Because a Susie Sparkles party don't stop!!

All year, no matter how the guidelines have changed, we’ve still found a way to keep the party going!!

Video chats with favourite characters! Zoom parties and treasure hunts!! Dedications of our live streamed shows, and when we could real life appearances and garden visits!

It’s been a challenging year of course but it’s been an exciting one too. Our creativity has never been so engaged and as performers we’ve never felt so stretched. The lockdown meant that we were pushing ourselves as performers all the time especially with our improvisation and character work. Whether it was trying to create a new theme and character quickly for someone or helping parents engage their children in various school projects or to fulfil some crazy idea we’d had about one of our shows. And we had a lot of crazy ideas!!

Because, of course, there was also our live shows! For 23 weeks from March to August we live streamed 4 shows a week! Hogwarts Homework on Monday, Tunesday singalongs on Zoom!! Friday Anything Could Happen comedy storytelling and Saturday story time for Snaps Yorkshire. We had a blast finding new ways to keep your children entertained and engaged every week and enjoyed and appreciated their company just as much!!

As we hear a hundred times a day it’s been a difficult year but the camaraderie, compassion and creativity we’ve witnesses from you all has helped to provide a bright light guiding us through even the darkest days of uncertainty.

Big love and kisses to all who’ve supported our family this year

Keep smiling, keep singing and keep sparkling.

Santa Claus is coming to town!

*SOLD OUT*

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I’m afraid all our home visit slots are booked and, much as we’d like to, we just can’t fit any more in! If you would like a Zoom chat with Santa or a phone call please let us know but I’m afraid that’s the best we can do!

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We believe this year, more than any other, the children of Yorkshire deserve a really special Christmas.

After a year of not seeing their friends and family, cancelled parties and missing holidays they kept smiling despite the constant uncertainty and disappointment.  

To honour them and make up for such a difficult year we want to help make their Christmases really special and end this year with as much magic and sparkle as possible.

So if you need a LETTER from Santa reassuring your children that he will still be visiting on Christmas Eve and perhaps tell them how well he thought they'd coped with a difficult year. (The tone and details of the letter are entirely up to you) Just let us know the details you want including and we'll provide the magic!

Or you might prefer a VIDEO CALL (or personalised pre-recorded VIDEO MESSAGE) from the big man himself! He'll be in his workshop throughout December and if we ask him he'll always find time to speak to his favourite children.

Then at the end of November he's personally DELIVERING ADVENT CALENDARS directly to some lucky boys and girls homes! Although places for this service are limited! He's a very busy man you know!!

But despite his busy schedule on selected days in December Santa is even making HOME VISITS!

That's right Santa himself will visit you outside your home and will pose for photos (whilst keeping a subtle but significant distance) He brings a little present and an abundance of Christmas cheer whilst his chief elf Sparkles plays pranks and sings Christmas songs with her ukulele. You never know he may even bring snow!

So if we can help you to get in touch with Santa and bring some much needed magic and sparkle to the end of this disappointing year please don't hesitate to get in touch!!

Suggested Prices

Letter from Santa    £5

Personalised Video £15

Video Call              £15

Home Visit             £30

The Man Behind The Mask

Hello! This is a post for the delightfully curious friends of Susie Sparkles who are wondering "Who is this mysterious man who has stolen Susie's heart?"

Well to start that story you have to go back ten years to a village hall in Bramham, when magic met mischief and Susie spied her Jester in his preferred habitat. On stage, flouncing about in an extravagant costume! He was hilarious and handsome and the children in the audience adored him and so did Susie. But life being the complicated beast that it is they were destined to be simply friends for a long time after.

Friends and business colleagues though as whenever Susie needed a pirate or a super hero she knew just who would be eager to take on the role. He even enjoyed the times Susie dressed him up in mascot costumes as Peppa Pig and Minnie Mouse and those costumes aren't easy y'know! You can't see, you can't talk and boy do they get sweaty! But our Jester was a master at it! Professionally speaking he was a terrific find! Fun, great with kids and up for anything!

His acting skills and background in performing make him a natural as a party host, his love of costumes and skill at making them is an incredible bonus and the fact that he's a big kid at heart and knows everything about most party themes is amazing! Whether it's the world of Disney princesses or Power Rangers and Star Wars you can't stump him! Susie's knowledge of super heroes has always been a bit sketchy to be honest and Power Rangers has her at a complete loss and so our mischievous Jester makes for the perfect partner and teacher.

