, and the mysteries of the Cosmos.

West Hartford CT Caricature Artist and Balloon Twister: Jenni W!

July 3, 2023 kscope

Jenni W is one of Kaleidoscope’s most seasoned artists! Jenni began with Kaleidoscope in 2016 as a face painter and balloon twister. With an eclectic creative background (she’s done everything from illustration and costuming to building actual airplanes), Jenni quickly picked a huge variety of art at Kaleidoscope including:

In 2023, Jenni also joined Kaleidoscope full-time in our office. Behind the scenes, she helps maintain all of our costumes and machinery; keeps our artists stocked with all the supplies they need; and keeps our office organized.

Providence RI Caricature Artist and Face Painter: Allie B!

May 22, 2023 kscope

Allie B is a colorful caricature artist, face painter, and balloon twister located in Providence, Rhode Island.

After graduating with her Associate’s in Fine Art, Allie spent several years working at Disney World before combining her loves for art and all things animated at Kaleidoscope.

Allie began working with our team in 2019 and specializes in small events looking for combination packages with just one artist who can show off their skills in a range of art mediums.

 

 

 

 

Circus Camp: Balloon, Magic, and Juggling Classes for Kids!

May 10, 2023 kscope

 

If you’re looking for more educational programming this year at your school, library, or camp, we offer not only educational shows (such as our science and bubble shows) but hands-on circus camps!

Circus camps with Kaleidoscope are 3 distinct classes that teach kids ages 7-teen some of our favorite types of entertainment here. All 3 are designed to get kids thinking, problem-solving, and moving during short waves of learning.

Our classes are taught primarily by Kenny the Clown, a public school educator and life-long circus entertainer. Kenny will help break down simple concepts into step-by-step instructions that will leave kids with practical skills after the class is over.

Here are some tips for making your circus camp classes a success:

  1. Involve adults! Our entertainers and instructors aren’t able to take responsibility for watching the kids they’re teaching, although many of them are educators and parents themselves. The best run classes always happen when adults (whether they’re counselors, teachers, or parents) learn and play along with the class.
  2. Budget less time and earlier tasks with younger kids. This will set them up to succeed with both their motor skills and attention spans. When you book one of our circus instructors, you’ll pay by the hour and can budget that time with different lengths of “waves” for different age levels or groups.
  3. Consider take-home supplies. Our classes have a fixed hourly price no matter how you divide up the time. But if you have the budget, you can opt to give kids take-home bags of supplies to show their parents and continue the magic at home.
  4. Add a show. If you’re familiar with the classroom “I do, we do, you do”, you’ll know how fundamental it is to give kids context and goals in learning. Before the kids jump into learning, we highly recommend booking Kenny for his hour-long variety show which includes juggling, magic, puppetry, and clowning. The stage show can be done once for your entire camp or school, and then Kenny can accommodate waves of kids in circus camp classes after.

Ask our office for circus camp pricing!

Non-Profit Event Entertainment Ideas

April 12, 2023 kscope

When your non-profit is having an event, we know your budget is tight and every penny spent needs to be a future investment.

After over a decade working with return clients such as Catherine Hubbard’s Butterfly Party (10,000+ guests annually), CT Foodshare’s Walk Against Hunger (1,000+ guests annually), JDRF of Greater New England (5+ annual events throughout the year), we have built the skills and experience to know what entertainment can add to your event and mission.

Money Makers

Face painting, balloon twisting, temporary tattoos, and caricatures are tried-and-true ways to attract people to your event. And for non-profits, we’ll help you recoup all costs.

  1. When you book with us, we’ll explain our grab-and-go products designed to be impressive at large events. Generally speaking, we can get up to around 30 designs done per hour per artist (2 minutes per design).
  2. We’ll also quote you for how many artists we suggest at your event and include all bulk nonprofit discounts.
  3. Upon booking, we’ll give you any and all marketing materials you want (from high-res images you can put on billboards to mini sharable social media tidbits).
  4. We’ll also boost your event with our thousands of active clients via email newsletter and social media.
  5. Finally, we’ll help you determine the right system to recoup all costs. For some clients, this might be charging $3-15 per design depending on your audience. For others, this may be an optional tips/donations jar. Either way, all money will go back to your organization.

Stage Shows

If having stations at your event doesn’t make sense, we also have a variety of stage shows. While they cost more per hour than our visual artists, they can entertain much bigger audiences at once and help break up the schedule of your event.

Our magician James has a classical Victorian magic show for all ages that is done with the same materials, tricks, and techniques that would have been done in an 1800’s parlor. Our non-profit clients love that his show is truly a great fit for all ages, as well as that he looks so much like a classic magician that he naturally draws attention.

Our resident clown Kenny can likewise provide a variety show with magic, puppets, juggling, and comedy. While Kenny’s show is built for kids, he includes plenty of jokes and gags for adults and comes in a huge variety of costumes to fit every event’s theme.

But if your mission is grounded more in science than magic, our bubble show invites guests to build a hypothesis and test it as they watch mesmerizing bubble tricks from one of our resident bubble scientists! Each bubble show comes with an optional bubble photo booth which can be used to recoup costs, just like ay of our visual artists.

We also have a science show in development, but if you’re looking to book that now you can ask our office for more details!

 

Add to The Ambiance

Finally, if your goal is to impress and entertain donors or organizational VIPs, some of our nonprofit clients look for entertainment that adds life to the party.

Stilt walkers are a fan favorite for walks and runs. Our non-profit clients love that they can greet guests at finish lines or help kick off a 5k!

