Keeping Children Entertained

Welcome to hitched!

At my SIL wedding, she had a separate marquee/room that was manned by 2 girls from the local kindergarden/nursery. They brought games/toys from their nursery for the kids on the day. Could you do something similar? Is there a nearby room you could set up a TV with cartoons on it or for a quiet area if little ones want to sleep?

Could someone take the kids on a nature hunt in the gardens? If the kids were older, I'd suggest a clown, but the little ones might be scared. Colouring books/crayons are popular.

I like the idea of a separate room with a tv / dvd / games set up if possible.

A lot of people hire out bouncy castles for a few hours and things like that if venue allow it, maybe some garden or indoor giant games?

Lots of parents i'm sure will bring things to amuse their own children anyway i'm sure, I always take my sons games and some figures n stuff for him to play with so they might be ok anyway. Can buy activity packs with some little toys and drawing packs etc in them could set up some tables for them to play at?

A wedding I went to last year saw the bride with a three year old daughter so there were quite a few young children there. She hired another room and had a soft play set up in it. She also made them really personalised gift bags with things they could make to keep them entertained. There was lots of room for them to run around and their meals were also suitable for youngsters.

I think because she was a mum with a youngster she had thought about what would be needed but that she was also not bothred about weeny ones running around and so it was an accepted part of the day and no one got grumpy with kids. I can honestly say it worked really well and the children were no bother at all.

An entertainer can be a massive help particularly during the speeches as long as it's one that can handle very young children.

I think the key is to accept that if you're having children they will get bored and will run around and the like but if you expect that, then people just seem to get on with it. As you're having quite a lot of children there then it seems the majority of your guests will understand how they're likely to be and so it won't cause any issues.

It makes a nice change to see a children welcome post

I've bought little colouring / puzzle booklets from a seller on Etsy to keep the kids happy (ie quiet) during the service. Then I've got little activity bags with Lego, bubbles, puzzles etc to keep them occupied during the meal. I'm hoping their parents will also be sensible enough to take them out if they're too noisy!

We will have quite a few children at our wedding too (not sure of exact as still awaiting RSVPs) but I'm planning on putting together little activity bags for the meal/speeches. For ones old enough will have a little book which is an I spy at weddings...they have to tick off things that they can find. And younger ones will have a little book, crayons, bubbles etc. I hadn't thought about the ceremony itself yet as I think that maybe people will be able to control the kids for that part of the day...or am I being optimistic?? Lo. I have a 2 year old and so I don't mind a bit of running around. X

Hi UK Kiwi

I'm sure the children will all play amongst themselves whether they know each other or not prior to the wedding, you usually see little groups of children together, girls making daisy chains, boys sliding along the floor on their knees! How about some bubbles for the little ones and maybe some balloons? I know not all children like balloons but some spend ages chasing them around.

I've bought a book from a shop called The Works which is a book for a bridesmaid. It has a maze to get the bride to the church and dot to dots etc. Going to give it to my bridesmaid a month before the wedding. It was only £1.99.

Bexkimas - where did you get the wedding I Spy book from? That might be good for on the day for the other children we have coming.

For those numbers I would seriously consider getting an entertainer of some sort - we had an amazing guy do my son's last party, he did 2 hours of music/games/puppets for £150. Or as others have suggested perhaps a small soft play/creche area and hire a childminder to keep an eye on things. I think puzzles/coulouring books etc are a good idea to a point but you have A LOT of kids and they are likely to get unruly at some point. ?

We will also be having lots of children at our wedding, about 17 kids all under the age of 11 - mainly belonging to Mr K's cousins so the majority know each other already so will probably entertain themselves. It was important to us when searching for a venue that it had good outside space and was safe for kids. The venue we have chosen is exclusively ours for the day and the gardens are completely enclosed. We will be setting up some garden games like giant jenga/connect four/croquet etc to keep the kids entertained - although I'm hoping the adults will make use of them too!

like some of the others I'm going to put activity kits on the table during the wedding breakfast as well, probably things like colouring books/puzzles etc. I'm sure that most of the parents will bring Nintendo DS' and such like with them, but I'm hoping that they won't be glued to a screen all day!