So not only has the Jester (also known as Shane Huby) stolen my heart but he will also be captain of the good ship Magic and Mischief for the next few months while I'm taking my maternity leave.

It's going to be such an exciting year for us both and I don't think it's going too far to say that all our dreams are starting to come true! We really hope to see you this year and that you'll be a part of this next exciting stage of the Magic and Mischief journey. So if you need us to add Sparkles to your party don't hesitate to get in touch with us!

How can we make your dreams come true?

Practically Poppins in every way

To those who know me well I don't think it's much of a secret that out of all the characters in my vast repertoire my hands down, number one absolute favourite is Mary Poppins.

My Mary Poppins parties are exactly the kind of birthday party I would have wanted as a child. I adored Mary and wanted to sing like her, talk like her and fly up banisters like her. It was devastating to discover that the third wasn't really an option but since Mary Poppins Returns came out I'm being told by quite a few lovely people that perhaps my first two wishes have indeed come true.

"Went to see Mary Poppins at the cinema last week and just heard your voice all the way through!"

 So sweet! Thank you Ruth and then there was this lovely comment from Mum SJ

 "Personally think Carla 'Susie Sparkles' would have been better casting than Emily Blunt though"

 Gracious how kind! and O SJ if only! What a dream come true that would be! Personally I couldn't help but imagine myself in the role. Singing those fantastic new musical numbers, wearing those fabulous costumes of hers and delivering those iconic lines that lovingly threw us back to the original film.

"Close your mouth Michael, we are not a cod fish"

Being so attached to the original film I was thrilled that the cast exceeded my expectations. I was especially delighted to see Dick Van Dyke still dancing on the table and with that same mischievous twinkle in his eye at 90 years old and what a voice Angela Lansbury has at 91! Remarkable! Lin Manuel Miranda was out of his hip hop genius comfort zone but still managed to give an endearing performance and Emily Blunt of course was wonderful but if SJ and I had got our wish and I'd been cast in the role instead I would definitely have liked to have seen the Mary Poppins role performed a little differently.

Let's gloss over the fact that Blunt isn't anywhere near the vocal quality you'd expect from an actress playing Mary. It's disappointing that they didn't cast someone from a musical theatre background but that's not her fault. Emily Blunt's Mary Poppins was charming and charismatic but was it just me or was she a little raunchy at times? And perhaps a bit showy and pleased with herself? For me the intriguing unassuming nature of Mary Poppins can be summed up in the first film when Bert is making a big song and dance trying to show the children how to jump into the chalk picture and she scolds him by saying "O Bert. Why do you always complicate things that are really quite simple? Give me your hand. Don't slouch Michael" and then she just takes their hands, and to the children and the audiences surprise, she just effortlessly transports them into the picture.

The one second things are normal and you're getting told off the next second you're being given the treat of a lifetime is so deliciously exciting and the lack of fanfare and magic incantations gives you that impression that anything can be possible and adventure can come at any time when you least expect it. For me this was missing from Emily Blunt's portrayal as when she slid into that bathtub looking directly into camera and gleefully saying "Here we Go!" it was all a bit look what I did aren't I magic? Mary Poppins is arguably the most seemingly human but actually magical character in literary history and it seemed wrong to make her overtly aware and terribly proud of how marvellously magical she truly is.

Or maybe I'm just very jealous and Emily Blunt was a practically perfect Poppins in every way! That’s probably more accurate!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the film and especially Emily's interpretation of such an iconic character. But in the meantime if you're looking for an old school Mary Poppins to delight children at your party or event. Don't hesitate to get in touch!

Anything Could Happen!

I can't believe it's been over 8 months since my last blog post. I haven't told you about Mary Poppins or SNAPS or Pokemon parties! I have so much to tell you! I'll catch you up soon, promise, but first I need to talk about our Anything Could Happen show on Sunday 7th of May.

I've been working with the terrific Comedy Checkout. An improvisation group with nearly a decades experience and together we have created a one of a kind show. With an innovative approach to engage children's creativity we inspire their storytelling and help them feel confident in expressing their ideas and, trust us, those ideas just come bursting out. But why just take my word for it...

'Loved how you adapted the performance to all the children's ideas. They loved it all'

 'fully engaged and motivated. The children are still talking about it!'

