Talking to the kids :)

Hiya just wondered if anyone had any tips or wanted to share things they or jokes etc to the kids when painting ? I'm still sooo nervous at jobs I sometimes get stumped

Is there a jokes you often find yourself repeating etc that works that didn't mind sharing ? Nicknames call them anything really ?

Thanks xx

I call them sweetie or buddy from the moment I invite them to climb up in my chair. I ask them their name while I'm loading my brush or sponge and try to remember it to use it to say good bye to them at the end when I invite them to step down from my chair, but if I don't remember I call them ma'am or sir. I talk to them pretty much the whole time and ask them how old they are and if they're in school and what their favorite thing about school is, I tell the girls how pretty their hair is, if it's a boy and they're getting a super hero mask I ask them if that character is their favorite, if they've seen the latest super hero movie, etc. I think of it like when I go to a salon, a good hair stylist will talk to you and engage you in conversation....Kids LOVE talking for the most part, and I think they appreciate an adult that doesn't talk down to them. I also think parents appreciate that I give special attention to their child while they're in my chair...I've had plenty of people compliment me on that.

I do the same thing as Stacia, I call them Sweetie or Buddy. I talk to them the whole time. I always ask them if they've been face painted before (they almost always have), then we talk about what they usually get painting. I always talk to the girls about glittering them and kid around, girls LOVE to talk about bling. If it's within a month of Halloween, I talk to all kids about their costumes, Christmas you can talk to kids about what they want. There's always adult woman who REALLY want to get painted. I always go "OK, sit right down here Little Girl" and they always start laughing and get real friendly when I say that!

Everyone is "sweetheart"... sometimes that has two meanings

jokes are more improvised than "jokes" really... but whenever someone picks pink and purple for their butterfly or princess, I do usually make some comment about "wow!! nobody EVER picks those two colours!!"... ask them about school, siblings, pets, are they having fun at the party/festival/event of the day, etc. When I have to move their hair off of their face, I say, "Hey! There's a KID under there!!"

Thank you all for the info :-) am basically doing the same anyway I've found sometimes with boys occasionally when they sit down I might pick up the pink paint and say , so you want a pink butterfly is that right ? Often makes them laugh and say nooo! Or found with little ones I'l say before painting , I'm going to paint your nose in a minuite, have u got a tickly nose ? Some people have a really tickly nose , then nearly everytime , when you paint there nose they can't help it but to laugh! Lol I also like Wich I heard once from another painter when painting a child's eyes , to say now your eyes are closed you are ( and say there name) and when you open your eyes you will batman! Or who ever :-)

I do love that idea of hey there's a kid under there! Lol

also, when I ask them to close their eyes, I say "close your eyes gently just like you are sleeping..." then I make snoring noises while I'm painting them... or if they get really relaxed with their eyes closed, I say, "I think he's taking a nap... are you sleeping?"

I always tell them that the design they chose is one of my absolute favorites and how I love painting it, or that they have the perfect face for that design. I also ask them if this is their first face paint so I can tell them how good they are at it ( being still, not talking, not squinching up their eyes). They always love to hear how good they are doing at anything.

Perry Noia wrote:also, when I ask them to close their eyes, I say "close your eyes gently just like you are sleeping..." then I make snoring noises while I'm painting them... or if they get really relaxed with their eyes closed, I say, "I think he's taking a nap... are you sleeping?"

That's sooooo cute! Love it !

Good tip veelux , thing I have problem with sometimes is when u get a chatterbox ! What do you say ? I actually said once , can u stop talking for a minute please while I paint your cheek , obviously I said it nice as possible but the girl still looked terribly offended ! And was quiet from then on lol now I'm to soft , where still new, and end up sitting waiting for them to finish talking! Not good when got allot of people to do!

Ah, the talkers. They can say some pretty funny things, but they are very difficult to paint. Usually I just say something like "I need you to stop talking for a minute, sweetie, I don't want to paint your teeth. This stuff washes off skin, but not teeth. You don't want to live your life with a green smile, do you?" Usually they shut up pretty quickly.

