Where Have All The Watts Gone?

[McCardle 1]

i did a kiddies party (4 yo) and started the music at my usuall "background" level which had 2 younglings in tears and most of the others with hands cupped round their ears

 

Fair play to you for giving it a go, but personally when I get parents on the phone wanting to book something like this, I recommend the traditional childrens entertainment, such as a clown. magician, bouncy castle or face painters. As you have found, not only are even our smallest sound systems far too powerful for infant ears, but the attention span of a 4 year old is probably less than that of an average goldfish, meaning they get bored very easily, and need a constant supply of new material to keep them occupied and at this age they are far too young for even the more usual kids party games. Unless you run a business which specialised in mixing the more usual kids party traditions with the music, then these kind of things are usually very heavy going, and best avoided.