'A fantastic way to bring creativity and fun back into storytelling'

This is the first time we're taking our show out of the classroom and into a theatre space, the delightful Seven Arts, and we couldn't be more excited. You and your children will laugh your socks off, I guarantee it and I know you're going to love watching us bring your children's ideas to life before their very eyes. Come join us on Sunday 7th of May and ask yourself.

What stories will my children tell?       

Classroom creatives

Hey, How are you all diddling? Sorry I'm a bit giddy this afternoon. The reason? These cheeky chappies. Eddie and Chris from the Discount Comedy Checkout, an improvisation troupe who've been performing together for over 8 years. They are just terrific and this morning I got the chance to make them perform for me like little monkeys. Literally. It wasn't just me though poor Eddie and Chris also had 30 children making them do ridiculous things. But hang on I'll back up and start from the beginning.

One night, a few weeks ago, I was thinking about a conversation I'd had with one of my favourite KS1 teachers, Miss Bugler. We were having a little moan about the lack of space for creative work in the classroom and talking about ways in which I could help her encourage the children's original ideas and story writing. On this particular night I'd been to see my dear friend (and comic genius) Eddie French performing with his comedy troupe and suddenly I saw it, the answer to Lisa's problem. Improvisation in the classroom to unleash the children's creativity! 

And this is how it would work ... The kids would tell me their stories, I would narrate them and the improvising boys would instantly bring the stories to life! Today, was the first performance and it worked brilliantly. Just as I suspected the children's ideas really flowed.So I suggested to the excited 6 year olds... 

"Ok let's tell a news story. What kind of story are our news reporters reporting on?"

The kids shouted  

"All the animals have escaped from the zoo!"

"Batman has turned into a robot and has been sent to destroy the earth!" 

"There's a fire, and the fire brigade are on their way to put it out,

except they can't get there because of a big wall! Like a really big wall!!"

 And so the story of how all the animals escaped from the zoo because Robot Batman had stolen all the bricks to make a huge wall was brought to life!

We then improvised one of the children, Zara's, own stories. This was a surprise I'd cooked up with Miss Bugler She sent me the story a few days before and I had kept it a secret from the boys. As I narrated the story of the pirate of the year competition I would stop and let the boys colour in the scenes for us, it was fantastic to see Zara's face light up as the pirate characters she'd created and the world of Monkey bay was there for all to enjoy. And enjoy we certainly did!

The session did everything I hoped it would. The children showed no fear and were making the most marvellous suggestions for stories encouraged by the boys boundless energy and determination to incorporate all the children's ideas. I'll get some feedback soon from Miss Bugler about the more long term effects of our session but as a first foray I am excited about the possibilities and  the effect it will have on the children's creative confidence and exploration. Luckily I wasn't the only one who was impressed as Fiona, the schools creative coordinator sent me an email as soon as school was out.

Hi Carla,

It was fantastic to observe you all today. Your idea to improvise children's ideas is exciting and brilliant!

She also wanted to discuss with us the possibility of two more sessions in September so safe to say the concept was a hit!

The boys and I are busy planning and scheming new ways to make ourselves useful in classrooms so please get in touch if you have any ideas or would like us to bring our unique brand of storytelling to your school. 

Never underestimate a child

Hi Susie,

Many thanks for supporting us on Sunday. What a fantastic day!

I can't believe how you captivated so many children throughout the day - magical!

Feedback so far has been brilliant, and museum attendance on the day was a staggering 1933 people. At the core of the event, it was great to see so many mums and dads interacting with their children. 

Many thanks again for your help, you were marvellous!

Best regards

Errol

One off events, like Errol's Dadtastic day at Leeds Museum, are often my favourite part of Susie Sparkles working life. I love being part of something that volunteer organisers have put their heart and soul into. I love seeing the work of all the other contributors and performers and when the community comes together and all that hard work pays off you can't beat the fuzzy warm glow you get knowing you've been a small part of something truly special.

But that isn't really what this blog is about. This blog is about a moment I shared at that event with a little girl called Eve who at just five years old demonstrated more compassion and emotional intelligence than many people 6 times her age are capable of.

Towards the end of the Dadtastic Fathers day event I was doing some character interaction as Anna from Frozen and as I was helping Eve make her Daddy a fathers day card she turned to me with a thoughtful face and almost in a whisper asked...

Does fathers day make you sad?

It had occurred to me in my planning of the event that as the Frozen sisters I would have to avoid talking about their Daddy since, well, you know, but it surprised me that this little girl would have the same insight.