If the kid is good (quiet, still, closes their eyes without squinting), I will ask if they are a professional at getting their face painted, because they "sit so still and quiet like they have been doing this for years." I say this loud enough that the other kids in line can take note, and they usually try to imitate the child who was good at it.

Another thing that I like to do, because it is funny to see their reactions, is I will get about halfway through a boy's face and then make a funny face and be like "okay, you wanted a purple and pink butterfly, right?" This usually elicits a laugh from the line and eases the tensions if any of the kids have been arguing.

And this hasn't been brought up in this thread yet, but I have painted several mentally disabled children, so I thought that I might share a technique that helps. A lot of times, such children (and even younger, not disabled children) will be afraid of the paint brush. If this is the case, I will either paint my own hand, or the face of their caregiver in front of them, explaining what I am doing step by step. It also might be helpful to learn a bit of sign language if you plan on working with disabled children at a specific event.

I painted a boy at a party a few months ago who was severely disabled and only spoke a little sign language. He wanted to get his face painted, but was terrified of the brush. So I painted a flower on my hand to let him see how the brush worked. After that, he was comfortable and let me paint him as spider man. He was so happy when he looked in the mirror that he just kept saying "thank you, thank you, thank you" in sign language. I signed back to him and thanked him for letting me paint him. I think it made his mother's day.

yeah, for anyone who is uneasy about the brush or sponge.... I paint my hand, then their hand and as long as they are ok with me painting their hand, then I try to take it to their face.... with one little one, every time I touched the sponge to my hand or his hand, I would say "boop!" and it made him giggle... did that a few times, then he was ok with me painting his face.

as for the talkers... well... "...that's really cool! Can you close your mouth for a minute while I paint this spot? "

Nope, I let them go into the zone. When I say I'm a child whisperer I literally mean it. There will always be kids want to talk to me about their pets or school but it usually goes something like this:

"Hi, what design would you like" and then we figure out what design they want "Here's three colors that would look good with that design, which one do you like?" They point...if they don't and I'm in a big hurry I'll say "I think this is the best one for that design" and they usually agree or that forces them to choose. Then I load the sponge and they'll usually say something like "Do I have to close my eyes" and I'll say "Yes" and then I'll put my hand on their head and say "Okay, close your eyes. I'm going to make the wings." Then I sponge...and double check while I'm sponging that they want glitter "now keep your eyes closed while I put on the glitter" and then they'll say "can I open my eyes now" and I'll say "I think so, I'm going to do the lines around the wings so do what you feel comfortable with" and then they'll either go into the zone again or they'll try to watch my brush which makes their forehead wiggle and I'll say "maybe you should close your eyes so it's easier to hold still" and then I'll do my line work and give them a play-by-play or ask for a turn of the cheek for a better angle. "I'm almost done, I just need to do some white dots and we'll be all finished" and then I finish, grab my mirror and show them their face and say something like "You made a great choice, it really matches your outfit." or "You look so scary, your mom's going to squeal."

If I could create a hair salon franchise where the stylists only minimally talked like that I think I would make a fortune. I'm afraid I'm not a chatter. I don't MIND chatting and I'm good at it (I've had 5 kids and I'm a kid at heart) but when I'm painting...I'm painting. And MOST of the time the calm energy translates into calm children.

Thank you all for the imput ! I'm sooo glad I found this site!

