Keeping Kids Busy at the Reception?

You don't need to do specific things to keep them entertained. The party is the entertainment, just like it is for all the rest of your guests. If they can't behave themselves, it's their parents' job to get them under control or, alternatively, to know enough not to bring them.

The four children at my wedding were at the photobooth pretty much the entire time, and when they weren't they were dancing with their parents or with each other.

There's really nothing special you need to do. If you want to then go ahead, but IMO it's not your job to keep kids entertained. This is why I feel weddings aren't for children.

We had nine kids under the age of ten at our wedding and they were on the dance floor the whole time. There may have been one or two that did dance until they dropped, and their parents just took them upstairs and put them to bed (our wedding was at a hotel). The kids that made it to the end of the night conscious, though, never needed additional entertainment other than the dancing. They were machines.

We Did games outside and everyone loved them !! Giant Jenga, badmitten, cornhole, and croquet, kids and Adults alike had a blast!

Yea, we only have 4 in attendance and I bet they will dance. Maybe I will just make sure to have extra snacks and coloring pages for them during dinner

I'm not doing shit. Weddings aren't a place for children, and the only reason i'm inviting them is because some guests won't come without them, and if I invite one, gotta invite them all. Hopefully some people don't bring them, but if they do, it is not my responsibility to entertain them.

The kids at our wedding ate and danced and played with each other (Age 2-8) There weren't any issues, and they all had an awesome time.

It wasn't intentional, but the kids at my wedding pretty much got a hold of the photobooth props and had a fucking party.

ETA: I didn't do anything special, because the parents were the ones responsible for entertaining their kids. If they didn't want to, they could have left them home.

We have a kid friendly area set up. I purchased a few party favor packages from Walmart for super cheap!

Tic Tac Toe games, mini activity coloring books w/ crayons, stickers and mini magic boards... enough for 12-15 children. I believe it cost me about $15, which is well worth the additional cost for us.

You don't need to do anything special. We had about 18 kids at ours and they were all on the dance floor at in the photo booth the entire night.

To the people that say a wedding is no place for kids...I hope you have kids one day so you can understand that yes kids should be welcomed.

I second @Karla They don't need much, a few coloring books and travel sized games is perfect! And they probably will dance the whole night, but having a few backups will make the parents appreciate you that much more

A couple weddings I've been to had a kids' room and that went over really well. They had games, coloring books, toys, crafts, etc. If we end up having a lot of kids for ours we were considering hiring a sitter to hang out with them. Our venue includes a smaller room with a screen and projector so we can have some movies playing and pillows and blankets for when they tire out. We want to give the parents a night to relax and enjoy themselves without having to worry about their kiddos!

I wouldn't invest too much in it, but I think it's a nice gesture. We are just doing some coloring books and bubbles.

I ordered little wedding coloring books and placemats from Oriental Trading for each kid! The placemats have little activities on them also! We also hired a balloon animal artist to come for the cocktail hour up until dinner! Kids have always been a huge part of my life so there will be about 30 there!

We're having 44 children under 13 at our wedding.

Our wedding is Halloween weekend, so we are going to have a face painting contest for the kids on the second floor of the venue, along with some other neat stuff for them including their own personal DJ that will do things like the Monster Mash... ect for them.

I feel like even though they are kids they are still your guests and you should host them properly.

Good for you for looking out for the littles

Agree with most pp's. It's not your job to provide entertainment for the kids. I have seen "kids tables" at weddings and never see kids at them as usually they want to be with their parents. This close to your wedding I'd nix that idea and just take comfort in knowing the kids at your wedding will be entertained with what their parents bring them. Don't even worry about this!

No kids for me

I think it's perfectly fine if you choose not to have kids at your wedding. But if you do make that choice it is completely your responsibility to host them properly.

We're hiring a balloon artist/face painter to come during the reception. I also have a photo booth and I'll have about 25 kids there.

We had 7 kids at our wedding and they were so amped up that they just entertained themselves. our venue has an airstream trailer on site that functions as the groom's suite and they basically hung out in there with periodic trips inside to steal more from the candy table, which i wish to goodness we hadn't set up early on, haha. they also danced their hearts out once we opened the dance floor. you don't need to do too much.