5 Tips For Planning Experiential Events For Kids

Experiential marketing can be used to reach many different types of audiences, including kids. (Those sugary drinks have to get aggressively marketed somehow, right?). However, planning an experiential marketing event aimed at kids is very different than planning an event for adults. Follow these tips for kid-friendly experiential marketing events:

1) Include Educative and Entertaining Content:  Parents are the ones who get to decide which events their kids attend (because kids are little humans who can’t make major decisions for themselves) and most parents would rather take their kids to events that are not only entertaining but also informative and beneficial to the kids’ development. Brands should make sure that even if their events aren’t conventionally educative, it should include activities that engage the kids’ creativity e.g finger painting, clay sculpting etc.

2) Entertain the Adults (Mom, Dads, Nannies etc): It’s easy to forget about adults when planning an experiential event for kids. But again, parents decide where their kids go and will definitely go with them (because no parent is leaving their child with unknown adults in branded t-shirts) so you have take entertainment for the adults into consideration. Some brands go the route of setting up a separate area for parents but this doesn’t always work because sometimes, parents refuse to let their kids out of their sight or just don’t want to be left out of the fun. A way to solve this problem is by including activities that engage adults and kids at the same time. For example, at the Maltina experiential corner of the 2018 Nickelodeon Nickfest (handled by LIVESPOT), we staged a show starring Happy (the Maltina mascot) and the Happyettes (his helpers) which entertained the kids with tweaked versions of popular nursery rhymes then engaged the adults with songs from their youth. It was a hit, and due to popular demand was performed four times over the 2-day event.

3) Design With Safety and Durability in Mind: Kids are tiny adults who can’t make decisions for themselves and are NOT careful – especially when running around and having fun. This is why safety should be a priority when designing structures for kids’ experiential events.  Avoid glass, slippery surfaces, and sharp edges. If unavoidable potential hazards are present at your event e.g., a pool (no matter how shallow) hire lifeguards to stand by and ensure that everyone is safe and abiding by the rules.

4) Pick The Right MC: Because kids can be shy in public especially when talking to adults, an MC hired for a kids’ event must have the ability to draw kids out of their shell by being authentic with them. The MC also needs to be able to switch it up and engage the adults when necessary.

5) Encourage Friendly Competition:  Kids love a little friendly competition so giving them the chance to compete with friends, siblings, or parents in different activities would be really exciting for them. Races, musical chairs, obstacle courses, treasure hunts, board games etc. Raise the stakes by including cool prizes for the winners and watch the kids work themselves into a frenzy due to excitement.