Ideas for children's activities at the reception

joonbug2082 · April 2011

I was wondering if anyone had any creative ideas for children's activities at my reception. I am 28 and am the third oldest of 18 children in my family (the youngest is a year old) and we plan on having many extended family members and guests bring their children to the wedding. We'd like to have something set up at the reception to keep the kiddos from getting bored and allow them to have a good time!

We are just in the beginning stages of planning and have yet to settle on a reception site (most likely indoors, in a banquet facility). Any ideas would be appreciated!

alyandmike17 · April 2011

I am not sure as far as activities, but I know we are having a lot of kids as well at our wedding so we are having a "Kids Station" for food where only the kids can go and we are having kids favorite foods like chicken tenders, fries, mac & cheese! Just an idea!

ssers002 · April 2011

Try a Kid's bag, at each place setting. Include bubbles, silly putty, coloring book and crayons, small book, glow sticks. You can also purchase small travel size games and magna doodles. these should keep the kids occupied at the tables!

acwm · April 2011

I like the idea of a kids' table with coloring books and little activities, like ssers said. I've also been to a wedding where, as the night wore on, the kids headed to a separate room to watch movies (chaperoned by a babysitter). This was a pretty small wedding where most of the parents knew the babysitter, and in a hotel, so it worked well; I'm not sure how parents would react to sending their tired kids off with a stranger.

trix1223 · April 2011

18 children? Wow~that's a BIG family!! More power to you!

Anyway, most kids I know are just happy to be at the party. They like drinking their "mocktails", dancing, and with that many kids, they'll be spending time together.

You can certainly put "goodie bags" at each space with stuff for them to do, but my guess is they'll be enjoying the fun that the grown-ups are enjoying.

good luck

MrsDydek · April 2011

depending on how late the wedding is, I would certainly consider trying to set up a nap room.

If you get a place that has the room for, try to rent a moonbounce. They are loved by all children (young and old) tire kids out and where I am at a rental is only $150 if you shop around.

I'm gonna have a kids table at my wedding and am thinking of - instead of using a table cloth - using one of those big rolls of paper as the table cloth, then giving them crayons to decorate the "table cloth" with.

I would also try to hire a baby sitter for the event at the very least, this doesn't have to be a professional since they won't be alone with them or anything, just a teen or someone you know that is good with kids and wants to make $20 to stop kids from coloring on the walls or sticking their fingers in the cake. This allows parents to just enjoy the night instead of wondering where their kid ran off to, and of course parents who feel nervous about leaving their kids with the sitter can chose not to.

Tiger_Tammer · April 2011

Hoola hoops and glow sticks! They will be busy all night.

sklink0486 · April 2011

Yeah, I actually kind of like the glow sticks idea! Silly putty I could see getting stuck on linens and the crayons- which may make you pay extra costs to have removed?? since I could definitely see that happening. I also like the idea of a room in a hotel to take younger children to to watch movies or take a nap later in the evening, but you'd have to either hire someone or put the burden on a family member which I wouldn't want to do.

Enami · April 2011

I think we're going to end up foregoing linen table clothes and opting for white paper ones. And putting crayons at all the tables. At our venue, there's a HUGE wrap-around porch, and down the one side we're setting up cornhole (fun for everyone!) and there's a firepit out front for a smores bar. But our wedding is dressy casual (khakis/golf shirts type thing), and the only people renting and probably wearing suits/tuxes will be our WP and some of the older attendees that won't do it any other way ::couch, cough, dad, cough::.

kmgrecco · April 2011

I am making a kid's activity book, with a small pack of crayons and a glow stick / necklace.

joonbug2082 · April 2011

Great ideas! Thank you so much! I love the idea of goodie bags and paper tablecloths for the kid's tables, which we'll probably end up having in a little play area off to one side in the room. We could set up some legos, board games, etc as well! I really like the idea of kid-friendly food, which I had thought about because we have a lot of picky eaters! Hopefully we'll be able to find a venue that has some outdoor space that we'd be able to use for hula hoops and other outdoor fun.

Dumpy · April 2011

I actually provided childcare for a wedding and a company event 20 years ago. I thought it was cool. Always choose actitives that won't mess up the childrens clothing or the brides..The ideal is to set up a table where the children could come and go freely to play a game, make and take craft etc.

Would most brides to be want to include something like this in thier reception?

Ideas for children's activities at the reception

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