I still have heaps to learn! I have no problem doing big (body paintings) like u say about the zone, am happy and relaxed and just create! Can't wait to get some pics up! But! When it comes to his and doing something a simple as a butterfly my nerves seem to be my worse enemy at the moment so an trying to get over that
Instead of keep creating loads of threads and filling up the forum lol can I ask please if anyone minds , whats the ideal amount of designs do u take to each job? And do u use a book or board to display ? Xx

On this thread is my little essay about painted menu boards and some other painter's great examples:
http://www.facepaintforum.com/t12342-word-menu-vs-painted-faces-pictures-of-work?highlight=menu

If you search "boards" you'll find a bunch of threads and ideas. I've got my painted boards posted somewhere when I talked about the festivals I did this summer. Search "festivals" too to see what good system's people come up with. As far as how many? Some little girl was bored and counted for me...64 choices. Four boards: boys, girls, animals & eye designs. I love it when mom's say "I know, there are so many good choices it's hard to choose." I want them to be thinking of the "next time" they hire me and what they will choose.

for private parties I don't bring anything... a lot of other events, I don't have the space or time to post my banners, I don't put any pictures up then either... I just tell them I can paint ANYTHING and go from there. When I do bring my banners of sample pics, I have 24 each of my "small" and "large" designs. They are mostly for pay per face stuff though. At pay per face, it is much easier to get people to part with the larger price point when they can see the difference between the designs.... also there are less arguments about the price to size ratio

Ahh so many ! Lol I need to get to work more! Can't even think of that many designs!

Perry I hope you don't mind had a peek at your face book , your work is awesome! Do u mind if I add you pls ? Will come up as lucys fx - my face painting name , I noticed to your outfit , do u dress up each time u go to paint ? I've been thinking about this, something bright and fun for the kids like making a character for myself
It's quite a small town where I'm from tho allot of work about! I only advertise on Facebook at the moment and it's keeping me busy enough that I'm comfortable with at the moment , have been offered a website just trying to get more work in first for the all important pics!! Have Sven been doing quite a few party's for friends at kids school for free in exchange for some pics , guessing have to start somewhere x

Sorry Denise I missed your message a min ago , thank you ! I'm going to have a search now ! Xx

You can add me on facebook, I have a lot of entertainer friends on there (just be prepared to see daily posts about how much I hate bedtime with my kids )

I have only been asked to be out of costume 2 or 3 times in the 4 years that I have been a clown. I also dress as an elf during the holiday season and a giant chicken for singing telegrams.

Denise, my kids are easy to zone -- when they were babies, I stroked their hair and faces while I nursed them. I also zone out, and my husband falls asleep when he gets his hair washed at the barber. It's funny how those old associations work, decades later.

I love talking to the kids and hearing what they have to say, however, I really try to avoid yes and no questions while I am painting them so they don't shake their heads up and down or side to side while I am trying to do a line.

I don't know if I'll ever be good enough to talk AND paint! But I always make a comment as I'm handing them the mirror, to girls usually something about beauty like "this butterfly looks great on pretty faces like yours" and to boys I say "don't be scared it's not a real (monster/tiger/etc), it's just you with your face painted". I think kids love corny jokes so I've been trying to build my repertoire.

I'm a kid whisperer as well...as one mom has told me. If I speak quietly the child feels compelled to answer quietly which equates to smaller facial movements during the conversation. Sometimes I tell jokes, sometimes I dare them not to smile (when I have a lot of time to burn) and sometimes I just make sounds. You know you've done your job when the kid has to be woken up when youre done, lol! A hug from a child who has enjoyed his/her one on one time with me in my chair is worth the price of admission.

I've only done the 1 face painting event.
I was thinking that i was horrible for not talking more.
Thanks Denise and Jayde for the reassurance.

All of the kids were really good, quiet sat still. the hand on the head is brilliant, they just relax into it and veg out. I like trying to get an outgoing helper to tag a long, they can be entertaining and i can paint

Hiya yeah my friend comes with me to sometimes who really good with the kids , sometimes just helps with line control to so can get on and paint!

Some day I find it all comes so naturally, other days I realised I am too busy concentrating on the painting and forget to talk.
I will always make sure I am super friendly at the begining and at the end when I show the mirror. Small chit chat in the middle is a bonus.

I do the usual like "sweet heart" "whats your favourite colour" We will make it extra sparkly to match..." "you are doing an amazing job at sitting so still" etc etc.