Keeping kids busy at reception

kikibella1210 · April 2010

Hello - we are from NY and getting married this summer in Las Vegas. I have lots of family & friends coming with many small children. We have 12 kids under the age of 8 going to be there. We want them there and everyone is excited to come to Kiki's Las Vegas wedding but i am worried they'll get bored. I was thinking of making gift bags with coloring books & small toys... anyone have any other ideas? Thanks!

Muffin'sMom · April 2010

We did that and it was a huge hit. I made bags personally for each child with their name on it and put them by the table cards. I included things depending on age and sex...coloring books or art pads, crayons or colored pencils, snacks and candy, juice boxes for the younger ones, playing cards, little toys. The big hit was a package of glow sticks for each kid. I bought everything at the dollar store and spent about 100 dollars for 15 kids. It was worth every penny.

deepcovejackie · April 2010

All good ideas. In an emergency, a video machine and a copy of "Finding Nemo" will buy a couple of hours.

geordieboysgirl · April 2010

Having some food they will like (cheese pizza, chicken fingers, whatever) will help as well. Hearing the kids whine about the food is a mood killer.
CCH

handfast4me · April 2010

I was in back of the FOB one Saturday morning, and he was buying just such things for his daughter's under-12 guests. He also bought "travel sized" games such as sorry, and a couple of others, and several travel sized etch-a-sketches.

Lots of those sorts of things are probably available right now for Easter baskets, but if there are really small kids, you'll want to take into account the choking hazard (under 3, for example, but hopefully that age would be supervised).

kikibella1210 · April 2010

great ideas ladies! THanks!

JennaHR · April 2010

We are planning to include 9 kids in our ceremony, plus at least 6 others as guests. I was thinking of having a kid-friendly table and hiring our babysitter and two of her friends to hang with them, I wanted to have them use paint hand-prints to make us a keepsake book for those involved too. If you had someone dedicated to keeping them occupied, you could definitely pull off a craft or some games.

right1thistime · April 2010

I know when I took small kids to Atlantic City the hotel offered a nanny service. They were adults and had lots of experience (the one we used was a nurse- she made more money doing this than she did at nursing & it was easier) and were background checked. It was expensive- but I would check with your hotel to see if they have a similar offering. Maybe use the goodie bags for pre-meal, then the meal, then the nanny to entertain for an hour or two after the meal- would give the adults a break. Could be too expensive or not available- but could be a hit as well. ~Donna

SweetestofMuses · April 2010

I had this exact same thought

We'll be on a riverboat so keeping the kids busy is a MUST.

Taking all these ideas and asking FI his opinion

Thanks ladies!

jajph1974 · April 2010

We had a toy table for the kids at the reception. I picked up a bunch of thigs at Walmart for about $75. The kids LOVED it.

Here's some of the things:
Large sketch pad
Crayons / markers
Go Fish cards
Play Doh
Glowy necklaces (like the kind you get at a carnival)
Fake teeth
Checkers

There were a few other things that I can't remember.

It worked out really well and none of the kids were bored or got rammy.

Danielle&Nanne · April 2010

We're having about 12 kids at our reception, from ages 4-12. We're having a kids meal for them (chicken fingers, fries, salad, fruit, and cake... my kids love salad and fruit) and I've hired my neighbor's two daughters (12 and 15) to keep an eye on the littler ones... or corral them

I am planning on having age-appropriate bags of things to do.. coloring books, crayons, necklace beading kits, Lego kits, puzzles, glow sticks (thanks for that suggestion!), and activity books.

Danielle

pamila51510 · April 2010

http://weddings.shanbritedesigns.com/templates.htm

this has a couple of coloring books you can make and personalize yourself. I don't have kids coming to the wedding but I made some for the adults that are there LOL I know my family is all I am gonna say!!!

ccallaway03 · April 2010

We are having a large wedding of about 500ppl. Since our children will be there, we are encouraging our friends to bring their children as well. I think we are going to designate a corner of our reception hall just to the kids. I am a little worried however, that with that many children it may wind up being a disaster instead of fun. Any ideas on how to keep them all calm and occupied...

MrsKevers · April 2010

LOVE IT!! Something else you might think about that a friend of mine did at her wedding was to obtain the use of a small room down the hall from the reception. She placed plush toys, padded mats, snuggly blankets and story books for younger kids who were ready for bed long before the festivities were over. It also came in handy for one of her friends and a cousin who were both nursing at the time...much better than a public ladies room for privacy and cleanliness. My friend paid her personal sitter to watch over the kids begining an hour after dinner was finished until 9:30...which is about as late as parents with young children will generally stay. Everyone loved it and the kids were happy too.

Zooloo · April 2010

I picked up some chalkboard drink coasters from paper-source.com. They also have chalkboard placemats. I figure that will keep the kids pretty busy, and they can take them home with them as their favor.

mehgank · April 2010

At the kids' table, I'm having coloring books & crayons, along with 2 or 3 of these Find It games I found at Barnes & Noble:

If you've never heard of them, they're these cylinders with beads inside them (they look kinda look donut sprinkles to me, LOL) and they have all these different items hidden in them. Each one comes with a notepad with the lists of all the items you're to find in each cylinder. I bought the pink one for the girls (princess theme), and the green one for the boys (it's a sports theme).

What's cool is that I'm planning on packing them in our carry-on bags for the flight out there, so FI and I will have something to do other than read or sleep on our flight/layover.

Keeping kids busy at reception

Re: Keeping kids busy at reception

Choose Another Board

Search Boards