Although it shouldn't have surprised me really I've been working with children long enough to know that you should never underestimate the ability of a child to see and understand rather more complex situations than we give them credit for.

I could have pretended I hadn't heard her and changed the subject. That would have been the easiest thing to do, but it didn't seem like the right thing to do. I didn't know what had prompted Eve's question but it deserved a thoughtful answer. So as Anna I said...

"Sometimes it makes me a little bit sad. My Daddy was very special but I know he wouldn't want me to be too sad. He would want me to be happy and to look after people and make sure they were happy too. Especially Elsa."

'That's true'

Eve said knowingly and went back to sticking flowers on the top of her pictures of dinosaurs.

"Look Anna they're wearing hats!"

She didn't dwell on the answer I'd given her and probably wasn't even aware of how deep that moment had just been. She asked her question got a satisfactory answer and moved on.

It's not easy when young children ask profound questions about life and death and there is no easy way or right way to answer but I think there's a lot of value in just listening, acknowledging those thoughts and giving the most thoughtful answer you can muster and if possible shine a bit of light into the darkness and bring a smile to an otherwise gloomy place.

I'd love to hear about the difficult questions your children have asked and how you choose to answer so please get in touch to share your stories 

The Thrill of a New Theme

People often say to me "o you must be so sick of Frozen by now" but honestly I'm not. The look of delight on the birthday girl's face as Elsa breezes in, her snowflake covered cape blowing in an imagined icy wind. The sense of wonder when she produces snowflakes from her finger tips and the astonished gasp as she turns her glass of water into snow is hard to beat and that's all before she's even sung Let it go!! It's truly magical and I've never known a theme capture children's imagination in the same way as Frozen.

Having said that occasionally I'll get a very exciting email that starts

"I don't know if you've done this type of party before but I'm stuck and I don't know what to do!"

I love these emails because I know that I'm going to be drawn into a new world, creating a completely new theme and have the chance to make something special and original and if I get it just right I'll be able to make a family's dreams come true.

A couple of weeks ago I was given such an opportunity and I'm still buzzing about it.

"So Schy has requested a Ruby Redfort party… so help me god! I managed the Harry Potter madness last year all by myself but I’m not sure I’m up to it this year. She’s also adamant that I make it “a surprise"

How exciting I thought but Shelly who's Ruby Redfort? A quick trip to the library and a lovely rainy afternoon curled up with tea, toast and a great book and I quickly got the gist and the ideas just came bubbling out. So she's a 13 year old genius, code breaker who becomes a secret agent with the Spectrum Agency o the possibilities for a party!!

We can make ID badges with fingerprints and code names. We can train the new agents with games and call them things like "Master of disguise" and "The guilty party" we'll have to break codes obviously but we'll definitely need a narrative for the whole party. Hmmm? What can we do? And that was when I got completely carried away.

I had this vision of the party guests arriving to find the house is a crime scene complete with police tape and everything a bit ransacked but we'd need a motivation for this and that was when I thought of the perfect set up. I'll send Schy a coded letter from the Spectrum Agency a week before the party telling her she has been specially selected to join them and they have hidden a secret object in her house that she will have to locate in order to prove her ability.

"1st letter received with much excitement. She figured out the code and then it took her a good hour to translate it all. V pleased with her 'intelligence and skill' and kept quoting it to me. It was a winner for sure. She is now excited about finding the hidden object and becoming part of the secret service. Haha"

Then a few days later I sent another letter from The Rebel Rebels (Schy also happens to be a big David Bowie fan so there were lots of references!) saying they knew she had something precious from Spectrum and that they were coming for it. Schy was apparently "Beside herself with the second letter!" and the stage was set for the party.

This was the most fun I've had preparing and performing at a party and I definitely got carried away writing all the different codes and setting puzzles and putting a lie detector app on my phone as a bit of a silly icebreaker game and everything worked a treat it really did. The girls and I had a fab time as did mum who put so many terrific touches to the look of the house and the food, cake and party bags that it felt really special.

"Thanks so much again. The girls all loved it, as did I"

It's an honour to be part of these kind of parties, when someone trusts you to create something completely new. So if you have a crazy idea for a party but have no idea how you'd even start to make it happen you'll have to give Susie Sparkles a call and let me get my thinking cap on to create for you a one off original perfect party.

Time to let it go?