Costumed characters are wildly popular for theme park-style meet-and-greets. They add to the event and can be placed in a booth, on a stage, or left to walk around your event.

Finally, we offer DJs and foam cannons for outdoor summer events. Invite your guests to dance, run, and play through mountains of endless bubbles in the sunshine. Foam events are something that they’ve likely seen on reality TV or social media, and make amazing compliments for 5k events, charity walks, and outdoor carnivals.

Book your non-profit event today!

Country Club Event Entertainment

April 12, 2023 kscope

Looking for country club event entertainment ideas? Kaleidoscope has been helping private clubs create perfect parties since 2013, and with our extensive list of entertainers for hire, your club can boost membership value and engagement all year long.

Here are some of our favorite ways to captivate your members and help you create events unlike anywhere else.

(more…)

Kaleidoscope Is Hiring!

March 13, 2023 kscope

Kaleidoscope is hiring for character actors, face painters, and balloon twisters in all of CT, MA, NH, and RI! Positions pay a high hourly rate and travel–get paid to be the life of a party!

No experience is required since we train for everything. Just make sure you meet the requirements and want to learn some new fun skills.

(more…)

Hanukkah: Entertainment Ideas for the Festival of Lights!

January 31, 2023 kscope

December is one of the busiest months in the events industry, and every year our artists entertain at dozens of Hannukah events in synagogues, homes, daycares, and Hebrew / Jewish day schools.

We’ve compiled some of our favorite entertainment ideas that we’ve helped clients dream up for their Hannukah party, and we hope this list can inspire you to come up with a truly unique event this holiday season!

Lean into the Festival of Lights

Our normal holiday menus for face painting and balloon twisting have Hanukkah, Christmas, and secular winter designs that they bring to large events all December long–so if you hire any of our artists they’ll have special designs for Hanukkah.

But for parties that are specifically for Jewish families, we love bringing in UV face painting and LED balloon twisting! Our artists can create all sorts of things that kids will love at your event that will literally glow throughout the night! (And you can either provide your own blacklights or rent them from us at a discounted rate whenever you order a UV or LED package.)

If you’re looking for something a little more elegant (and for all ages), glitter looks also add a special sparkle to any nighttime event. We’ve seen these paired with disco ball-like mirror decorations to transform an entire recreational room into a sea of glimmering magic!

Winter Holiday Face Painting & Balloon Twisting

If you want classic face painting and balloon twisting, all of our holiday menus (which we bring to every event) come with designs for Hanukkah, Christmas, and secular winter. Our goal is to make sure no one feels left out during the winter holiday season, no matter what event they’re attending!

When you invite us to your Hanukkah event (or see us out in public), we look forward to celebrating Hanukkah with Jewish guests!

Try our Fan Favorites

And if you want some classic party entertainment, we have plenty of other ideas that are great for any type of family event!

Caricatures are perfect for organizations that want to commemorate an occasion. Our artists can draw any couple or family and include “Hanukkah 2028” (or whichever year) right on the drawing.

If you’re on a budget, temporary tattoos are also really fun! Artists can get through around double the guests than they can with face painting or balloon twisting, so if you’re looking for something special that doesn’t break the bank, it’s a great budget entertainment idea. (Glitter tattoos and flash tattoos are especially fitting for The Holiday of Lights!)

Want to create Something Custom?

Just ask our office for a quote and check any boxes you want pricing for. We’d love to put together something special for you!

And if you’re looking for additional holiday entertainment, check out our line of holiday entertainment!

 

 

Purim Event Entertainment Ideas

January 31, 2023 kscope

Purim is a joyous holiday celebrated worldwide to commemorate the Jewish people’s salvation from extermination in ancient Persia. It’s a day of celebration, feasting, and merriment, with festivities including costume parties, parades, and carnivals. To add more fun to the celebration, why not consider incorporating face painting and balloon twisting into your Purim activities?

Face painting is a great way to get into the Purim spirit. Children and adults alike can enjoy having their faces painted with bright colors and festive designs.

With our full face painting packages (10-12 kids an hour), you can transform yourself into a favorite character from the Purim story, like Queen Esther or King Ahasuerus, just by adding a festive mask or crown. Want something unexpected? Ask for a hamantaschen!

Balloon twisting is another classic form of entertainment for kids and can be tailored to fit the theme of Purim.

When you order our full balloon twisting package (10-12 kids an hour) balloon artists can create various Purim-themed items such as masks, swords, and crowns!

And of course, with both face painting and balloon twisting, kids who come in their own unique costumes can get something that matches what they’re wearing–whether that’s an animal, superhero, mermaid, or anything else they can dream up.

On a budget for a large event? Our artists also offer Speedy Faces and Simple Balloons, which include simple designs outside of a Purim theme but can entertain 20-25 kids per hour per artist.

Here are some examples of the differences in our full design packages and speedy/simple design packages:

Our face painters and balloon twisters come dressed as regular people to entertain at your Purim. But if you want to add that extra level of excitement, ask our office about pricing to have them dressed as costumed characters. If your Purim has a theme, our artists can dress to match! And if you just want some extra costumes, we have pirates, mermaids, clowns, fairies, and more that can come not only provide your guests with amazing art, but make your event feel more festive!

And finally, we love caricatures for Purim because not only are they great for all ages (including teens who might be too cool to dress up) but our artists can draw everyone in their costumes for the year!

We’d love to come make your next Purim event one to remember!

(And if you’re going to be looking for Hanukkah or Bar/Bat Mitzvah ideas, we have you covered too!)

And if you’re looking for additional holiday entertainment, check out our line of holiday entertainment!