Authored by Kate Beswick in Wedding
Published on 11-19-2009

What could be more joyous and exciting than a wedding? It’s true that for adults, weddings are a wonderful time filled with family, friends, and lots of celebration. But for kids, there’s often nothing more dreaded than having to sit still for a long period of time, eat a meal that drags on and on very quietly, and listen to speech after speech. Making sure that you include some fun activities for the children that will be attending your wedding is a good way to ensure that the kids will have just as much fun as the adults. And of course, it will free their parents up to enjoy the wedding instead of just running after their little ones! Here are some great activities that you can include in your wedding to keep all the guests happy.

Bounce Houses

Bounce houses are very large, inflatable houses that can provide hours of entertainment for children at your wedding. These play houses are best suited for weddings that are outdoors or take place in a very large reception area because they’re simply too large to be crammed into small spaces. A teenager or adult will also need to be on-hand at all times to provide supervision because inside bounce houses, children can become very noisy, rambunctious, and are prone to bumping into each other quite a bit.

Activity Table

Something that can be placed in any size of room is an activity table. This is a table that can hold lots of children’s activities such as puzzles, crayons, doodle pads, coloring books, crafts, and other quiet activities. The activity table can even be coupled with some of these other activities for when it’s time for the kids to pipe down and busy themselves with something quiet.

Entertainment

If you have some room in your wedding budget, you might want to consider hiring professional entertainment. A magician can delight youngsters with their many tricks and clowns not only provide for a lot of fun but they can also make balloon hats and animals that can be the child’s new best friend throughout the wedding.

Throw Candy at Them!

Tossing the bouquet and the garter are some of the most fun events at weddings for adults but they’re not much fun for children. And if a single lady is eyeing the bouquet, she won’t be appreciative if it lands in tiny hands. Just before the garter or bouquet toss, it might be a good idea to have a candy toss for the kids. Have the bride and groom stand with their backs turned towards the kids just as they will for the other tosses and have them throw out handfuls of candy. This will delight the kids and keep them busy while others are lining up for the ‘real’ tosses.

Movies

Movies can be great at home when the parents need a moment to clean the house, make dinner, or just relax for a minute. And the case is no different with weddings! Have the wedding organizers or the coordinators at the venue set up a corner that is out of earshot of the party and throw in a couple of kid-friendly videos. Not only will this keep children engrossed while the adults are having fun, but it can also be a nice quiet spot when the reception goes into the late hours and some kids need to curl up for some much-needed rest.