I’ve met and chatted with the well-known children’s recording star, Laurie
Berkner. When she was still doing $300 NYC birthday parties, one of her
practices was to come early to a party and learn all the children’s names.  My
own experience is that memorizing the children’s names is the little pièce de
résistance that makes a party performance truly special.

But not all performers do it and when the guest list exceeds 15 or so, it can
be pretty challenging.  he answer is nametags, an often overlooked, but
important element in any children’s party that includes a performer. Using a
child’s name is a very simple thing but it’s an extremely effective invitation
to participate in a show. And no matter how great the performance, a party show
is special when the children are participating.

So, put a $2 package of nametags on your shopping list and increase the
caliber of the performance at your party by a notch or two. By using the
children’s names, Laurie Berkner launched a stratospheric children’s music
career. It would be pretty steep to hire her to do a birthday party these days,
but my bet is that she still memorizes the children’s names.