Thanks everyone,

I'm not too worried about noise etc, just feel that it's my responsibility to keep everyone having a good time and unfortunately when it comes to kids I'm a bit clueless. A lot of them will know each other though as they're mostly family, so you're right, that will help. Thinking of our venue, a second room isn't an option, but a kids corner is a great idea. I'm trying to avoid asking the parents of the kids themselves for advice as I'd like to keep as much of the planning a surprise for guests, so your ideas have been really helpful. Thanks.

I think it's a nice idea to have something to help keep them occupied, but ultimately it's the responsibility of the parents so I wouldn't go overboard if I couldn't be bothered

Hi Uk Kiwi!

Its lovely that your considering the kids!

I have a little girl who will be 2.5 years old when we get married next year and we will have 8 children under 6 at the wedding. Im considering a bouncy castle as children love them pretty much up to the age of 13/14 so if you have space for it they are usually very reasonable.

Like others have said the giant garden games are good and you can buy big snakes and ladders, twister etc on amazon with giant dice. They would suit children from 6 up.

I have read about setting a table up with toys and games on or an area. So lego, normal size board games, colouring, jewlerry making sets for girls. mask making sets (not paint ones) for boys maybe. You could buy a couple of cheap plastic tables for them to sit at. Even if you buy these toys they should cost too much. You can buy cheap ball pits and tunnels and tents for them to really get involved in. Bubbles are good but often children make a mess with them and it can cause slippery accidents. Ive known a few venues that dont allow you to have them.

You could buy them all a special baloon or just have baloons, then at one point in the day/early evening let them go and they can watch.

The special bags for each child is nice for when they sit and have their meal and during the speeches.

Oh just to say that if we were invited to a wedding, yes i would take a couple of toys for my little girl but I would be so pleased and happy to find things planned for her. It means that she would have a good day, we would too and so would the bride and groom. As long as your not expecting silence from them then you will treasure them being there.

Im not a fan of entertainers and it certainly isnt something i would hire but yes they are a possability.

There are lots of soft play hire places as others have said. And certain companies hire out screens with xboxs, and other games consoles if you have alot of children say 7 upwards.

A choclate fountain would be nice for them and adults of course and Ive seen people hire ice cream vans for a few hours.

Right I will stop now, hope this helps though x

We had 25 minors at wedding 23 of which were under 9s at our wedding and of those were 6 under 2s. I made cloth party bags for them all from fabric scraps. The under 2s had a cuddly animals and a book from Homes Bargains in. The rest of the under 9s had colouring books and pencils, slinkies (suprise hit), bubble mixture, glow sticks, some other puzzles or games and an inflatable musical instrument (also a massive hit with the kids and with the adults afterwards too). I gave him some ideas and let OH do the shopping online and he did very well. I just had to root out the whistles and football whistles. Finally, with loads of outdoor space at our August wedding, a couple of light weight footballs, again a couple of quid from Home Bargains, were very popular and had the kids mixing. Parents did bring stuff with them too. A little tip if you have a few tots, check how many high chairs your venue has. We had to ask some guests to bring them

We just got married and have a 2 year old and 7 year old, there were 5 other kids. I had their meals served quicker than the adults, they then went into an adjoining room with a kids entertainer. I also did activity bags with notepads, pens, pencils, glow sticks etc and disposable cameras. They loved the entertainer and disposable cameras.

Ah we got the puzzle books as well! Don't know if it's the same seller but ours have been personalised with each child's name and with our names and the wedding date. There's about 18 different puzzles to do and they have stacking coloured pencils, or crayons for smaller children. Can't comment for another 9 days on how effective they are, but they're a great idea. I even bought one for my 6 month old nephew as something he can have to keep for when he's old enough.

We chose our hotel partially on the basis that it is child friendly, it has a creche and soft play area that our guests can use if they want, although I hope not as I think children make a wedding. Outside has play areas for all ages, really hoping it's dry as they have an aerial slide that'll make for some great photos and inside there is an area with table tennis, football tables, pool tables, air hockey... that kind of stuff which should prevent boredom among the teenagers. We are giving them tokens for this along side a couple of choccie treats as wedding favours. I have also made up party bags for the under 10's with things like colouring packs, bubbles, princess playing cards (pure coincidence that all of the under 10's are girls) and we have a sweetie buffet and exploding balloon thing for the early evening. I'm sure the children will love being included.