Ok, show of hands, who thinks this is a cute picture of a little boy harmlessly play acting, ok and who thinks this is a cute picture of a little boy harmlessly play acting but they're glad it's not their son doing it? Don't worry I get it, I'm pretty sure seeing my five year old nephew playing Elsa would be an odd experience. Sure he's pretending to be a sorcerer with super cool snow powers but he's doing it in a dress and that can't be a good thing. Can it?

At this stage of our social evolution generally speaking when we see a boy pretending to be a female character we start to worry that people will think him strange or that he'll be bullied. I can only think of two occasions when a boy has come to a party in an outfit that wasn't a "proper" boys outfit. One was the only boy at a fairy party and it was treated like a joke, everyone had a big laugh and it was decided that he was young enough for it not to be a problem. The second was dressed as a Princess and was a bit older so treated with suspicion and his older brother and father looked a little bit embarrassed.

For girls though the story couldn't be more different.

We've been crying out for our girls to have better role models than passive pretty princesses and of course fairies and princesses will always be popular but from what I can see we're definitely moving away from that. I see a lot of variety in the party themes and costumes chosen by girls. Explorers, superheroes, villains, doctors, pirates, army. But never, not once, has a boy chosen a theme that wasn't stereotypical manly and brave. Last year a boy wanted a Frozen party but his mum 'managed' to talk him out of it.

Thing is I actually think giving the little guys more options when it comes to creative play and role models would be a huge step for us as a society. I'll often hear comments like boys don't draw. Boys don't like crafts. Boys don't dance. Boys don't sing. Boys don't like pink or sparkle. Boys can't sit still. Boys shouldn't be expected to behave. Boys just like to kick balls and fight.

When girls are being actively encouraged to be anything they want to be, break the mould, shoot for the stars, this list of limitations and expectations of what boys do or don't do seems a bit harsh, and I don't want to over play this but don't you think that if boys were encouraged to identify and role play as female characters they might find it easier to explore more emotional depth and would help our society nurture a more healthy respect for women in general.

Ok, maybe I've taken that thought too far but we're at a point in time where we are constantly questioning and challenging gender norms but the view through Susie Sparkles eyes is that the girls are definitely having a lot more fun and experiencing a great deal more freedom when it comes to imaginative and creative play. So I guess I'm back to my original thought.

When it comes to boys dressing up like their female heroes, is it time to let it go?

The Hook (and I don't mean Captain)

Well, I don't know what you've been up to today but I’ve been dressing up as a mermaid. Well, it is a Wednesday after all.

 No two days are the same for me, I’m a very lucky princess. Last week, I had the pleasure to meet some wonderful children at Five Lanes Primary School, and today I made them a little video to follow up on that session.

 Their subject this term is pirates. I believe there is no better way to get their vivid imaginations flowing than a surprise visit from a mermaid who happens to be very scared of pirates. Surely, it’s going to help them remember and learn.

The Hook

This kind of storytelling and learning session in schools is typically called a 'hook' and no, not the captain variety.

 What better way to spark a child's interest in a subject than something a little theatrical and special

 These sessions are so much fun and extremely popular with teachers and more importantly the children. We tap into the children’s preferred learning style, the way children’s TV has been doing for decades but in the classroom. If you’re interested there are four main types of learning styles – they are Spatial/Visual learning, Tactile/Kinetic learning, Auditory learning, and Logical learning.

 There isn’t a right and wrong style that is better but I know children lighten up, listen and get involved when I turn up, dress up entertain and educate in character.

 It doesn’t matter what the subject matter is – I sing songs, tell stories and I interact as appropriate characters like Ocarina the Mermaid, or the moon, or even Zuma the Aztec who has been sent to collect children for human sacrifice! I know that one is so dark! But, don't worry it's just pure fun and usually (and weirdly) the children are clamouring to be taken back to Tenochtitlan.

World book week

I love engaging my young audiences though humour and my most popular character for World Book Day in March or Children's book week in October is Paige Turner and her ridiculous, rambunctious show The Secret life of books.

 I wanted to design a show that unashamedly said ‘Go on, read more books!' I wanted to talk about books in such a silly way that if a child by the age of 9 decided that books weren't for them, they might consider giving them a second chance and so far it's been very successful.

If you have a subject or topic at school that you want brought to life to engage your pupils give me a call or drop me an email – I’d love to add some sparkle to your classroom.