Debbie Nathan has always worked with children, but since having her own she has chosen to diversify her talents. Not only does she work part-time as a classroom assistant at her children’s primary school, but she also runs a children’s party business. It’s hard and means she is on the go all weekend as well as most of the week, but it works well around the children.
They get to see her at school, where they have to call her Mrs Nathan, and she does the party business, Mucky Mitts, at the weekends while they are with their dad.
Debbie works two full days at the school in Bushey, Herts, then three quarters of a day on Wednesday and two half days on Thursday and Friday. She says she thought her sons, Jordan, 10, and Adam, 8, would be bothered by her being there when she started two years ago. “They like it - I didn’t think they would,” she says.
Being busy
Before working at the school, she worked in a nursery and set up a nursery in Stanmore before that. “I’ve always worked with children,” she said. The part-time nature of the classroom assistant post allows her to be free to go shopping or have lunch with a friend and to prepare her weekend parties. “I’ve never wanted to work full-time,” she says. “You never get any time to yourself. As the children get older they don’t go to bed until 8-8.30pm and by the time I sit down I am ready to go to bed too.”
But she likes to be busy, which is why she set up Mucky Mitts with a friend. “I was sitting with my business partner one day and I said I would love to set up an arts and crafts company so we decided to give it a go,” she says. Originally, the two ran arts and craft clubs during the week as well as the parties at the weekends, but they noticed that some terms lots of children would come and during others attendance was not good and then the rent of the hall they used tripled. They decided to focus on the parties.
Mucky Mitts
Mucky Mitts offer arts and craft parties to children aged three upwards with different activities aimed at different age groups. The oldest children they have done parties for are 10 year olds. The parties run for two hours and the parents have to provide the venue, food and tables and chairs. Everything else is provided by Mucky Mitts. The largest number of children they have had is 50. For the first hour, the children do eight activities which are chosen from a list of 20. This includes making a bag with their name at the top and decorating it. This will hold all the other things they make during the party. After this the children have a break for food and then come back to do activities such as pass the parcel, biscuit decorating and dancing. They also offer face painting.
Younger children get to make animal masks, door handles, foam photo frames and playdough. They also do painting and colouring. Over fives make mugs, wooden photo frames and felt puppets among other things and the 10 year olds made porcelain pots, wooden chests of drawers, mugs and did t-shirt prints. “They do fewer activities because they can sit down and focus on an activity for longer,” says Debbie.
Glitter
Although based in Bushey, Mucky Mitts travels to parties and has been as far at Islington. Prices start from £170 for under fours. “Compared to a children’s entertainer, it’s reasonable,” says Debbie, “and the parents don’t need to provide party bags.” Debbie does most of the work for the parties in the evenings and says her house is packed with glitter and craft material. She does most of the childcare during the week, but she does have a cleaner who comes once a week. In between all her activity, she also manages to fit in being fixtures secretary for a football league and has to regularly post match results on a website. She says by way of explanation: “I don’t like doing nothing. If I am at home I get bored.”
For more information about Mucky Mitts, email info.muckymitts@gmail.com
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